75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the limits of its representation in Latin America and Africa

Abstract

Even though it represents a new awareness regarding the dignity of the human person, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is out of step with the reality of nations with peripheral economies. In this logic, based on bibliographical research and a qualitative approach, this study discusses the limitations of the representation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Latin America and Africa. There is no rescue of the specificities of each continent, but the incorporation of socio-historical aspects that bring together the experiences of these continents, namely colonialism, democratic instability and the existence of countries with a low Human Development Index. The research borrows from authors who discuss representation in post-colonial studies, in order to associate the anachronism between the reality of non-Western communities and the representation that the West holds about them. We delimited the basic categories colonialism, poverty and underdevelopment to compose this study. As final considerations, we propose an educational process in human rights capable of challenging and transforming the structures that perpetuate inequalities.