Cultural Capital. On the Right to Cultural Identity

• Main Author: C. Maris
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: Caribbean SIDS 2012
• Subjects: Canada; Raz; inuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11245/1.417569

According to article 1 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. This article refers to the ‘third generation’ of human rights, which has emerged in reaction to colonial oppression: collective rights of a people, such as its right to self-determination, to its natural resources and to its culture. Obviously, such collective rights may conflict with earlier generations of human rights, notably the individual liberties. The point, then, is to find a fair balance. The right to cultural identity has been advocated from the perspective of liberal political philosophy by Raz and Kymlicka, who however concentrate on the rights of cultural minorities in Western liberal countries: indigenous minorities like the Inuit in Canada, or immigrants from Muslim countries in Europe. My contribution focuses on the right to cultural identity of countries like Curaçao that requires an approach of its own, although the views of Rawls, Raz and Kymlicka may be helpful by analogy.