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This important volume brings together a range of material in
different areas of law and the social sciences that address
questions concerning the rights of minorities. The discipline is
arguably one of the oldest branches of public international law,
and owes its heritage to those who struggled to create standards to
protect the numerically inferior and non-dominant communities from
the excesses of the majority. While reflecting this rich heritage,
the works contained in this volume show the extent to which policy
constructs (especially in law) have begun to pay heed to the need
to include minorities in different domestic settings across the
globe. To provide readers with a structured approach to
understanding global minority rights law the editor divides the
issues into six main headings, namely: Historical Development;
Conceptual Development; Contemporary Challenges; Fundamental Norms
of Minority Protection; Specific Rights of Minorities; Human Rights
and Minority Rights.
This important volume brings together a range of material in
different areas of law and the social sciences that address
questions concerning the rights of minorities. The discipline is
arguably one of the oldest branches of public international law,
and owes its heritage to those who struggled to create standards to
protect the numerically inferior and non-dominant communities from
the excesses of the majority. While reflecting this rich heritage,
the works contained in this volume show the extent to which policy
constructs (especially in law) have begun to pay heed to the need
to include minorities in different domestic settings across the
globe. To provide readers with a structured approach to
understanding global minority rights law the editor divides the
issues into six main headings, namely: Historical Development;
Conceptual Development; Contemporary Challenges; Fundamental Norms
of Minority Protection; Specific Rights of Minorities; Human Rights
and Minority Rights.
The absence of a regional system of human rights protection for
Asia, and the ambivalence of some Asian states towards existing
human rights regimes often results in a lack of awareness of the
plight of minorities in these states. The existing human rights
literature on Asia tends to focus on the debate of cultural
relativism. On the other hand, minority rights literature largely
ignores Asia. This book tackles this lacuna by undertaking an
analysis of the minority rights legal regimes in India, China,
Malaysia and Singapore, while also locating this discussion in the
context of a wider debate on human rights in Asia. India and China,
the world's most populous states, face similar problems vis-a-vis
minorities, yet tackle these using starkly different techniques.
Malaysia and Singapore, vocal in their articulation of 'Asian
Values', have taken opposing stances over minority rights. Malaysia
has sought to establish Malay hegemony using minority rights tools
in favour of the majority, while Singapore deliberately adopted a
doctrine of meritocracy, nonetheless emphasising ethnic fault-lines
within its population. Together the four states reflect not only
the complex layers of culture and identity within Asian states, but
also the vastly different political systems and contrasting
conceptions of the role of law in the continent. Through its
examination of minority rights theory and its application in
specific cases, this book provides a useful comparative model for
the assessment of other states within Asia, thereby taking an
important first step towards understanding the situation of
minorities within the entire continent.
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