The Right to Cultural Diversity

1
The Right to Cultural Diversity

• Shannon B. Lyons
• International Ocean and
• Environmental Policy

2
Outline

• Definitions of Cultural Diversity
• Origin and history of Cultural Diversity
• Hard and soft law sources
• Treaties and Declarations
• Major Players
• Recent issues and applications
• UDCD, Johannesburg, Cultural Expression
• Example Makah Gray Whale Hunt
• Pros and Cons

3
Cultural Diversity

• Definitions
• Culture that complex whole which includes
  knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and
  any other capabilities and habits acquired by man
  as a member of society (Tylor, 1971)
• Culture a set of rules, or standards that, when
  acted upon by the members of a society, produce
  behavior that falls within a range of variance
  that the members consider proper and acceptable
  (Haviland, 1975)

4
Cultural Diversity

• Definitions of Cultural Diversity areDiverse
• Culture is a set of distinctive spiritual,
  material, intellectual and emotional features of
  society or a social group. It encompasses, in
  addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways
  of living together, values systems, traditions
  and beliefs. Respecting and safeguarding culture
  is a matter of Human Rights. Cultural Diversity
  presupposes respect of fundamental freedoms,
  namely freedom of thought, conscience and
  religion, freedom of opinion and expression, and
  freedom to participate in the cultural life of
  one's choice.
• UNESCO

5
Origin and History of Cultural Diversity

• Historically international environmental law was
  state centered
• Did not consider rights of indigenous peoples
• Democratic is not the same as Equality
• Tendency for a democratic majority to dominate a
  cultural minority
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
• Recent focus on Linguistics

6
Treaties addressing Cultural Diversity

• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
  Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 15, 1966
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights (ICCPR), Article 27, 1966 1975
• American Convention on Human Rights, 1969
• Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
  Cultural Heritage, 1972
• African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights,
  1981
• ILO Convention 169, 1989
• Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992
• Council of Europes Framework Convention for the
  Protection of National Minorities, 1995
• Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
  Union, 2000
• Andean Charter for the Promotion and Protection
  of Human Rights (2002)
• Draft Convention on Cultural Diversity, UNESCO,
  2003
• http//www.carnegiecouncil.org

7
Declarations addressing Cultural Diversity

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
• American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of
  Man, 1948
• Declaration on the Principles of International
  Cultural Cooperation, UNESCO, 1966
• Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
  Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972
• Recommendation on Participation by the People at
  Large in Cultural Life and their
• Contribution to it, 1976
• Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies,
  1982
• Limburg Principles on the Implemental of the
  International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
  Cultural Right, 1986
• Vienna Concluding Document, OSCE, 1989
• Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to
  National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic
  Minorities, 1992
• Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, 1993
• Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic,
  Social, and Cultural Rights, 1997
• Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity,
  UNESCO, 2001
• Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
  Diversity of Cultural Expressions, 2005
• http//www.carnegiecouncil.org

8
Major Players

• Primary Organizations
• UNESCO
• United Nations Education, Scientific, and
  Cultural Organization
• Office of the UN High Commissioner
• for Human Rights
• Countries
• France and Canada spearheading current movements

9
UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity
Cultural rights are an integral part of human
rights, which are universal, indivisible and
inter-dependent. The flourishing of creative
diversity requires the full implementation of
cultural rights as defined in Article 27 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in
Articles 13 and 15 of the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. All
persons have therefore the right to express
themselves and to create and disseminate their
work in the language of their choice, and
particularly in their mother tongue all persons
are entitled to quality education and training
that fully respect their cultural identity and
all persons have the right to participate in the
cultural life of their choice and conduct their
own cultural practices, subject to respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms."
10

• Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity
• Adopted unanimously at the 31st UNESCO General
  Conference, 2001
• Triggered by September 11
• Focuses on humanizing globalization and making it
  more culturally sensitive
• Encourages inter-cultural dialogue
• Supports cultural diversity, the rights and the
  role of culture in development
• Promotes multilingualism through education and
  fostering language at a young age

11
Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

• Article 1 - Cultural diversity the common
  heritage of humanity
• Article 2 - From cultural diversity to cultural
  pluralism
• Article 3 - Cultural diversity as a factor in
  development
• Article 4 - Human rights as guarantees of
  cultural diversity
• Article 5 - Cultural rights as an enabling
  environment for cultural diversity
• Article 6 - Towards access for all to cultural
  diversity
• Article 7 - Cultural heritage as the wellspring
  of creativity
• Article 8 - Cultural goods and services
  commodities of a unique kind
• Article 9 - Cultural policies as catalysts of
  creativity
• Article 10 - Strengthening capacities for
  creation and dissemination worldwide
• Article 11 - Building partnerships between the
  public sector, the private sector and civil
  society
• Article 12 - The role of UNESCO

12
Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
Development

• September, 2002
• respect for cultural diversity, indigenous
  peoples access to economic activities and
  natural resources, and indigenous peoples
  participation in developing resource management
  systems are fundamental prerequisites for poverty
  eradication and sustainable development.

13
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of
the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

• Supported by 148 countries during the UNESCO
  General Assembly in Paris, October, 2005
• Sponsored by France and Canada
• Affirmation of countries' "sovereign right" to
  promote diversity in "cultural expressions" to
  counter demands that they renounce the use of
  subsidies, quotas, and other measures to support
  domestic cultural products such as movies,
  broadcasting, and publications.
• Opposed by the U.S.A.
• Limits on imports
• Government censorship
• Potential for abuse in terms of trade

14
International Convention on the Regulation of
Whaling (ICRW)

• Treaty obligation to permit subsistence whaling,
  1946
• The taking of gray whales from the Eastern stock
  in the North Pacific is permitted, but only by
  aborigines or a Contracting Government on behalf
  of aborigines, and then only when the meat and
  products of such whales are to be used
  exclusively for local consumption by the
  aborigines whose traditional aboriginal
  subsistence and cultural needs have been
  recognized),
• Makah gray whale hunt
• Alienation within American society
• Anderson v. Evans, 371 F.3d 475, 483-84 (9th Cir.
  2004).

15
Pros and Cons of Cultural Diversity

• Pros
• Human welfare
• Encompasses minority views and rights
• Others?
• Cons
• Difficult to define
• Difficult to measure
• Others?

16
References

• Anderson v. Evans, 371 F.3d 475, 483-84 (9th Cir.
  2004).
• Firestone, J, Lilley, J., and Isabel Torres de
  Noronha. 2005. Cultural Diversity, Human Rights,
  and the Emergence of Indigenous Peoples in
  International and Comparative Environmental Law.
  American University International Law Review
  20(210).
• United Nations Background Note The Challenge of
  Human Rights and Cultural Diversity
• by Diana Ayton-Shenker http//www.un.org/rights/
  dpi1627e.htm
• www.un.org/esa
• www.unesco.org
• www.ohchr.org