Cultural Rights

Although ‘cultural rights’ are among the five major categories of human rights (alongside civil, political, economic and social rights), it is often regarded as the ‘neglected category of human rights’. There are two main reasons for this. First, ‘culture’ is an elusive concept that is difficult to define. This renders obligations in relation to cultural rights difficult to articulate. Second, because culture is such a vague concept, it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly which rights are cultural rights. For instance, does ‘cultural rights’ refer specifically to the ‘rights of minorities’? Are cultural rights collective rights or are they individual rights?