Natural Rights, Human Rights, Fundamental Rights and Civil Rights

Rights can be defined as social claims. Or more simply demands or entitlements for certain goods or services by people living in a society. These demands are claimed from the Society - serviced either by the Government or other people living in that society. The crucial point is that the question of Rights only arises when there is Society - or a group of people living together in mutual habitation, performing complementary functions to further the existence.

The idea of Natural Rights comprises of Rights that are considered Natural - given by Nature. Conceived in the 17th century against the backdrop of Revolution against the Monarchy, Natural Rights seek to recognise the right of the individual to exist in society. So the rights of Life - given by God or nature, Liberty - born free from bondages in nature and Property - the idea of Land and family as the domain of the Individual - became the cornerstones of Natural Rights.
The idea of Life, liberty and Property became the central tenets of Natural Rights due to the temporal context of that Society. Thus we get another proposition that Rights are social claims or entitlements at a particular time and place in Society.

The basics of Life, Liberty and Property were modified and expanded upon as Society grew Industrialised and new forms of social relations were formed. From the domain of the family, serf-feudal relations, society moved on to the atomistic existence of individuals working in factories away from their ancestral villages, tied up in Bourgeoisie-Proletariat relation. Simultaneously, the idea of State developed more comprehensively with Government subsuming the functions that arose in the modern state - Regulation of Trade, Protection of Workers, promoting industry etc. The emergence of modern state assumed responsibility for the welfare of all. The prevailing ideologies of democracy and socialism during 19th century generated alternative conceptions of human welfare and rights. The welfare agenda of the state involved expansion of the conception of rights to include various dimensions of socio-economic and political life which came to be considered desirable. This demands for Rights of Workers revolved around fair wages, decent working conditions, health benefits and a say in the Government for protecting their interests - enlargement of Vote Franchise. This development took place both within and outside the domain of family. The idea of Human Rights developed in relation to the belief that each person as part of the species, no matter what place or society he belongs to deserves rights that are over and above right to exist, right to freedom et al. Thus with the modern times, came the modern expectation of fair wages, dignity of life, protection by and against state machinery, freedom of expression, of peaceful dissent against the majority opinion and so on. This was in line with the idea of State according to Democrats and Socialists. And yet the concept of Human Rights is not without contest as it is challenged for its Universality, seen as a Western cultural imposition, clashes with Religious theocracies of Islam and certain Eastern religions.

The UN declaration on Human Rights thus enlarged the conception of Rights in line with the time and place of 1940’s post-war society. Thus the world moved on from the biological conception of Natural Rights to the social conception of Human Rights.

The Post-war period also saw the overthrow of colonial regimes and the movement against racial discrimination around the world. The newly freed nations sought to establish the self-respect of long suppressed people by giving them Rights - basic and fundamental to a dignified existence while also accommodating the modern with the traditional. Thus for instance the conception of Fundamental Rights - a bouquet of Rights specific to the time and place of Indian Society post independence. The rights were as much informed by the Colonial experience of suppression and discrimination as was with the traditional inequalities of Indian Caste system and domination of Tribals and minority religions. The Fundamental Rights are thus fundamental to the idea of India as a multicultural, multi-lingual, secular country with respect for all.

The racial discrimination movements aligned themselves with other subjugated classes - Women , LGBTs etc to evolve the concept of Civil Rights. Civil implies what lies in the domain of relations between human beings in the civil society - a concept dwelled upon by Hegel. Between the Bureaucratic domain of the Government and private domain of Family, lies a set of institutions that formed by individuals that carry out their functions in the interest of larger set. Thus the interaction at local clubs, transport facilities, restaurants would encompass the civil interactions. Till the mid 20th century, in a number of countries around the world, regressive laws and by-laws governed such interactions based in part on segregation of races, sexes, sexual orientation etc. The Civil Rights movement thus set out to reclaim these spaces between the official and the private realm by emphasising equality between various groups.

By: Navdeep Jakhar