02 – Are Religion and Human Rights (In)Compatible Value Systems? Buddhist and Hindu Religious and Cultural Perspectives from South and Southeast Asia
Recent scholarship highlights a trend in which indigenous subjectivities reject the concept of human rights as universal. Largely, this rejection is based on data suggesting that ‘human rights’ language is foreign, Western, and irrelevant to local customs and concerns. This panel examines Buddhist and Hindu perspectives from South and Southeast Asia that counter this trend and, more significantly, suggest how dismissals of ‘human rights’ initiatives as products of Western imperialism fail to consider the myriad ways in which women have engaged—albeit in localized terms—in human rights activity.
Through historical, anthropological and theoretical analyses, the papers in this panel will consider traditional worldviews and religious practices that inherently align with a ‘human rights’ ethos. Building on Wolterstorff’s analysis (2012), the panel argues that while certain religious traditions may not explicitly name fundamental human rights, this does not mean that these rights are irrelevant or contradictory to core religious beliefs. Presenting original, interdisciplinary research, this panel will show how religious individuals and communities not only integrate human rights into their religious and cultural norms but also offer alternative interpretations of their religions to counter prevailing narratives that portray religion and human rights as incompatible.
Panelists critically examine the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ concerning the production and instrumentalization of religion and human rights rhetoric. Understanding who interprets religion and human rights for others is just as important as recognizing the immediate and long-term impact of these interpretations on the lives of underserved communities. Thus, the panel explores the challenges and strategies that Buddhists and Hindus face in connecting human rights to their religious beliefs and in recognizing them as inherent rights granted by divine will.