In “The Special Relationship between Anthropology and Human Rights,” Terry Turner argues that anthropologists have a responsibility to fight for human rights while also respecting the culture of groups that have been the victim of human right offences themselves. While I agree with Turner in this assessment, he fails to expand this idea to encompass groups within cultures that may be facing persecution. Anthropologists have a moral responsibility to promote human rights in such a way that is respectful to the culture in which the subjects are a part but not at the cost of ignoring the rights of minorities within these cultures.
In this work, Turner asserts that “human difference” has been the basis for denial of rights throughout history. (Turner …show more content…
Most anthropologists come from a western background, thus, their moral consciences are highly in tune with western culture. Instead of projecting western ideas unto different peoples, anthropologists should remain neutral until someone’s difference is being used to prevent their flourishing in the culture that they are present in. Rights should be evaluated within their own society. Say one says that everyone has a right to water. This means two very different things in two different societies. Water is, indeed, a necessity to human flourishing. In a U.S. city, this means the government should provide a public water supply and sewage systems. In the U.S., it would be rather hard to flourish in the present culture if you did not have access to this. However, in another culture there may be certain rituals and processes for retrieving water. While one might want to put in some kind of water system because it may be faster and more efficient, doing this could be intrusive to their culture. Turner is very careful to protect other cultures from western ideas, which is definitely a noble cause, but he does so in such a way that he shies away from protecting certain groups within other …show more content…
In 1947, The American Association of Anthropologists (AAA) rejected the Declaration of Human Rights on three grounds. However, my approach which extends Turner’s stays true to these grounds and cannot be logically rejected on these grounds.
The first grounds were that “The individual realizes his personality through his culture, hence respect for individual differences entails a respect for cultural differences.” (Steward 25) Turner’s theory is based on this idea. Turner wants anthropologists to be careful when advocating for human rights so that the cultural identity of groups that have often been persecuted for this identity is protected. Historically, women and LGBTQ members have been persecuted for their identity and culture as well. Therefore, this extension does not violate this basic idea of
In this work, Turner asserts that “human difference” has been the basis for denial of rights throughout history. (Turner …show more content…
Most anthropologists come from a western background, thus, their moral consciences are highly in tune with western culture. Instead of projecting western ideas unto different peoples, anthropologists should remain neutral until someone’s difference is being used to prevent their flourishing in the culture that they are present in. Rights should be evaluated within their own society. Say one says that everyone has a right to water. This means two very different things in two different societies. Water is, indeed, a necessity to human flourishing. In a U.S. city, this means the government should provide a public water supply and sewage systems. In the U.S., it would be rather hard to flourish in the present culture if you did not have access to this. However, in another culture there may be certain rituals and processes for retrieving water. While one might want to put in some kind of water system because it may be faster and more efficient, doing this could be intrusive to their culture. Turner is very careful to protect other cultures from western ideas, which is definitely a noble cause, but he does so in such a way that he shies away from protecting certain groups within other …show more content…
In 1947, The American Association of Anthropologists (AAA) rejected the Declaration of Human Rights on three grounds. However, my approach which extends Turner’s stays true to these grounds and cannot be logically rejected on these grounds.
The first grounds were that “The individual realizes his personality through his culture, hence respect for individual differences entails a respect for cultural differences.” (Steward 25) Turner’s theory is based on this idea. Turner wants anthropologists to be careful when advocating for human rights so that the cultural identity of groups that have often been persecuted for this identity is protected. Historically, women and LGBTQ members have been persecuted for their identity and culture as well. Therefore, this extension does not violate this basic idea of