Analytical limits to the conception of human rights in china: on the normative scope of Western cultural universalism

This article aims to define, based on assumptions different from those of a Western nature, the necessary epistemological foundations for studying the contemporary development of human rights policy in mainland China. This exercise does not imply a criticism of such a Western notion of Human Rights. On the contrary, in recognition of its relevance and (non-universal) ethical sense inherent in it, it seeks to examine the potential difficulties that its application may entail in a political, social and cultural context different from one another. In this vein, by analyzing the contrasts that can be found between the dominant Human Rights paradigm in the People’s Republic of China and those to which Western professors and scholars adhere, it is expected to contribute to the consolidation of a more realistic vision —on the part of the West— of what is understood by “Human Rights” in the People’s Republic of China.