Political Economy Of Human Rights: Rights, Realities And Realization (routledge Frontiers Of Political Economy)

Political Economy of Human Rights is the first complete text covering and discussing human rights from a political economy perspective. Confronting international human rights with both global and local economic-political realities, this book entails a full shake-up of the UN led mission for human rights and the national strategies linked to it. It approaches human rights as not just legal resources but political tools as well, aimed at not only protection of existing freedoms and entitlements but also transformation of "disabling" environments. This implies a shift in the allocation of human and financial resources from the quasi-legal international level to the national and local environments in which these rights have to be realised. In a "human dignity triangle" the author connects human rights to human development and human security. Numerous issues connected to this major focus are presented and analysed from a political economy perspective. After an introduction that familiarizes the reader with some of the key concepts used throughout, the book is divided into six chapters. The first two combine a critique of the overly legal use of human rights with a reconceptualisation of their potential as powerful tools outside of the legal context. The next two chapters examine the nature of the structural challenges that face realisation, both on the global and on the local level. The last two chapters analyse two major areas of the human rights deficit: the structural non-implementation of the rights of the poor and the failing protection of non-dominant collectivities. Finally, a concluding chapter elaborates on the main findings and insights gained. The book combines rigorous juridical study with a focus on political-economic analysis of rights in context. Hence, it aims at an interdisciplinary treatment of human rights as opposed to current texts that have a tendency to be monodisciplinary. The book should be of interest to students of human rights, political economy, law and conflict studies, as well as those who work or research in these areas. Front Cover Political Economy of Human Rights Copyright page Contents List of figures and tables Preface Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction: rights, realities and realisation Rights unrealised A crisis in human rights Political economy of human rights Two genealogies of human rights Two “golden” triangles of human dignity An orchestration of upstream and downstream efforts A new approach 1. Rights: the dialectics of power and protection Power and its limits The dialectics of law and power Entitlement systems Human rights as a laborious element in legal systems Human rights strategies Human rights as a creative approach to law, power and morality 2. Rights: the dialectics of international norms and national practice A contextual view on “transitional justice” The international venture for the realisation of human rights Human rights in the context of international relations A critical appraisal State sovereignty and the separation of powers Judicial law development Adventurous judgments An emerging human rights culture? 3. Global realities: conflict and confrontation The United States and the United Nations American exceptionalism The “War on Terror” The “sacred realm”: domain of polemics and polarisation American security concerns and the international legal order United Nations reform Concluding reflections 4. Local realities: strife and struggle Gross human rights violations in an adverse environment A “stylised” fact State–society relations Indicators The impact of culture and religion 5. Realisation: the rights of the poor Development with poverty Productivism and the poor Towards rights-based strategies Implications for the international financial institutions Economic justice 6. Realisation: the rights of collectivities Of minorities and minarets Democracy as majority rule Minority rights: for what purpose? The minority problematique in a political economy perspective Protection of cultural freedoms and entitlements through cultural rights The irony of collective equity A misconception “Minority” protection in a juridical/judicial perspective “Minority” protection in an integrated human dignity perspective Conclusion: the quest for realisation Human rights as battleground The struggle is deepened The struggle is widened The struggle is uplifted Notes Bibliography Index Annotation Political Economy of Human Rights is the first complete text covering and discussing human rights from a political economy perspective. Confronting international human rights with both global and local economic-political realities, this book entails a full shake-up of the UN led mission for human rights and the national strategies linked to it. It approaches human rights as not just legal resources but political tools as well, aimed at not only protection of existing freedoms and entitlements but also transformation of "disabling" environments. This implies a shift in the allocation of human and financial resources from the quasi-legal international level to the national and local environments in which these rights have to be€€realised. In a "human dignity triangle" the author connects human rights to human development and human security. Numerous issues connected to this major focus are€€presented and analysed from a political economy perspective. After an introduction that familiarizes the reader with some of the key concepts used throughout, the book is divided into six chapters. The first two combine a critique of the overly legal use of human rights with a reconceptualisation of their potential as powerful tools outside of the legal context. The next two chapters examine the nature of the structural challenges that face realisation, both on the global and on the local level. The last two chapters analyse two major areas of the human rights deficit: the structural non-implementation of the rights of the poor and the failing protection of non-dominant collectivities. Finally, a concluding chapter elaborates on the main findings and insights gained. The book combines rigorous juridical study with a focus on political-economic analysis of rights in context. Hence, it aims at an interdisciplinary treatment of human rights as opposed to current texts that have a tendency to be monodisciplinary. The book should be of interest to students of human rights, political economy, law and conflict studies, as well as those who work or research in these areas. The plethora of literature produced over the past decade in response to the perceived failure of the human rights project to deliver results for billions of people living in 'adverse' environments has usually focused on international legal standards and mechanisms, with little regard for the root structural realities that constrain their implementation. Hence, a text that primarily focuses on the major challenge of realisation of human rights in the context of diverse realities is urgently needed. This book, then, provides an analytical as well as inspirational text on human rights from a contextual perspective; it offers a reconceptualisation of human rights as not merely legal resources, but political tools as well. After an introduction that familiarizes the reader with some of the key concepts used throughout, the book is divided into six chapters. The first two combine a critique of the overly legal use of human rights with a reconceptualisation of their potential as powerful tools outside of the legal context. The next two chapters examine the nature of the structural challenges that face realisation, both on the global and on the local level. The last two chapters analyse two major areas of the human rights deficit: the structural non-implementation of the rights of the poor and the failing protection of non-dominant collectivities. Finally, a concluding chapter elaborates on the main findings and insights gained. The book combines rigorous juridical study with a focus on political-economic analysis of rights in context. Hence, it aims at an interdisciplinary treatment of human rights as opposed to current texts that have a tendency to be monodisciplinary. The book should be of interest to students of human rights, political economy, law and conflict studies, as well as those who work or research in these areas __Political Economy of Human Rights__ is the first complete text covering and discussing human rights from a political economy perspective. Confronting international human rights with both global and local economic-political realities, this book entails a full shake-up of the UN led mission for human rights and the national strategies linked to it. It approaches human rights as not just legal resources but political tools as well, aimed at not only protection of existing freedoms and entitlements but also transformation of "disabling" environments. This implies a shift in the allocation of human and financial resources from the quasi-legal international level to the national and local environments in which these rights have to be realised. In a "human dignity triangle" the author connects human rights to human development and human security. Numerous issues connected to this major focus are presented and analysed from a political economy perspective. The book combines rigorous juridical study with a focus on political-economic analysis of rights in context. Hence, it aims at an interdisciplinary treatment of human rights as opposed to current texts that have a tendency to be monodisciplinary. The book should be of interest to students of human rights, political economy, law and conflict studies, as well as those who work or research in these areas. Introduction: Rights, Realities And Realisation -- Rights: The Dialectics Of Power And Protection -- Rights: The Dialectics Of International Norms And National Practice -- Global Realities: Conflict And Confrontation -- Local Realities: Strife And Struggle -- Realisation: The Rights Of The Poor -- Realisation: The Rights Of Collectivities -- Conclusion: The Quest For Realization. By Bas De Gaay Fortman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.