Localizing human rights through the Sustainable Development Goals: The case of Los Angeles

Abstract

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have achieved widespread influence among various state and nonstate actors globally. Although the UN General Assembly intended the SDGs for national governments, local-level actors have emerged as key stakeholders in defining and implementing the goals. Human rights movements have long advocated for the inclusion of local voices in international law. I bridge these discourses to investigate how the SDGs framework can socialize government actors to incorporate human rights principles in local governance. Specifically, I explore how local-level actors have advanced human rights through the localization—local adoption and adaptation—of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the case of Los Angeles. The iterative process of localization in Los Angeles illustrates the dialectical process of human rights globalization and emerging institutions that can enable rights realization locally. The case highlights the (1) global and local factors that shape localization, (2) how partnerships lead to more explicit attention to human rights over time, and (3) the ways in which Los Angeles is now shaping localization transnationally. I discuss the critical role of local government actors as agents of norm diffusion, and the need to expand community engagement mechanisms in pursuit of SDG localization and human rights globalization.