Human Dignity, Justice, Fairness, Youth - Eubios Ethics Institute

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Macer, DRJ and Saad-Zoy, S. eds., Asia-Arab Interregional Philosophical Dialogues:
Human Dignity, Justice, Fairness, Youth, Democracy and Public Policy (UNESCO, 2011)
last two decades. Jurgen Habermas has been rightly credited as bringing about that surge of
interest in deliberative democracy and he credits Dewey for inspiring his interest in the necessity
and power of discursive deliberation. I need not go into the many dialogues among philosophers
critiquing Habermas or Dewey and adding to the current conceptualizing of deliberative
democracy. It is enough to note that democracy is a contested concept and so is deliberative
democracy. Both have always been contested but especially in modern times as they become
more global, and more swiftly vulnerable to the shifts, changes, reconstructions and conflicts that
characterize modernity. That is why Dewey’s observation that democracy must be reborn in
every generation remains vital. Indeed, that is the reason for this forum grappling with the
problems besetting the integration so necessary to democracy.
Today, from every corner of the planet we hear resonating cries for egalitarian liberal
democratic ideals such as freedom, justice and human dignity. While we may lament that they
are not yet celebrations of attainment of these universal values, we must take heart and courage,
for the cries for individual freedom are stronger than ever and are growing in number. Pleas and
demands for freedom and justice from students, teachers, office workers, and clerics of less
industrialized traditional societies should demonstrate that democracy is no longer a mode of
governance available only to advanced modern societies.
In recent years, we have been witnessing growing concerns in Western Europe and in Western
democracies elsewhere over the influx of alien customs and mores still practiced by immigrants.
Many of these practices are considered to clash with the established liberal social order existing
in the Western democracies. It is well publicized that a considerable number of immigrants from
the nearby continent to Europe where countries are built around a population base with a
common culture tend to be hesitant to integrate into the host democracy and to identify
themselves as their members. It is certainly is a disturbingly worrisome situation, and it makes
one stop and reflect upon the current state of affairs on this continent. One might ask if the
political, social and economic order is one that tempts newcomers to give up their traditions for
the sake of integration into the cultures of their adopted countries; that is, is it fair and just
enough for them to recognize its legitimacy. Is integration truly the “dynamic, two-way process
of mutual accommodation” between immigrants and residents of EU countries as a recent
promotional EU communication says?
The whole idea of integration is to tie immigrants more closely into society, but that will only
happen if their basic rights are respected (Haleh Chahrokh, Human Rights Watch). There is
mounting evidence that human rights abuses suffered by immigrants impede efforts to assist
them in integrating. Immigrants face a higher risk of poverty that the rest of the population and
specific obstacles in accessing housing, health care and financial services. This situation,
compounded by discrimination, is hampering their full participation in society and should soon
be reversed. Discrimination in this instance refers to discrimination by nationality and national
origin and restricting family reunification thus undermining surely long established human rights
to family life and the adopted country’s duty to enable residents to marry and start a family. No
one needs to be told that discrimination of this sort breeds not only discontent but a fervor for
traditions that are deemed offensive.
II.
In Today’s world, increasing cultural interactions among regions, accelerated by the ongoing
globalization by trade, travel, migrations and high-tech communications, have come to