Max Tallberg
In this fourth and final blog post on human rights, I highlight human rights as part of a broader discussion on building a more just and equal world, and I examine the possible future development of the world from the perspective of human rights. As has already become clear in my previous posts, human rights are a central part of these themes.
As I have argued earlier, human rights are best understood and applied through shared dialogue. This discussion also involves other value-related themes, such as justice, equality, truth, and other values connected to democracy. A similar type of discussion can be held around many other themes as well, not only human rights. But human rights could serve as a starting point, a compass, and a roadmap for many such discussions in the search for good solutions. Conscience is also a theme that could relate to this and could be appealed to. Human rights are also more concrete than many of these other concepts, and therefore they can be more helpful when discussing and negotiating practical solutions. They may also serve as a foundation for even broader societal thinking and dialogue, including areas that do not at first glance seem directly connected to values. Human rights have, for example, been proposed as a framework for evaluating the activities of companies. Modern societies also need broader shared discussions—regarding climate change, sustainable lifestyles, or immigration—where human rights could serve as one important basis, background, and starting point. This broader discussion could also be applied when considering conflicts between different rights.
It is also interesting to ask whether the realization of justice and the realization of human rights are the same thing. This makes the issue even more complex, but this complexity is probably unavoidable when thinking about how to make the world better. This is why our association’s multifaceted approach to the topic is justified. There is, of course, no single truth about the world—possibly only a deep enough mutual understanding reached through comprehensive discussion. Today, humanity has better conditions than ever before to engage in such dialogue and to change the world through it, as we possess more knowledge than ever and many people also have the moral capacities required for this. What is still needed, however, are guiding ideas, values, and signposts—of which human rights could form a central part. I also think it is reasonable to claim that the world cannot be genuinely just until universal human rights are realized for every person on Earth.
If we next turn our gaze to a world in which human rights are concretely realized globally for all people, and consider the future development of such a world, we can argue that a global basic income and free movement of people would be natural and essential elements of this world. These could also be linked to historical thinking about natural rights, suggesting that these two reforms would be ways of fulfilling natural rights in practice: free movement would guarantee each individual the fundamental freedom to influence their own life’s course, and basic income would secure the satisfaction of fundamental material rights.
When we consider the human individual, it is also clear that everyone needs something to believe in—something greater and more fundamental than the questions of everyday life. Belief in human rights could be such a worthy object of belief. In today’s world, where the role of religion has diminished in many people’s lives, individuals are left to replace this sense of belief with something else. Often, however, individuals do not succeed in doing this in a satisfying or rational manner. Belief in human rights as timeless and universal rights could be a solution to this challenge, and it is in this context that they are highlighted. The broad support that human rights enjoy today also suggests that reforms such as global basic income and free movement would be accepted, insofar as they are seen as means of implementing human rights globally in the real world.
When considering the future of human rights, we see that respecting and strengthening them aligns with the goals our association advocates. A world in which human rights were realized globally would be far more harmonious, sustainable, and peace-oriented than the present one. Such a world would also include global democracy. Democracy has indeed been seen as a means of strengthening and defending human rights. Creating such a world would, however, also require more effective action against human rights violations in other countries. This, in turn, would require stronger international cooperation, consensus, and the development of structures and actors capable of taking on such responsibilities. As the world hopefully moves toward increasing global cooperation, this work could be based on a global constitution, which could draw on the values and practical implementations related to human rights.
In addition to these advantages, human rights also offer a way to understand the world on a general level in an increasingly humane way. When human life is viewed through the lens of human rights, it becomes evident that they serve to normalize all aspects of life and humanity. This historical development includes, for example, the normalization of sex in the 1960s, the strengthening of the rights of sexual minorities today, and the increasingly comprehensive exposure of various taboos and injustices. It can therefore be argued that the world is becoming more humane in at least some respects. When these themes are viewed through the lens of human rights, it is clear that they support this development. From this perspective, one could argue that the endpoint of humanity’s moral progress is a situation in which all people are accepted without prejudice and everyone possesses the same human dignity. Harmful actions would still be condemned and prevented, but the person behind them would not be condemned.
Future development would also include the idea that all sentient beings should have fundamental rights. This would dramatically change how, for example, farm animals are treated. This thinking could also be applied to the environment, thereby contributing to the fight against climate change and other environmental crises. This would aim at a sustainable relationship with nature—one that guarantees the well-being and sustainable way of life of all living beings. One could also argue that adopting this perspective resembles, at an emotional and experiential level, the attitude many people today have toward human rights. Human beings need such experiences as part of a good life, and respecting human rights is a key part of this.
When looking at the history of ideas related to human rights, it is worth repeating that before the Middle Ages people generally did not think of themselves as individuals in the same way we do today. This way of thinking is something humanity could draw inspiration from in the future. Our era and the centuries surrounding it are characterized by an ever-stronger belief in individuality and individualism, especially in Western societies. This can be identified as one of the most central ideological trends of our time, just as historical eras have been characterized by the Enlightenment or Romanticism. The future should be shaped by an ideological shift back toward greater community. Thus, the next major ideological transformation would focus on this understanding of life and reality. Society would turn more strongly toward human relationships and the collectivism connected to them; this could become the next major historical school of thought, recognizable in hindsight. In this way, life’s meaningfulness would be more strongly emphasized, and this would also include the respect for the human rights of everyone on Earth.
At the same time, society would move away from excessive emphasis on material wealth. This is already necessary due to climate change and the unsustainable use of resources. This shift would also be marked by belief in science and its knowledge, even though life would not be shaped solely by faith in technology as a source of salvation. This would also involve redefining many of today’s dogmas—especially religious ones—from the standpoint of science. In the future, humanity will increasingly have the possibility (whether good or bad) to influence issues that previously belonged to religion and philosophy. These already include questions about life (such as abortion) and death (such as euthanasia). Later, as technology advances, this may extend to questions of human relationships, work, and life extension. Human rights can offer answers to such questions in the future as well.
In any case, a central question for today’s world is how human rights can be strengthened and rooted globally, and the answers to this question will also be key when evaluating the future development of the world. In my first blog post on this topic, I highlighted the importance of the novel as a form of art in the development of individual thinking and in the rise of human rights. Today we have more knowledge than ever before about the elements of a good human life and about science—such as the understanding that, biologically speaking, different human “races” do not exist. All this could help humanity adopt an increasingly humane attitude toward others—an attitude whose original historical rise was influenced, in part, by the novel. All this contemporary knowledge gives us reason to hope that through deeper understanding and application, human rights will continue to strengthen and spread to more and more countries in the future.
Sources:
Neumayer, E. (2005) Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights? The Journal of conflict resolution. [Online] 49 (6), 925–953.
Schrempf-Stirling, J. et al. (2022) Human Rights: A Promising Perspective for Business & Society. Business & society. [Online] 61 (5), 1282–1321.
Toivanen , R & Cambou , D 2021 , Human Rights . in C P Krieg & R Toivanen (eds) , Situating Sustainability : A Handbook of Concepts and Contexts . Helsinki University Press , Helsinki , pp. 51-62 . https://doi.org/10.33134/HUP-14-4
