Discuss the relations between cultural claims, power and universal Essay

Discuss the relations between cultural claims, power and universal human rights - Essay Example To begin with, let us consider the controversy surrounding the design of the Australian flag. This case is representative of the ideological and power struggles that is rampant everywhere else in the world. The Australian flag evokes starkly different emotions from different sections of its populace. For the indigenous community, it denotes a selective and exclusivist interpretation of Australian history, which completely neglects pre-colonial heritage. For the majority of the European settlers, the blatant human rights violations perpetrated against innocent hordes of indigenous tribes do not evoke sympathy as much as colonial supremacy. This dual viewpoints of history is typical in the post-colonial societies elsewhere, with a marked shift between the sentiments of the ruling elite and the subaltern masses. As the authors point out, â€Å"These debates about the meaning of flags raise issues that point to the very foundations of international politics. States claim that they embody the identities of the peoples living within their territorial boundaries. These identities are a powerful force, even if they are sometimes contrived or imagined. The principle of state sovereignty is often upheld not just as a fundamental political and legal tool but also as the means of protecting the culture or cultures operating within the state’s boundaries†. (Brown, Bromley & Athreye, p.200) Over the course of the last century, states have claimed legitimacy to their causes using the language of rights. The hope lies therein for minorities and underprivileged within states to also employ the language of rights to claim their legitimate share of opportunity, prosperity and privilege. While traditionally, notions of cultural identity held sway over other abstract categorizations, the world of neo-liberal economic globalization has given precedence to universal human rights and justice. So, the

Milton Friedman and Edward Freeman Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Milton Friedman and Edward Freeman - Assignment Example Its responsibilities of providing employment, avoiding pollution, and doing away with discrimination are crucial (Friedman). Friedman asserts that those businesspersons who talk this way preach pure socialism. As such, they are puppets using the intellectual forces to undermine the basis of a free society. In this paper, I will seek to develop arguments based on the thoughts of Milton Friedman and Edward Freeman and establish who is right among the two of them. Milton Friedman Can a business be socially responsible? With reference to the discussion and arguments brought forward by Milton Friedman, only notable people who believe that a business has social responsibilities due to their lack of rigor and analytical looseness. Further explanation indicates that, only people who can have social responsibilities, not businesses. Presumably, a corporation is an artificial person for who can have artificial responsibilities (Freeman 234). However, even in this vague sense, business as a who le, cannot have social responsibilities. Social responsibility facet as a doctrine comes due to sharp relief when trade unions use the doctrine to justify wage restraint (Friedman). The conflict of interest appears naked in this context and clearer when there is a question to trade union officials to subordinate their member’s interests in order to pave way for a more general purpose. Therefore, as officials of the trade unions, they have a social responsibility towards the business, which is to make profits. Additionally, Friedman puts across a challenge when it comes to exercising the will of social responsibility. He expounds that, the hardship or difficulty of exercising social responsibility demonstrates, without a doubt, one of the greatest virtues of private competitive enterprise. Due to this difficulty, social responsibility forces people to take responsibility for their own actions, which in turn makes it difficult for everyone to exploit others for selfish and unse lfish purposes (Freeman 236). This implies that, people can do well, but only for personal expense. Since discussion regarding social responsibility focuses much on corporations, most of arguments concern corporate executives or individual proprietors. In an enterprise that is free, a corporate executive, as an employee of a business owned by other people, has a responsibility to the business owners. With that respect, the main objective of the corporate executive is to carry out the business activities in accordance with the employers’ desires. Generally, this will mean that he has to make as much money as possible while upholding the basic rules of the society. The society embodies these rules into either the law or the ethical custom. Edward Freeman With regard to Freeman’s thesis, managers have a duty towards stakeholders following the concept that managers have a fiduciary relationship with the stakeholders. Stakeholders refer to those segments of people who have a claim or stake in the firm. In order to drive the point with specific intrigue, Freeman incorporates the role of the management as the agent of the stakeholders, employees, customers, local community and suppliers. Using these agents, Freeman argues that a business should care for consumers and employees (Friedman). Thus, every group of the firm’s stakeholders must receive equal treatment and participate fully in determining the future of the business as