The modern crusade for human rights has been seen as having its foundation in Western (European and North American) political history and culture. The focus on Western human rights discourse results frequently in the dismissal of nonWestern cultures, institution s, norms and history as anti-dem ocratic and authoritarian, with little utility for building modern human rights institution s. The authors contend that these cultures, norms etc., are of vital importance for those in non-Western nations who seek to protect human rights. Further, careful study of these practices may assist those in the West who now confront a more complex human rights debate about af® rmative action, entitlem ents, and gender and ethnic violence. African examples are employed to illustrate the strength of traditiona l checks on authority and the existence of entitleme nts in traditiona l society. Further, to the extent that human right notions are seen as indigenous to African culture, those demanding respect for rights can be insulated from the charge of western cultural imperialism.Hum an Rights conceptions are frequently re¯ected in international legal docum ents. The m ost widely accepted of these docum ents, are of course, the Universal Declaration of Hum an Rights, and the International Hum an Rights Covenants. These docum ents re¯ect the relative consensus on hum an rights among W estern states; typically these states have claimed a share of authorship and frequently consider them selves the authoritative interpreters of hum an rights. 1 The international hum an rights m ovem ent has been enriched by the history and culture of the struggles for hum an rights in W estern societies; these struggles, against genocide, against tyranny, against discrim ination, have provided important theoretical and sym bolic settings for the global hum an rights struggle. At the same time, the notion of W estern proprietorship of hum an rights also puts the global movem ent at risk, 2 as well as unnecessarily hampering the struggle for hum an rights within W estern dem ocracies. The global risk arises from possible perceptions within the Third W orld that hum an rights criticisms are political, invasive of sovereignty, a result of imbalances of power and ethnocentric. 3 Current crises within W estern democracies (the af® rmative action/ entitlements debates in the USA, ethnic violence within W estern Europe; general econom ic and environmental decline in many European countries; the status of

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