Human Rights Transformed

Abstract

Abstract This book moves beyond the artificial boundary between socio-economic and civil and political rights and instead focuses on the positive duties to which all rights give rise. Human rights have traditionally been understood as protecting individual freedom against intrusion by the State. This book argues that human rights are based on a far richer view of freedom, going beyond absence of coercion and focussing on the ability to exercise such freedom. This requires positive action to facilitate freedom, and substantive equality. It also recognizes the essentially social nature of human beings, and the crucial role of social interaction in advancing freedom. Drawing on political theory and social policy, as well as comparative experience from India, South Africa, the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU, US, Canada, and the UK, the book aims to create a theoretical and applied framework for understanding positive human rights duties. The first part focuses on creating an analytic framework for understanding positive duties. Chapter 1 aims to refashion the underlying values of liberty, equality and solidarity to yield the rich understanding of human rights argued for in this book. Chapter 2 focuses on the State, examining the role of positive human rights duties in furthering democracy, and in respect of globalization and privatization. Part II aims to fashion a democratic role for courts as well as examining alternative compliance methods, while Part III applies the analysis to specific rights, firstly equality, and then the traditional socio-economic rights to housing, education, and welfare.