Right to science and culture
Encyclopedia
The right to science and culture is an economic, social, and cultural human right claimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and related documents which says that everyone has a right to participate in culture
, to benefit from scientific progress
, and to have a stake in their own contributions to science
and culture. It is expressed in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Similar language appears in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
, a treaty
that many nations have signed:
The concept of a right to science and culture has received relatively little attention from legal scholars and human rights activists, and there is no widely accepted interpretation of what the right should entail in practice. Human rights experts and members of the access to knowledge movement and have argued that the right to science and culture is in tension with overly broad intellectual property rights that severely limit the ability of many people to participate in cultural life and benefit from progress in science and technology
. In 2000, for example, the United Nations Economic and Social Council
Sub-commission on Human Rights suggested that the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
may violate the right to science and therefore conflict with international human rights law
.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
and related documents which says that everyone has a right to participate in culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, to benefit from scientific progress
Scientific progress
Scientific progress is the idea that science increases its problem solving ability through the application of some scientific method.-Discontinuous Model of Scientific Progress:...
, and to have a stake in their own contributions to science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and culture. It is expressed in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Similar language appears in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976...
, a treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
that many nations have signed:
The concept of a right to science and culture has received relatively little attention from legal scholars and human rights activists, and there is no widely accepted interpretation of what the right should entail in practice. Human rights experts and members of the access to knowledge movement and have argued that the right to science and culture is in tension with overly broad intellectual property rights that severely limit the ability of many people to participate in cultural life and benefit from progress in science and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. In 2000, for example, the United Nations Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
Sub-commission on Human Rights suggested that the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO Members...
may violate the right to science and therefore conflict with international human rights law
International human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
.