Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

I wrote an article on this subject on June 23, 2005 in another leading article on the same website entitled ‘A fundamental debate that has almost been forgotten.’

 

At the root of this neglect lies the political philosophy of some of the people who drew up the Declaration in 1948, whose political ideas tended towards individualism. Even so, the Declaration contained compensatory elements such as article 29, mentioned above. However, with the passing of time, an interpretation that is increasingly resistant to collective values and rights has gained ground. I wrote on the website on June 23 that ‘today both in Spain and in Europe, and especially in France, the idea that there are no collective rights, only individual ones, has tremendous power. A complete rejection of everything that has to do with the community and gives people a sense of identity predominates.’ An example of the influence of this idea can be found in the project for the European Constitution, where the traditional definition of the European Union as Union of States, Peoples and Citizens, was reduced to Union of States and Citizens. It was already difficult at that time to obtain clear and explicit recognition for the respect due to all languages and cultures. This occurred not only during the constitution debate but also while drawing up the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The decision on whether to leave out the term respect for cultural and linguistic diversity balanced on a knife’s edge (article 22).

 

To sum up, individuals, or people, and their local or regional communities count for little. A very influential political way of thinking, which is a mixture of Jacobinism and state interventionism, leaves the regulation of fundamental issues of identity and social cohesion and the definition of values clearly in the hands of the State. This harks back to the principle of cuius regio, eius religio introduced by the European states in the 17th century, according to which the king determined the religious confession of his subjects.

 

This way of thinking affects Catalan people in more than one way. It affects them as Catalans because, in practice, it comes down to negating the existence of Catalonia as a legal entity and as a fundamental reference point for its citizens. It also affects them in a more general way, as people, because it makes them much too dependent on very demanding political powers. And this contributes to the loss of people’s sense of individual responsibility.