Ute Seela

Limitations of a ‘purist’ approach to human rights

Rebecca Adamson’s critique in the June issue of Alliance of the traditional philanthropic paradigm (‘one gives, the other receives’) and the concomitant lack of agency on the part of the recipient may be relevant beyond the field of support to indigenous peoples. Cultural values and traditional mechanisms for decision-making play a role in matters of conflict and justice in many local communities, whether indigenous or not.