With international human rights under challenge, this book represents a comprehensive critique that adds a social policy perspective to recent political and legalistic analysis. Expert contributors draw on local and global examples to review constructs of universal rights and their impact on social policy and human welfare. With thorough analysis of their strengths, weaknesses and enforcement, it sets out their role in domestic and geopolitical affairs. Including a forward by Albie Sachs, this book presents an honest appraisal of both the concepts of international human rights and their realities. It will engage those with an interest in social policy, ethics, politics, international relations, civil society organisations and human rights-based approaches to campaigning and policy development.
Global Development and Human Rights analyses global efforts to implement long-term goals that seek to promote the health, happiness, and freedoms of individuals.
This theoretical and practical overview of the international legal architecture between developing countries and advanced nations is divided into two parts, the first providing a theoretical overview of the philosophical implications of international development law principles; the second deals with international financial architecture.
Bsrd A. Andreassen is Professor at the Norwegian Center for Human Rights and Director of Research (human rights and development) at the Law Faculty, University of Oslo. --
This book is devoted to the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. It contains a collection of analytical studies of various aspects of the right to development, which include the rule of law and good governance, aid, trade, debt, technology transfer, intellectual property, access to medicines and climate change in the context of an enabling environment at the local, regional and international levels. It also explores the issues of poverty, women and indigenous peoples within the theme of social justice and equity. The book considers the strides that have been made over the years in measuring progress in implementing the right to development and possible ways forward to make the right to development a reality for all in an increasingly fragile, interdependent and ever-changing world.
This book addresses the legal issues raised by the interaction between human rights and development in contemporary international law. In particular, it charts the parameters of international law that states have to take into account in order to protect human rights in the process of development. In doing so, it departs from traditional analyses, where human rights are mainly considered as a political dimension of development. Rather, the book suggests focusing on human rights as a system of international norms establishing minimum standards of protection of individuals and minimum standards applicable in all circumstances on what is essential for a dignified existence. The various dimensions covered in the book include: the discourse on human rights and development interrelationship, particularly opinio juris and the practice of states on the question; the notion of international assistance and cooperation in human rights law, under legal regimes such as international humanitarian law, and emerging rules in the area of protection of persons in the event of disasters; the extraterritorial scope of economic, social and cultural rights treaties; and legal principles on the respect for human rights in externally designed and planned development activities. Analysis of these topics sheds light on the question of whether international law as it stands today addresses most of the issues concerning the protection of human rights in the development process.
In recent years human rights have assumed a central position in the discourse surrounding international development, while human rights agencies have begun to more systematically address economic and social rights. This edited volume brings together distinguished scholars to explore the merging of human rights and development agendas at local, national and international levels. They examine how this merging affects organisational change, operational change and the role of relevant actors in bringing about change. With a focus on practice and policy rather than pure theory, the volume also addresses broader questions such as what human rights and development can learn from one another, and whether the connections between the two fields are increasing or declining. The book is structured in three sections: Part I looks at approaches that combine human rights and development, including chapters on drivers of change; indicators; donor; and legal empowerment of the poor. Part II focuses on organisational contexts and includes chapters on the UN at the country level; EU development cooperation; PLAN's children's rights-based approach; and ActionAid's human rights-based approach. Part III examines country contexts, including chapters on the ILO in various settings; the Congo; Ethiopia; and South Africa. Human Rights and Development in the new Millennium: Towards a Theory of Change will be of strong interest to students and scholars of human rights, development studies, political science and economics.
This text considers the issues of world poverty and global justice, addressing the ability of people in poor or developing countries to have enough food, or clean water, or access to basic healthcare. It draws on international law aimed at the protection and promotion of human rights.
This book provides a timely and accessible introduction to the foundational ideas associated with the human development school of thought. It examines its conceptual evolution during the post-colonial era, and discusses how various institutions of the UN system have tried to engage with this issue, both in terms of intellectual and technical advance, and operationally. Showing that human development has had a profound impact on shaping the policy agenda and programming priorities of global institutions, it argues that human development has helped to preserve the continued vitality of major multilateral development programs, funds, and agencies. It also details how human development faces new risks and threats, caused by political, economic, social, and environmental forces which are highlighted in a series of engaging case studies on trade, water, energy, the environment, democracy, human rights, and peacebuilding. The book also makes the case for why human development remains relevant in an increasingly globalized world, while asking whether global institutions will be able to sustain political and moral support from their member states and powerful non-state actors. It argues that fresh new perspectives on human development are now urgently needed to fill critical gaps across borders and entire regions. A positive, forward-looking agenda for the future of global governance would have to engage with new issues such as the Sustainable Development Goals, energy transitions, resource scarcity, and expansion of democratic governance within and between nations. Redefining the overall nature and specific characteristics of what constitutes human progress in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world, this book serves as a primer for scholars and graduate students of international relations and development. It is also relevant to scholars of economics, political science, history, sociology, and women’s studies.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of some of the world’s most pressing global development challenges – including how they may be better understood and addressed through innovative practices and approaches to learning and teaching. Featuring 61 contributions from leading and emerging academics and practitioners, this multidisciplinary volume is organized into five thematic parts exploring: changes in global development financing, ideologies, norms and partnerships; interrelationships between development, natural environments and inequality; shifts in critical development challenges, and; new possibilities for positive change. Collectively, the handbook demonstrates that global development challenges are becoming increasingly complex and multi-faceted and are to be found in the Global ‘North’ as much as the ‘South’. It draws attention to structural inequality and disadvantage alongside possibilities for positive change. The Handbook will serve as a valuable resource for students and scholars across multiple disciplines including Development Studies, Anthropology, Geography, Global Studies, Indigenous and Postcolonial Studies, Political Science, and Urban Studies.
