Is Universalism Dead?

Introduction

In the West, we tend to assume that values such as human rights, rule of law, and democracy, are universally understood to have the same meaning and apply in the same manner around the world. We call this "Universalism" in the political and legal sense. Such a view is opposed to what we call the "Particularistic" school of thought, which states that ideas, rules, and principles have no universal meaning and application, and must be defined and used according to the culture and values of each different civilization.

Universalism was the offspring of the successful Westernization of global culture in the past two hundred years. The United Nations 'Declaration of Human Rights after the end of World War II embodies the triumph of Western universalism and the rule of law, followed by the Western exportation of global capitalism. Note here that even Marxism emphasized the centrality of universalism for the successful advent of communism! The demise of Soviet Communism at the end of the eighties confirmed the preeminence of western Universalism and economic globalism worldwide.

In the aftermath of the Soviet demise, China has emerged as the strongest and most outspoken bearer of the flag of Particularism. China is challenging the Universalism propagated by the West in the past seventy years with its own appealing recipe of nationalism and Particularism.

China challenges Universalism

In a speech in March 2024, the Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party Mr. Xi Jinping declared:

“(…) Modernization is not "an exclusive patent" of a small handful of countries, nor is it a single answer question. It cannot be realized by a cookie cutter approach or simple "copy and paste (…) We advocate the common values of humanity. Peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom are the common aspirations of all peoples. Countries need to keep an open mind in appreciating the perceptions of values by different civilizations, and refrain from imposing their own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation (…)”

After listing some universal common aspirations, the second most powerful man on the planet told us that how we determine and implement those aspirations does not depend on so-called universal values but on how they are interpreted and understood according to the values of each different civilization. In plainer language this means the particularistic reinterpretation of the set of universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights embodied in the Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter, and in the Western-centered economic, social and cultural globalization models. This allows China to reinterpret the concept of democracy through its own Chinese worldview and values. A concrete application of this philosophy can be seen in the successful strategy and policies that China has adopted in Africa (https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/xw/zyxw/202409/t20240905_11485993.html ).

How can this affect business and individual relations?

It is not easy to apply concepts that pertain to states and social organizations to the individuals that compose them. I am not Plato or Socrates. I cannot do what they did with the definition of justice in the Republic (first by defining justice in the state and then in the individuals)! All I can say is that after many decades of cultural interaction through economic globalization, Universalism has influenced cultures that were traditionally particularistic, like those of many Asian countries. The emergence of China on the global stage is now ushering countries and people into a new era where the long-dominant Universalism is challenged. Whether China and the BRICS will be able to impose particularism or at least rebalance the current predominance of Universalism, remains to be seen. At business and individual levels, I believe that the interaction between universalism and Particularism will remain a driving force for positive win-win solutions. Acceptance of both views and not the imposition of one over the other is the best way to preserve the best values expressed by both philosophies. Universalism should transform from a value to a process where common values are sought with the support of particularism.