ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about several true stories of conversations that have taken place at the World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), in which the anti-universalist position seemed to have alarming implications for women's lives. Many traditions have portrayed women as less important than men; less deserving of basic life support, or of fundamental rights that are strongly correlated with quality of life, such as the right to work and the right to political participation. Anti-universalists appear to have a very sophisticated conception of their own core notions, such as 'culture', 'custom', and 'tradition'. Many universal conceptions of the human being have been insular in an arrogant way, and neglectful of differences among cultures and ways of life. Some have been neglectful of choice and autonomy and many have been prejudicially applied. Concerning neglect of historical and cultural difference, by insisting that this normative conception of human capability is designed to make room for a reasonable pluralism in specification.
