CULTURE AND TRADITION IN THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM
Abstract
Richard Falk’s remarkable career has been entwined with activism and scholarship on human rights issues over many decades. In this chapter, the author considers Falk’s scholarly contributions to the field of human rights law, although, of course, they are shaped by the many causes he has promoted. Her focus is on one particular aspect of his work on the international human rights legal system. While the international legal regime still derives much of its power and influence from its claim of universal applicability, in recent years, various accounts of tradition and culture have been invoked to resist the reach of international law. More generally, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) published a statement in 1947 warning that the task of drafting a universally applicable declaration of rights would inevitably come up against the particularity of culture.