Cultural Relativism

This is an excerpt from a recent paper I wrote:

Cultural relativism is a doctrine that insists human rights can not and should not be universal. Human rights norms are adapted to reflect the many variations in culture, belief, religion, and economic and political circumstances. With each culture, the rights and belief of rights differ.
The Western ideas of human rights are not shared by many of the countries of the world. In Africa and in Asia, the cultures are so distinctly different than the Western culture, that it is only natural that the ideas of human rights would also differ. While some may argue that the Western views on human rights are so important and accepted, that they are universal, it is difficult to apply these views on such traditional societies that have never practiced any such ideas or beliefs. The imposition of the western views on human rights is often view as Western Cultural Imperialism.
Western Cultural Imperialism is the idea that the west has evolved passed the rest of the world and has developed the right ideas and values. Because the West is so powerful, it tends to export not only their resources and technology, but also their values. In many countries, this is accepted, because they wish to do business with the West, and so they adopt their values to promote the West to do business in their country. But simply because countries adopt Western values, does not mean that these are the only right values. There is a large view that the West needs to define itself as the leader in the world, and that it needs to "whip the heathen along the path of righteousness and remake the world in its own image". "Asia’s Different Standard,", Bilahari Kausikan, (1993).
Universalism among human rights is primarily insisted upon by the Western countries. The values are primarily based upon the religious values that the West, those being the Judeo-Christian values. Of course these are not the only religions in the world and the other religions often have their own values that are separate from the Judeo-Christian values. Asia, in particular, shows a great contrast based upon religion. All major religions of the world are represented in Asia, and many of them are in fact state religions. In the Philippines, Christianity is the primary religion; in Malaysia, it is Islam; and Nepal, it is Hinduism; and in Thailand, it is Buddhism. Each of these religions carry different beliefs and ideas. Many of these differing beliefs concern human rights.
Ones views of human rights also depend on the political system that one is familiar with, or lives under. In Asia, there are many different political systems, and ideologies. There is socialism, communism, democracy, and even feudalism present in the many different countries of Asia. The focus in many of these societies is not on the individual, as it is in the Western democracies, but more on the community. The human rights views of the West are very much based on the individualism. The views in much of Asia and other parts of the world are that community rights are of equal importance.
The human rights pushed by the West are mostly civil and political. However, there are other aspects of human rights that are often ignored by those who foster the Western views. There is a great importance to economic, social and cultural rights. Most Asian countries are unsettled to the fact that these rights are not protected with the same zeal as the civil rights of the West.
Cultural Relativism is also evidenced by the fact that many countries, the United States included, have made reservations and declarations to many of the treaties and other declarations that have been pushed through the general assembly of the United Nations. The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights was intended to be a Bill of Rights for the people of the World, yet many parts of it were not adopted by countries that signed onto the treaty. Also, many countries in Asia have not signed onto the treaty, further showing that the ideas on human rights of the West are not shared by the whole world.
It is necessary to look at each countries social and cultural history and their current make up. The economy of a country is also important. The West is more advanced in many ways, such as industry and technology. These advancements have made many of the Western Countries rich. When a country is wealthy, it can afford luxuries such as political and civil rights. Poverty and instability in the government tend to create problems that would be view by the West as human rights violations. The West would like the rest of the world to immediately live up to their standards, even though, it did take time for the Western countries to live the way they live. Countries that are attempting to industrialize and become important in the world economy often require more control over their people, so that the country would be stable, and not in chaos. Then once these countries are established economic powers, the luxuries the West enjoys may be enjoyed by these developing countries.