IB Global Politics Contested Meanings of Rights and Justice Key Definitions

Collective rights are the rights held by groups of people, often tied to their shared identity, culture, or history, such as Indigenous peoples’ rights to land or the right of minority groups to preserve their language and traditions.

Cosmopolitan justice treats every human being as the basic unit of moral concern, regardless of nationality, and demands that obligations of justice extend across state borders.

Cultural relativism is the view that rights and moral standards are products of particular cultures rather than universal absolutes. It treats human rights claims as legitimate only when they fit local traditions, religion, and history.

Distributive justice concerns the principles by which goods, burdens, and rights are allocated in a society. It asks who should get what, on what basis, and why.

Refers to economically and industrially advanced countries, generally located north of less developed nations.

Individual rights are the freedoms and entitlements held by each person, such as freedom of speech, the right to privacy, and the right to a fair trial, which protect individuals from interference by the state or others.

Inequality refers to the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, and power among individuals, groups, or nations.

Intersectionality is a framework, developed by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, that analyses how overlapping social identities such as race, gender, and class interact to produce distinct and compounded forms of discrimination or disadvantage.

Justice refers to the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and treatment.

Justice refers to the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and punishments within a society.

Rights are entitlements or permissions that individuals or groups have, often protected by law or moral principles.

Rights are fundamental entitlements or freedoms that individuals possess, often considered essential for dignity, equality, and justice.

Rights are entitlements or freedoms that individuals or groups possess, often protected by law or moral principles.

Social justice is the fair distribution of opportunities, resources, and recognition across a society, with special attention to disadvantaged and marginalised groups.

Universalism is the view that human rights belong to all people regardless of culture, religion, or nationality, because they rest on moral principles that hold everywhere. It treats a core set of rights as valid across all societies, not just where local tradition happens to support them.