Minority Rights in Asia: A Comparative Legal Analysis - Hardcover

Joshua Castellino; Elvira Dominguez Redondo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199296057 ISBN 13: 9780199296057

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2006

Synopsis

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-à-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.

About this title

About the Author

Joshua Castellino is a lecturer in human rights law at the Irish Centre of Human Rights, NUI Galway. Formerly a journalist in India, he was awarded the Chevening Scholarship in 1995 and subsequently completed his PhD in International Law at the University of Hull, UK, in 1998. He is actively involved in human rights discussions between Europe and Asia (including the EU-China programme and the Support for Arab Lawyers Programme), and has published two volumes, an edited collection of essays and several articles on various aspects of international law and human rights law.

Elvira Domínguez Redondo was awarded a Government of Ireland Post-Doctoral Fellowship. She completed her PhD in Human Rights Law at Carlos III de Madrid in Spain and has also worked as a consultant at the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Switzerland. She is an active participant in the EU-China Dialogue and Experts Network and has authored a book that studies the special procedures of the UN Commission on Human Rights. She is currently based at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199296057
• ISBN 13: 9780199296057
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312