Reconciling Conceptual and Measurement Problems in the Comparative Study of Human Rights
Author(s)
Fraser, Elvis E.
Abstract
Human rights debates and research have long been characterized by disagreements at the level of conceptualization and measurement. One of the issues at the core of this conflict is the dichotomization of human rights into civil and political rights on the one hand and social and economic rights on the other. Although the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Covenant of 1966 clearly include references to economic and social rights among their list of human rights, the concept is used almost exclusively to refer to civil and political rights. The most often cited reason underlying this schism is the influence of Western liberalism which emphasizes the values of individualism and equality. The emphasis on individualism in particular is seen as somewhat opposed to the non-Western values of communalism. Thus, the prevailing concept of human rights is due in part to these opposing cultural traits and to a predominance of Western influences in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As there is a fundamental link between concepts and measures, measures of human rights derived from such conceptualization are comprised mainly of civil and political rights indicators.
