Values for a godless age

C2 Proficiency · Gapped Text · Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read an extract from a book on human rights. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A–H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

The problem is that the growth of globalization makes the protection of nation states a pointless goal in certain circumstances. Transnational corporations with multiple subsidiaries operating in a number of countries simultaneously wield significant economic and political power and it is often extremely difficult for the state – both home and host governments – to exercise effective legal control over them.

If the proliferation of pressure groups has raised the profile of the human rights debate, satellite television has reinforced much of the content of their campaigns. The fact that from our armchairs we can all see live what is happening to others around the world has had an enormous impact on the way the struggle for human rights is viewed. It would not be remotely believable to plead ignorance nowadays, for 24-hour news coverage from the world's hotspots reaches us all.

This is, after all, a uniquely propitious time, as the values and language of human rights are becoming familiar to more and more people, who judge the merits or otherwise of political and economic decisions increasingly in human rights terms. Arguments seem fresh and appealing in many quarters where once they sounded weak and stale.

On a global scale, it is not strong states that are the problem here but weak ones, as they fail to protect their citizens from private power – whether it is paramilitaries committing murder and torture or transnational corporations spreading contamination and pollution.

One of the most significant of these is what has come to be called 'globalization', the collapsing of national boundaries in economic, political and cultural life. From the expanding role of the world's financial markets and the spread of transnational corporations to the revolution in communications and information technology, more and more areas of people's lives are affected by regional, international or transnational developments, whether they are aware of this or not.

Not only must states not infringe rights, and enforce those rights which fall within their direct sphere (like providing a criminal justice system or holding fair elections), but they also have 'positive obligations' to uphold rights enshrined in human rights treaties, even when it is private parties which have violated them.

The results of its investigations were published in 1999 in a unique pamphlet on Globalization, Human Rights and the Rule of Law. The issue to be faced is whether to treat these and other corporations as 'large para-state entities to be held accountable under the same sort of regime as states', or whether to look for different approaches to accountability 'that are promulgated by consumer groups and the corporations themselves'.

No longer the preserve of representatives of nation states meeting under the auspices of the United Nations, a developing conversation is taking place on a global scale and involving a growing cast of people – for an increasing range of pressure groups now frame their aspirations in human rights terms.

Of course, in one sense, the quest for universal human rights standards after the Second World War was an early attempt to communicate across national boundaries, albeit a rather faltering endeavour, with its claims to universality challenged both in terms of authorship and content. More recently, a loosening of the reins of the human rights dialogue has ushered in wider debate.

Perhaps the best known of these is Amnesty International, established in 1961. Before Amnesty, there were very few organizations like it, yet now there are thousands operating all over the world. Whether campaigning for the protection of the environment or third-world debt relief, any such organization is engaged in the debate about fundamental human rights. And it is no longer just a soft sideshow.

The fact that strangers from different countries can communicate with each other through the worldwide web is having a similar effect in dealing a blow to misinformation. During one recent major human rights trial over sixty websites sprang up to cover the proceedings, while sales of the government-controlled newspaper in that country plummeted.

The effect of increased responsibility at this highest level has been to continually extend the consideration of who is legally liable, directly or indirectly, under international human rights law. In part, this is an acknowledgement that even individuals need to be held responsible for flagrant breaches of others' rights, whether these are preventing protesters from peacefully demonstrating or abusing the rights of children.

It has been noted that paradoxically, in such circumstances, it may be in the interests of human rights organizations to seek to reinforce the legitimacy and authority of the state, within a regulated global framework.

Part of the new trend in human rights thinking is therefore to include powerful private bodies within its remit. The International Commission of Jurists has recently explored ways in which international human rights standards could be directly applied to transnational corporations.

Whatever the way ahead, the lessons of the past must be learnt. Any world view or set of values which is presented as self-evident is ultimately doomed to failure. The case for human rights always needs to be made and remade. In a world where globalization too often seems like a modernized version of old-fashioned cultural imperialism, it is important to query the claim that human rights are universally accepted.

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989 so did the plaster cast which had kept the idea of human rights in limbo. It was now free to evolve in response to the changing conditions of the late twentieth century. ___ Of course, in one sense, the quest for universal human rights standards after the Second World War was an early attempt to communicate across national boundaries, albeit a rather faltering endeavour, with its claims to universality challenged both in terms of authorship and content. More recently, a loosening of the reins of the human rights dialogue has ushered in wider debate. ___ Perhaps the best known of these is Amnesty International, established in 1961. Before Amnesty, there were very few organizations like it, yet now there are thousands operating all over the world. Whether campaigning for the protection of the environment or third-world debt relief, any such organization is engaged in the debate about fundamental human rights. And it is no longer just a soft sideshow. ___ The fact that strangers from different countries can communicate with each other through the worldwide web is having a similar effect in dealing a blow to misinformation. During one recent major human rights trial over sixty websites sprang up to cover the proceedings, while sales of the government-controlled newspaper in that country plummeted. ___ The effect of increased responsibility at this highest level has been to continually extend the consideration of who is legally liable, directly or indirectly, under international human rights law. In part, this is an acknowledgement that even individuals need to be held responsible for flagrant breaches of others' rights, whether these are preventing protesters from peacefully demonstrating or abusing the rights of children. ___ It has been noted that paradoxically, in such circumstances, it may be in the interests of human rights organizations to seek to reinforce the legitimacy and authority of the state, within a regulated global framework. ___ Part of the new trend in human rights thinking is therefore to include powerful private bodies within its remit. The International Commission of Jurists has recently explored ways in which international human rights standards could be directly applied to transnational corporations. ___ Whatever the way ahead, the lessons of the past must be learnt. Any world view or set of values which is presented as self-evident is ultimately doomed to failure. The case for human rights always needs to be made and remade. In a world where globalization too often seems like a modernized version of old-fashioned cultural imperialism, it is important to query the claim that human rights are universally accepted.

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