Citizenship and the Struggle for Rights in Fledgling Democracies

Abstract

The struggles for rights that are taking place in the new democracies of today’s world have features both similar and different from those that took place in the world’s new democracies in the latter years of the eighteenth century. Where they are different is, because of the successes of the earlier struggles there now exist international conventions and declarations protecting these rights, which a significant portion of the world adheres to. The norms these present struggles aim to establish in their countries are ones that are accepted elsewhere, and thus the struggles are not as local as the earlier ones. The language of rights used in the discourse of these contemporary struggles is the same wherever they are taking place. This last feature has led some to question whether or not these struggles are truly those arising out of particular local situations by persons who feel their rights are being violated, or by another group on their behalf. And if the latter, then there is a concern that the struggles will not be able to sustain themselves. However, also taking place at the same time in these countries are struggles much more similar to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century struggles. They are being undertaken by people in these countries who feel that they have continually been taken advantage of and not given a place in society, and who are saying that they will no longer accept such a situation. Their feelings are expressed in their own language and make reference to their own cultural predicament.