Communication and Interculturality: Current

Debates
MIDTERM EXAM
II SEMESTER 2021
FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
DEPARTAMENTO DE LENGUAS

WRITING SECTION SECTION VALUE___2.0 PTS_____ TIME: 40’ /1 hour

NAME: ______Laia Valeria Vaca Alfonso_______________ DATE: November 5th_

Make a general evaluation of the article “the human right debates in an era of
globalization: Hegemony of discourse” by Nikhil Aziz (1995). Write four paragraphs
evaluating the article following the structure of a critical review. Firstly, write an
introduction stating only main topics of the essay and your evaluation in one sentence at
the end. Secondly, write a summary of the main or core contents or concepts tackled in the
the article; furthermore, you may talk about the text organization in general. Thirdly, write
about the strengths and weaknesses of the article according to your evaluation criteria.
Finally, write a conclusion summarizing the main points discussed and restating your
overall assessment of the text.

If possible, use a variety and/or some of the grammar topics studied in class (i.e., past
unreal conditional inverted, mixed conditionals, inversion in academic writing, possessives
with gerunds, pair conjunctions). Keep in mind that all your paragraphs need to have a
solid topic sentence, supporting sentences, linking words, and a conclusion. Writing
section evaluation criteria to bear in mind: Task fulfillment, paragraph and text structure,
grammar use, academic vocabulary, punctuation, coherence, and cohesion.

Article: Aziz (1995). The human right debates in an era of globalization: Hegemony of discourse.

For years, globalization has allowed us to embrace completely under the premise that this
allows us to have progress that allows us to bring innovation and technological progress,
But we know that this is not always the case, because while globalization from above
tends to homogenize and to increase the dominance of the rich and powerful, globalization
from below feeds on diversity and promotes the diffusion of power through alliances and
networks. And furthermore, although globalization from above promotes formal democracy
closely linked to the "free market" and capitalist development, Globalization from below
implies participatory mass democracy and open grassroots movements and the search for
new political visions and alternative forms of governance and development.

The article allows us to make a journey from the concept of globalization through
globalization from above where we talk about the adoption of a democratic-liberal system
with regular intervals, respect for civil and political individuality rights, and so on. And it
mentions democracy does not seem to be a problem in itself, but rather the problem where
most of this type of democratization is aimed at formal democracy rather than a real
participatory mass democracy. On the other hand it tells us about globalization from below
and how it is represented in the form of variety of transnational social movements that
have wide-ranging concerns based on a notion of human community that is in itself
based on unity in diversity, so from here it also touches on the issue of politics, culture and
the economy, seen from this globalization from below. Then we find the Hegemony of
Discourse in Human Rights, where it shows us that Western nations are increasingly using
their very narrow interpretation of human rights as a criterion by which to judge Third
World governments, and in the conduct of political and economic relations with the latter.
So then we find other issues that pertain to this such as the important problems, the
particularity of hegemonic universalism, the intolerance of secularism and the search for
genuinely universalist-pluralist alternatives.

I consider that the article is well written and offers a lot of information and arguments that
allow us to have credibility about what is being read. In addition, each point with which the
main idea is developed is very well explained and allows to have a clear understanding of
the point of view of the author. On the other hand, from my point of view, the order in
which the text is organized also allows for a fluency in the understanding of ideas and so it
is easier to obtain the information that the text.
Finally, I believe that the text has enough arguments to generate thought and reflection on
how globalization influences human rights. this information allows us to develop even
better all the concepts that have been working in this part of the semester about human
rights.