Universalism

As stated in the Subject Guide for Global Politics ‘In the context of global politics, the ethical theory of universalism puts forward the notion of a universal human nature that transcends Ctraditional boundaries of identity. In a universalist view, universal values are therefore possible.’

Essentially, Universalism adopts the view that some ideas or beliefs apply universally. To put it another way, if something is true in one society or culture then it is true for all societies and cultures.

Universalism and human rights

One of the major ways in which Universalism is relevant to Global Politics is when discussing human rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 was one of the first documents to attempt, at least, to promote a moral universalism in articulating international human rights. So, as we can see from reading Article 2 of the UDHR in which it states ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty‘, human rights are, according to the UDHR, universal.

That is, they apply to all people no matter their age, sex, gender, culture or sexual orientation.

Conflicts and criticisms

If we accept, as Universalism assumes, that rights are universal, then it follows that those rights are still held by all even when they directly contradict local beliefs, practices and traditions. This can often cause a conflict between the aspirational nature of the UDHR and the reality of cultural diversity and difference in the world.

For example, despite female genitial mutilation being being condemned as a violation human rights by a number of treaties, it still takes place in many countries around the world.

Cultural relativism provides an alternative theoretical perspective to Universalism.

According to some critics the UDHR – and the Universalist perspective that underpins it – fails to adequately recognize the cultural relativity amongst states, countries and cultures in the contemporary world.

Given this diversity is a fact of life it can be argued that universalism cannot ever be a useful framework for considering the world.