The changing ground of human rights

Modernization not about Western concepts

Technological innovation is part of societies' modernization. By embracing new technologies, life can become more humane, efficient and healthy.

However, there also is a possible downside to technological innovation. Modernization as a process of technological advancement is often linked to modernity, that is, introduction of Western liberal value orientation. In other words, when technological innovations are introduced, the presence of Western liberal values or the need to incorporate them is often assumed.

According to this view, therefore, modernization requires or causes human rights to be interpreted and applied in a Western manner. But embracing modernization in the technological sense does not and should not require people in Africa and Asia to give up their indigenous human rights concepts.

Embracing modern technology and retaining existing social institutions will lead to "win-win" situations. Take, for example, combating HIV/AIDS in Africa. The latest insights and innovations available in Western biomedicine are being used there to secure the right to health and the right to life of those who have contracted the disease or are at risk of contracting it.

The application of these latest scientific insights is often hampered by the fact that the experts involved view African societies through a modernist lens. They assume that Africans adhere to the same liberal values as Western people do, or at least should adhere to them, and therefore, they tend to ignore the local context in which these innovations should be shaped. Consequently, attempts to prevent and combat HIV/AIDS are far less effective than they could be if this context would be taken as a point of departure.

Tom Zwart is a professor at School of Law of Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and director of the Netherlands School Human Rights Research.