Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Human rights violations are perpetrated in all parts of the world, and the universal reaction to such atrocities is overwhelmingly one of horror and sadness. Yet, as Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and his contributors attest, our viewpoint is clouded and biased by the expectations native to our own culture. How do other cultures view human rights issues? Can an analysis of these issues through multiple viewpoints, both cross-cultural and indigenous, help us reinterpret and reconstruct prevailing theories of human rights?

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University and the editor of Human Rights Under African Constitutions, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

"All the contributions are interesting and, from their own different perspectives, throw light on the different aspects of the vexed question of human rights." --- "A valuable addition to an important blossoming of literature on this topic." --- "Eloquent explorations of the charge that human rights advocacy is but thinly disguised cultural imperialism." --- "The contributors have done an outstanding job of illuminating complex problems, offering thoroughly researched, probing analyses and expositions that are both well written and extensively documented. The book contains excellent case studies that examine the coexistence and clashes of different cultures as they impinge on human rights issues, as well as thoughtful critiques of philosophical position. . . . This is a work that can be recommended highly, both to those pursuing the study of cross-cultural validity of rights and to persons with more general interests."