Part III now introduces two particular means of advancing the human rights idea conceived as social construction. Chapter 6 argues for human rights work of outside intermediaries and local participants, translating between local understandings and nonlocal human rights ideas in ways that preserve local “authenticity” and “legitimacy” – ways that resonate with local culture even as they also challenge it. Chapter 7 shows how a cognitive approach allows for human rights as rights internal to any given community's culture. It proposes human rights as a learning process that “cognitively reframes” local cultural and political elements in ways that render them more human rights friendly.

Both chapters develop something of a sociological standpoint. From that standpoint, as distinct from a theological one, world religions show themselves to be dynamic repertoires rather than fixed templates. Changes in aspects of religious belief have often entailed certain changes in political organization and commitment. How might religion's dynamic potential relate to the surrounding community's capacity for internal change? Specifically, would the spread of human rights in some cases depend on changes in the repertoires of some religions? Consider Islam, a faith of enduring geopolitical moment. From a sociological perspective focused on cultural changes that are human rights friendly, how might the following goal be pursued: a political context in which all ordinary Muslims enjoyed a culturally recognized, legally protected right to interpret Islam – to interpret with respect to its meanings and to the behavior that Islam promotes? In what kind of political context might ordinary Muslims ask themselves not “What is Islam?” but rather “Which Islam do we Muslims want?”