A/76/178 solidarity. All of these are a core part of the full exercise of cultural rights by all, without discrimination and in the context of the universal human rights framework. 9. The first Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, stressed the role of transnational approaches to history teaching and the need for critical thinking that can “help to overcome a narrow nationalistic, ethnic or microfocused identity”. 15 She warned against monolithic historical narratives. These insights are important for preserving histories of the intermingling of cultures. 10. Different terms are used to describe the dynamics of cultural mixing and hybridity in various regions and fields. While they have important nuances and areas of overlap, the Special Rapporteur underscores the positive potential of each for cultural rights. “Cultural mixing” 16 or “cultural borrowing” helpfully describe intercultural dynamics at the macro and micro levels but are sometimes unhelpfully viewed as positing cultures as separate phenomena that intermingle. “Cultural fusion” and “hybridity” better convey the transformative dynamic of mixing, in which the whole is more than the sum of its parts. However, these may also be less accessible terms. “Syncretism” has especially been used in relation to religions and emphasizes the positive adaptation of religious traditions to local practices and cultures. While syncretism describes the process by which cultures constitute themselves at any given time, the term may also carry pejorative connotations, or overtones of hegemonic cultural expressions that come to digest or eclipse others. Many of these terms have been criticized, including for harmful ways they may have been employed in the past. As noted by Barbara Abou-El-Haj, “we have yet to find a language capable of describing unequal exchange in a world of unequal exchanges ”. 17 It is important to carefully consider the meaning and human rights implications of all terms used in this field. The Special Rapporteur will employ a variety of these terms, with awareness both of their imperfections, and their significance. B. Towards a holistic human rights approach to cultural mixing 11. Discussions of cultural mixing and mixed cultural identities must be firmly rooted in equality and universal human rights. According to article 2 of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “cultural diversity can be protected and promoted only if human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression as we ll as the ability of individuals to choose cultural expressions, are guaranteed. No one may invoke the provisions of this Convention in order to infringe human rights and fundamental freedoms as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or gua ranteed by international law, or to limit the scope thereof. ” 12. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explained in its general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life, that cultural life “is an explicit reference to culture as a living process, historical, dynamic and evolving”, and “the concept of culture must be seen not as a series of isolated manifestations or hermetic compartments, but as an interactive process __________________ 15 16 17 21-10019 A/68/296, para. 54. For examples of such critical thinking, see T. Joseph, Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From (Juggernaut Publication, 2018), and D. Hicks, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution (Pluto Press, 2020). See https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022022116670514?journalCode=jcca& . Barbara Abou-El-Haj, “Languages and Models for Cultural Exchange”, in Culture, Globalization and the World System: Contemporary Conditions for the Representation of Identity (Anthony D. King, ed., 1991). 5/22