Text
The main text used for this theme project was that of the suggested text, The Vietnamese Tradition of Human Rights. In this book, the author, Ta Van Tai measures Vietnamese human rights up to that of the United Nations and western culture. Though Tai is discussing his homeland, he seeks out to make this comparison in order to not appear to be biased on the topic. The author, Ta Van Tai, presents four main topics in this book and they go as follows: 1) The Integrity of the Person, 2) Equality or Discrimination, 3) Civil and Political Rights and 4) Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The first chapter, Integrity of the Person, appears to be one of the most important. Tai displays this subject as being the basis for everything else to come in the book. He questions the idea of arbitrary deprivation of life. Tai states that the punishment of the death penalty should only be given if a severe crime has been committed and can only be given by a proficient court. The freedom from bondage, more specifically the difference between slavery and servitude, was also discussed in this first chapter. This is perhaps one of the most interesting topics due to the fact that it appears that there is a difference between slavery and servitude. This is ironic because servitude is the state of being a slave, therefore, the terms are pretty much one in the same. The only real difference was that between a private and public serf. Private serfs might have the opportunity to buy their freedom if it was approved by the master but a public serf could never become free.
The second topic or chapter is much thought provoking as well. It questions the idea of equality or discrimination. Tai uses Article 7 and Article 2 from the Universal Declaration as his main basis to question the so called Vietnamese equalities. In summary, the articles state that everyone is considered equal before the law and they are entitled to the same protection of the law. The articles go on to state that everyone is entitled to these rights without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion, national origin or anything else (p. 99). Ta Van Tai uses the topics of family status, social status, sex discrimination and racial discrimination to establish the idea that in Vietnamese tradition, things are not as equal as they ought to be. For example, if a younger relative denounced or were to hit an elder they would be punished for such action. If the tables were turned and the elder did the same thing, there would be no punishment. The only way an action of punishment would be taken on the elder is if the action resulted in a serious injury or death.
The third chapter, Civil and Political Right, consisted of two focuses; the freedom of movement and the freedom of collective action. Tai, once again, approached these topics in the form of a question. Unlike the first two chapters, in this chapter the author did not present a completely different opposition to the questions posed. Take for instance the question of being able to freely move about. Instead of stating that mobility was not at all possible, Tai informed us that it was possible but there was particular procedure that needed to be taken. Freedom of assembly, also known as freedom of religion also had its limitations. Religious assembly was normally tolerated and slight limitations were only imposed when it was felt that large gatherings would jeopardize public order and in turn, governmental authorization may be needed. At one point, there was no specific regulation to this form of collective action. After the repression of the Catholics, the emperor implemented a policy that stated only assemblies consisting of more than one hundred people needed government authorization.
Lastly, the final chapter of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As one could imagine, economic rights consisted of the right to an adequate standard of living in the terms of social security, health, hunger and property. As for social and cultural rights, those topics entailed the idea of family rights and educational rights. I thought it to be interesting that under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the traditional human rights as taught by the Vietnamese society, everyone has the opportunity to an education. With that right though, it is understood that even though everyone does have the right to an education, there is a parental right to choose the type education that their child should receive. Furthermore, I also find it interesting that this opportunity is open to everyone when I feel it is culturally known that women play a different role than men in the area of education and the Vietnamese society. Yes, men and women have the same opportunity to education but it is obvious that what may be done with that education differs between male and females.
Throughout this book, Tai does well in comparing the Vietnamese traditions to that of the United Nations and the western cultural. By using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he provides examples of how the Vietnamese way of life is connected to that of the rest of the world; the western cultural in particular. He also does well in remaining unbiased by highlighting the positives and negatives of the human rights emphasized in Vietnam. Tai makes it evident that all of these topics and issues are imperative to the idea of Vietnamese human rights. Even though, Tai does well with what I would consider the political aspect, like some of Tai’s critics, I would have liked for him to elaborate on the cultural aspect as well. All in all, it almost appeared that he was just listing the laws that had been established in Vietnam as opposed to the true and innate human rights of the Vietnamese society. I would have valued his book and his opinion even more if he would have provided a more well rounded view of human rights in Vietnam.
The main text used for this theme project was that of the suggested text, The Vietnamese Tradition of Human Rights. In this book, the author, Ta Van Tai measures Vietnamese human rights up to that of the United Nations and western culture. Though Tai is discussing his homeland, he seeks out to make this comparison in order to not appear to be biased on the topic. The author, Ta Van Tai, presents four main topics in this book and they go as follows: 1) The Integrity of the Person, 2) Equality or Discrimination, 3) Civil and Political Rights and 4) Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The first chapter, Integrity of the Person, appears to be one of the most important. Tai displays this subject as being the basis for everything else to come in the book. He questions the idea of arbitrary deprivation of life. Tai states that the punishment of the death penalty should only be given if a severe crime has been committed and can only be given by a proficient court. The freedom from bondage, more specifically the difference between slavery and servitude, was also discussed in this first chapter. This is perhaps one of the most interesting topics due to the fact that it appears that there is a difference between slavery and servitude. This is ironic because servitude is the state of being a slave, therefore, the terms are pretty much one in the same. The only real difference was that between a private and public serf. Private serfs might have the opportunity to buy their freedom if it was approved by the master but a public serf could never become free.
The second topic or chapter is much thought provoking as well. It questions the idea of equality or discrimination. Tai uses Article 7 and Article 2 from the Universal Declaration as his main basis to question the so called Vietnamese equalities. In summary, the articles state that everyone is considered equal before the law and they are entitled to the same protection of the law. The articles go on to state that everyone is entitled to these rights without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion, national origin or anything else (p. 99). Ta Van Tai uses the topics of family status, social status, sex discrimination and racial discrimination to establish the idea that in Vietnamese tradition, things are not as equal as they ought to be. For example, if a younger relative denounced or were to hit an elder they would be punished for such action. If the tables were turned and the elder did the same thing, there would be no punishment. The only way an action of punishment would be taken on the elder is if the action resulted in a serious injury or death.
The third chapter, Civil and Political Right, consisted of two focuses; the freedom of movement and the freedom of collective action. Tai, once again, approached these topics in the form of a question. Unlike the first two chapters, in this chapter the author did not present a completely different opposition to the questions posed. Take for instance the question of being able to freely move about. Instead of stating that mobility was not at all possible, Tai informed us that it was possible but there was particular procedure that needed to be taken. Freedom of assembly, also known as freedom of religion also had its limitations. Religious assembly was normally tolerated and slight limitations were only imposed when it was felt that large gatherings would jeopardize public order and in turn, governmental authorization may be needed. At one point, there was no specific regulation to this form of collective action. After the repression of the Catholics, the emperor implemented a policy that stated only assemblies consisting of more than one hundred people needed government authorization.
Lastly, the final chapter of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As one could imagine, economic rights consisted of the right to an adequate standard of living in the terms of social security, health, hunger and property. As for social and cultural rights, those topics entailed the idea of family rights and educational rights. I thought it to be interesting that under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the traditional human rights as taught by the Vietnamese society, everyone has the opportunity to an education. With that right though, it is understood that even though everyone does have the right to an education, there is a parental right to choose the type education that their child should receive. Furthermore, I also find it interesting that this opportunity is open to everyone when I feel it is culturally known that women play a different role than men in the area of education and the Vietnamese society. Yes, men and women have the same opportunity to education but it is obvious that what may be done with that education differs between male and females.
Throughout this book, Tai does well in comparing the Vietnamese traditions to that of the United Nations and the western cultural. By using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he provides examples of how the Vietnamese way of life is connected to that of the rest of the world; the western cultural in particular. He also does well in remaining unbiased by highlighting the positives and negatives of the human rights emphasized in Vietnam. Tai makes it evident that all of these topics and issues are imperative to the idea of Vietnamese human rights. Even though, Tai does well with what I would consider the political aspect, like some of Tai’s critics, I would have liked for him to elaborate on the cultural aspect as well. All in all, it almost appeared that he was just listing the laws that had been established in Vietnam as opposed to the true and innate human rights of the Vietnamese society. I would have valued his book and his opinion even more if he would have provided a more well rounded view of human rights in Vietnam.
2 comments:
Overall the text portion of your project provides a strong summary of the source text. You provide a solid explanation of most of the work's key points. The ending section on economic, social and cultural rights seems as if it were cut short. This section glances over what the points might be and leaves me questioning whether the author felt this point was less important or whether you felt this point was less important or not worth explaining. Perhaps you could go into more detail here or if you feel that it either takes away from the arguement or has no real place there explain why that is. The other main problem I encountered in this section is the transitions. Near the end of each paragraph try to make a better bridge or conclusion into the next idea instead of suddenly stopping and starting into a new section. The conclusion sums up fairly well but seems to disagree with the rest of your tone, it seemed that throughout the review you were somewhat critical of his approach and his ideas, but then the conclusion has you agreeing more with what he has to say. I would recommend going back over the review and checking to see if there are maybe some word choices you could change to make the tone agree better throughout. Other than a few you provide good examples to make your points clear, just be sure to go in and provide more examples into the fourth main point of your review. Overall, the review provides a good summary that works with the context of the project, but could use more commentary and examples.
To start off, the first sentence is weak for an introduction since, as I commented on your context, the text part of your theme project is the only one to actually revolve around the text. Plus for someone reading just out of interest it would sound awkward. You state early that the book is about how the human rights of Vietnam measure up to those of the UN and such, but I'm confused on the comparison being made. For example, you say Tai suggests the death penalty only be given if deemed necessary by an adequate court, and my confusion is whether this is his opinion, past or current Vietnamese belief, or something he is critical of in the book. If you detail this a little better or show his comparison to other cultures I think it will ass strength to the entire Text section. Not to be picky, but the first sentence of the third paragraph seems awkward as well, I'd suggest changing "much" to "very", but only if you get the same vibe reading it as I do. db again beat me to the punch, but the paragraph about Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, is in my opinion, the part of your paper which could use some lengthening. It seems very generic, especially compared to the details and examples in your previous paragraphs, which in turn are very strong. I think your examples really allow us to see what aspects of human rights are being investigated by the author. My apologies for so little positive feedback, but overall I think its very well done, and mentioning other examples isn't necessary. To sum it up, this part of your project will not require much work in my opinion, just a little fine tuning, as it is well written and follows the intent of the project quite well.
Post a Comment