Human Rights Pluralistic Universality: A Bridge Between Global Norms and Cultural Diversity

ABSTRACT International law in general and human rights norms specifically are experiencing a wave of criticism from various fronts. One aspect of this is seen in the continuous debate on human rights universality and cultural diversity: there is growing discontent around tensions between global standards and local particularities. This article proposes to rediscover the pluralistic universality envisaged by the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 as an interpretative tool that can provide guidance for this dilemma. The declaration’s drafters understood universality as a set of commonly shared values that are essential for the respect of human dignity, but the content of which is open-ended and flexible enough to entertain a variety of notions of human flourishment. The drafters determined which concepts enjoyed universal acceptability and which did not by looking at a horizontal cross-cultural agreement, intercultural dialogue, and accepting reasonable disagreement on controversial subjects. The article proposes that their concept of universality and method for determining global standards could be used to address the tensions between the international and national spheres and enhance the legitimacy of the human rights system.