Human Rights Syllabi - Teachers as Scholars

Teachers as Scholars

September 30 - October 1, 1999
"Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights"
Sarah Hautzinger, Dept. of Anthropology,
Colorado College

Dear Participants:

The readings for our meetings are cobbled together from a variety of sources, some journalistic, others scholarly. Here I shall list my general purpose for assigning a reading, and then include the citation. The purpose/titles are also given in a recommended reading order, but don't feel obligated to follow this if your interest dictates differently.

The articles from the Journal of Anthropological Research are all in the number being distributed; other articles are part of the packet. I greatly look forward to meeting each of you, and anticipate our seminar with pleasure.

Overview - What is our Concern?
These three overview articles are designed to get you interested in the problem and outline the kinds of issues with which we are concerned (Crossette and Nagengast), and provide some historical background into the history of human rights as an international discourse (Ignatieff).

Crossette, Barbara. 1999. "Testing the Limits of Tolerance as Cultures Mix: Does Freedom Mean Accepting Rituals that Repel the West?" NYT, 3/6/99.
Nagengast, Carole. 1997. "Women, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Universalism and Cultural Relativity." Journal of Anthropological Research, 53(3), 349-369.
Ignatieff, Michael. 1999. "Human Rights: The Midlife Crisis." The NewYork Review of Books. XLVI(9), pp. 58-62.

Focus Issue I: Cultural Defense in Legal Proceedings

Winkleman, Michael. 1996. "Cultural Factors in Criminal Defense Proceedings." Human Organization, 55(2) 154-159.
Koptiuch, Kristin. 1994. "'Cultural Defense' and Criminological Displacements: Gender, Race, and (Trans)Nation in the Legal Surveillance of US Diaspora Asians.

Focus Issue II: Circumcision Practices and Cultural Values

Collection of diverse short articles from mainstream media.
Levinson, David. 1989. "Genital Modifications as a From of Family Violence." In Family Violence in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pp. 76-79. (Note: Included in particular for the outlining of 3 postions: pay attention, especially, to #2 & #3.)

Broadening the Analysis:

Zechenter, Elizabeth. 1997. "In the name of Culture: Cultural Relativism and the Abuse of the Individual." Journal of Anthropological Research, 53(3), 319-347.
Hatch, Elvin. 1997. "The Good Side of Relativism." Journal of Anthropological Research, 53(3), 371-381.
(Optional: the Turner and Messer articles from Journal of Anthropological Research.

Questions to think about:

If relativism in its absolute form has a paralyzing effect upon human rights protections, what middle ground positions would you recommend as useful for incorporating into policy formation?
The issues we focus on are but two among dozens. Which others would you like to talk about? Keep your eyes out for material you might like to bring in and incorporate into our discussions.
One way we may decide to structure our second day's meeting is in the form of debates. Read your texts with this in mind, perhaps organizing points into pro-vs.-con postions. Keep careful track of who (of our authors) said what, so as to be able to refer back to the texts.

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