Economic Human Rights Research Articles

Forced labour migration as a threat to social and economic human rights and a factor of influence on the national labour market and business entities

Forced labour migration as a threat to social and economic human rights and a factor of influence on the national labour market and business entities

Universities and human rights in cities

Human rights globalization is, counterintuitively, largely a process of localization. We focus on the role of universities in their localities as a way of gaining insight into the complex ways in which they shape human rights outcomes both on and beyond campus. This topic has, to our knowledge, received no explicit scrutiny in the human rights literature, where the presumption of academic workers producing and disseminating knowledge in pursuit of justice—and often on behalf of the downtrodden—prevails. We have no wish to deny or dismiss the importance of that work; our purpose is to paint a broader and more detailed picture that comprises not only this work but also the role of universities as institutions in the political economy of human rights of their communities and the institutional and political dynamics that shape and constrain human rights scholarship.

GUARANTEES OF FREEDOM OF SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY IN THE NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

The article examines the consolidation and development in the law "On Science and Scientific activity" of the internationally recognized human right to freedom of scientific research. The article analyzes the normative content of freedom of science and its reflection in legislation of Uzbekistan. Much attention is paid to the issue of the correlation of freedom of science with a number of civil, social and economic human rights, the beneficiaries of which are also scientists and scientific and technical workers. It is concluded that it is necessary to establish a balance between freedom of scientific research and human rights due to the increasing risky nature of modern scientific and technological progress.

The state and optimal directions of ensuring socio -economic human rights in Ukraine in the context of war

The state and optimal directions of ensuring socio -economic human rights in Ukraine in the context of war

Development of international legal standards in the field of economic and social human rights: Historical and legal analysis in the context of scientific discussion in the journal “Human Rights Quarterly”

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the lack of scientific consensus on the legal content and possible ways to implement social and economic human rights and the intensification of discussions around them in scientific and public discourse. The purpose of the study is a historical and legal analysis of the process of development of international legal standards in the field of economic and social human rights, options for their rationing in the text of international treaties that were developed based on the results of discussions in the late 1940s-early 1950s. The study involved archival materials of meetings of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, which was based on the use of a set of methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis, synthesis, and a comparative legal method. The conducted research gave grounds to come to several reasoned conclusions. On the one hand, the analysis of individual papers and fairly broad scientific discussions helped to identify several main conceptual approaches to understanding the processes of developing and consolidating the most important legal norms that are aimed at regulating the sphere of economic and social human rights at the international level. On the other hand, based on a study of the protocols of meetings of both the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, it was established that the process of developing and adopting framework international covenants, which aimed to consolidate fundamental, legally binding norms of law, went through different stages and covered different conceptual approaches of participants in this process. Given the analysis of modern studies on the subject matter, the prerequisites and components of the process of development of international legal standards in the field of economic and social human rights which regulate it to this day were identified. The findings are of value primarily for other scientific developments devoted to the field of human rights, but they can also be applied in the process of law-making in accordance with the field of law

Non-governmental human rights organizations and protection of rights at the European Court of Human Rights

The article clarifies the role of non-governmental human rights organizations in the protection of rights at the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the forms of such protection. The practical aspects of the participation of human rights NGOs in the protection of rights at the ECHR are analyzed, and the dual nature of the participation of such organizations at the level of the human rights court is determined. First, the organization protects its rights as a legal entity. It not only defends its rights, but also provides a practical example for other similar organizations. That is, other organizations that may face similar violations in the future can protect their rights based on, among other things. on the decision of the ECtHR. Secondly, the organization indirectly protects other civil, social, and economic human rights. Regardless of whether the organization is the applicant or participates in the proceedings as a third party, it seeks changes in the socio-political events of the country with its own position adopted by the ECtHR. In the case of Romania, the organization pushed for the country to adopt appropriate legislation for same-sex couples, equating them in rights with traditional spouses; in climate affairs, organizations should encourage national governments to take additional measures to protect the life and health of the population, etc.
 It was concluded that the participation of human rights non-governmental organizations in the ECHR has both a theoretical and a practical aspect. The theoretical aspect is the possibility of organizations to participate in the proceedings as an applicant (protecting their own rights and not the rights of third parties) or a third party, while fulfilling the conditions regarding the admissibility of the application. The practical aspect is that organizations indirectly protect human rights by influencing the socio-political events and the development of democracy and the rule of law.

Who is a Human Rights Defender? An Appraisal of Labour Practices in the Human Rights Economy

Abstract The last decades have witnessed a conceptual opening of human rights practices, hitherto prerogative of a chosen few legal experts, towards a multiplicity of subjectivities. This afforded human rights scholarship to address subaltern histories and reckon with past exclusions. Conversely, critical deconstruction and empirical diversification have aggravated the seemingly basic, yet thorny quest for defining human rights activism and identifying human rights defenders. This not only poses a challenge to research but, foremost, opens human rights concepts to abuse and undermines protection regimes. In this contribution to the Journal of Human Rights Practice’s Anniversary Issue, I trace the definition dilemma as it emerges from emancipatory developments in human rights practice scholarship. I am not pretending to solve this dilemma; rather, I offer ‘metaphorical dislocations’ changing the terms of discussion to elicit new avenues of thought. Taking common allusions to the economy of human rights as my point of departure, I pursue Marx’s critique of political economy as a metaphor to describe human rights activism as a labour practice that a) produces discursive value qua rendering violence legible and b) transforms activist cultures socio-politically. Hence, I encounter the subjectivity of human rights defenders in the tensions between the co-dependent dimensions of practice and its political representation. The aspiration of this think piece is to emphasize the importance of co-constructing common foundations in the research on human rights activism, and to provoke responses leading us out of the all-too-well known trenches of debate.

Contesting Housing Inequality: Housing Rights and Social Movements

This article engages with a leading contemporary criticism of social and economic human rights, namely that because such rights are organised around sufficiency norms, they are ill‐equipped to challenge and overturn forms of material inequality. The sufficiency thesis raises issues around the nature of social rights and their capacity to deliver transformative change, and lays a direct challenge to social movements employing human rights talk and practices in campaigns for social justice. This article breaks new ground by taking the right to housing as a case study for assessing the sufficiency thesis. It is argued that while there is some support for the sufficiency thesis in dominant institutionalised legal forms of the right to housing, the wider claim of the thesis, that social rights are incapable of challenging forms of material inequality, does not hold water. This argument is supported by a broad approach to housing rights that engages with the work of the UN Special Rapporteurs on housing and which takes seriously the way in which contemporary social movements in Spain and Scotland employ housing rights in their struggles for housing justice.

Human Rights Due Diligence by Corporate Creditors in Sovereign Debt Restructurings – A Great Missing Link

AbstractThis article studies human rights due diligence by private corporate creditors in the context of sovereign debt restructurings. First, the legal bases of this specific due diligence are presented and systematized. Then, by providing empirical statistical evidence, the article analyses whether haircuts applied by creditors across countries regularly consider the social and economic human rights situation of the debtor countries in question, as part of creditors’ due diligence. Also, the main characteristics of bond markets that contribute to understanding the asymmetric power relationship between private lenders and sovereign borrowers are described. Finally, Argentina’s latest debt restructurings are studied in depth to determine whether human rights were taken into account when agreeing on the size of haircuts. From quantitative and qualitative data, this article concludes that the haircuts agreed by creditors are regularly not sensitive to the social and economic human rights situation of debtor populations or to the impact that debt agreements could have on them.

Han Fei and conceptions of universal and Chinese human rights

ABSTRACT Han Fei (around 280 to 233 B.C.) advocates a strong and orderly state based on the absolute authority of the state and the law. Han Fei is usually not associated with human rights. His philosophy is difficult to reconcile with civil and political human rights, even if some of his political concepts support the realization of certain human rights. However, Han Fei’s ideas help us to gain a better understanding of the People’s Republic of China’s official human rights narrative. The PRC emphasizes collective social and economic human rights, views the authority of the Communist Party as a prerequisite for the realization of human rights, and advocates rule by law, i.e. using the law as a tool of governance. This largely conforms to Han Fei‘s views on the role of the authority of the state and the law, and the relationship between the government and its citizens.

Проблеми соціальної вразливості внутрішньо переміщених осіб та вимушених мігрантів

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the problems of social vulnerability of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and forced migrants. Basing on data from the United Nations Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the International Labour Organization and data from sociological surveys of IDPs and forced migrants, the dynamic changes in the number of these population groups, their main socio-demographic characteristics, problems and risks of social rejection, intentions to return to their places of permanent residence and integration potential in the new place of stay have been studied. It is concluded that there is the high level of multifactorial social vulnerability of IDPs and forced migrants, most of whom are women with children, the elderly, the disabled, and orphans. Because of the destruction of social, economic, and cultural ties, IDPs and forced migrants have increased risks of social rejection from the political, economic life and social surroundings, the sphere of culture and education, the services of the health care system and social protection. There are reasons for the formation of significant manifestations of rejection among IDPs, in particular in terms of access to structural and economic resources to ensure basic social and economic human rights, and positions that provide an opportunity to gain access to such resources. Assessments of the integration of IDPs by the communities that receive them may indicate the presence of certain barriers to the integration of IDPs in their new place of residence. It is shown that the loss of human potential is the most negative consequence of large-scale forced migration and internal displacement of the population for the territorial communities of Ukraine. At the same time, for communities hosting IDPs, population growth can become a driver of local development.

New Technologies, Human Rights, and COVID-19: Evaluating the South Korean Response

The containment and management of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts have been a leading priority for nations since its onset in early 2020. South Korea is widely recognized as having one of the best responses to the pandemic without utilizing strict lockdowns or authoritarian measures to safeguard public health and the economy. To do this, Korea utilized new digital technologies at every stage of the process to ensure that infected individuals were tested, traced, and treated, also known as the Three T Strategy. However, the Korean case also shows how the use of technological forms of governance can aggravate preexisting human rights problems and how it can dynamically create new types of victims through enhanced capabilities that allow for the surveillance, categorization, and control of populations. This paper theorizes the Korean Three T Strategy and its constituent technologies as a datafication cycle and critically explores its human rights impacts. It finds that the use of new technologies to combat COVID-19 avoided some kinds of human rights violations associated with lockdowns in other countries, but also created the potential for human rights violations that were more obscure, complex, and difficult to measure. This finding suggests that while new technologies can help mitigate the trade-offs between economic growth, public health, and human rights, their usage alone does not provide a comprehensive solution.

Export Controls and Securitization of Economic Policy: Comparative Analysis of the Practice of the United States, the European Union, China, and Russia

National security rhetoric has gained prominence due to increasingly pervasive digitalization, the emergence of cutting-edge technologies, and developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Increased reliance on these areas fuels industrial development but also renders national economies vulnerable to foreign interference. Ultimately, the current wave of technological development with its potential threats intensifies competition between states and redefines their economic and military advantages over potential global rivals. Against this background, certain states have expanded the scope of their export control regimes by extending the lists of controlled items and/or imposing ‘catch-all’ control. Used in conjunction with economic sanctions, weaponized tariffs, and extensive investment screening mechanisms aimed to protect national security interests, such measures go beyond conventional non-proliferation purposes to address economic security, technological supremacy, and human rights concerns for which those states are willing to sacrifice the economic efficiency that accompanies trade liberalization. Using the United States, the European Union, China, and Russia as case studies, this article discusses to which extent different export control objectives of these international actors have been securitized. Securitization of certain states’ interests is inevitable, even if not desirable. Yet, this article argues that international law can be managed to control and limit the level of securitization of domestic policies in order to strengthen the international legal system as a whole. export controls, national security, economic security, securitization, emerging technologies, technological supremacy

Reciprocating to the bottom: Is there negative diffuse reciprocity in social economic human rights

Is reciprocity possible in human rights agreements? This article argues that human rights agreements can create negative diffuse reciprocity if there is reliable information about countries’ compliance levels. The article analyses the link between information on countries’ non-compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the one hand, and countries’ efforts to protect social economic rights on the other. It finds that the more information is published on violations of rights, the lower the levels of countries’ efforts to protect these rights. This means that countries practice negative diffuse reciprocity with regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This is a notable finding since there are several factors working against the practice of reciprocity in human rights agreements. The article draws theoretical conclusions regarding the conditions for reciprocity in human rights agreements and sheds new light on the concept of reciprocity and its link with information.

Lessons learnt from two decades of international environmental agreements: law

As Patricia Birnie cautiously and prophetically put it in the inaugural issue of this journal (INEA 1, January 2001, p. 74), “we do not know whether States and the tentative regimes they have so far established can withstand the pressures of globalization of trade and degradation and over-exploitation generated by advances in technologies for locating, fertilizing, harvesting, processing and modifying natural resources and biodiversity. This is truly terra incognita in which such seeds of destruction may already be implanted.” Among the 600 or so papers and reviews published in INEA from 2001 to 2020, more than 70 deal wholly or partly with legal aspects of environmental problems and the international dimensions of environmental justice. While the main focus of INEA has been on issues of public international (inter-state) law, there have also been important inputs drawn from comparative legal analysis (of national legislation and judicial decisions) and from “transnational administrative law” that influence the effectiveness of multilateral treaties and their associated international institutions. Novel concepts and practices emerging from the environmental field (such as recourse to a range of “soft law” principles; flexible delegated standard-setting in the face of global change; and equitable differentiation of compliance duties) have inspired developments in related areas of contemporary international law-making and law-applying. At the same time, the very proliferation of multilateral and bilateral environmental instruments raised new questions and expressions of alarm over “treaty congestion” and “fragmentation” within the international law system. It is not the intention of this paper to explore the general interaction of international environmental law with neighboring disciplines such as international economic law or human rights law, but simply to record the “seismographic” impact of INEA on legal-intellectual discourse over these past two decades. To some extent, the role of the Journal in identifying both new prospects and new risks in this field could indeed be likened to that of a “canary in the coal-mine.” The lessons so learnt may thus offer new insights to help in averting the destruction which Birnie visualized, and to advance inter-generationally and intra- generationally shared values of environmental justice.

Confronting Gender Inequalities in Education Leadership: A Case of Zimbabwe

The persistence of the marginalisation of women has dominated education leadership research recently. This study examined literature on women’s education leadership and management through the lens of social justice. The study used Shields’s tenets of transformative leadership to unearth and dissect issues of gender discrimination in education leadership. As a catalyst for a recent systematic review of research on Zimbabwean women’s education leadership literature, the study reviewed 22 publications used earlier in the systematic research review. The studies were identified through numerous electronic searches following carefully defined eligibility criteria. A thematic analysis was conducted through the use of mind maps to deduce common themes. The results suggested a transformation of persistent political, institutional, structural, economic, cultural and social inequalities and human rights violations to achieve social justice in education leadership. Further research should be undertaken to examine the root causes of persistent gender imbalances and the failure of gender equity.

Theoretical foundations of constitutional consolidation of the principles of social state and law

The authors of this article analysed doctrinal provisions, as well as Ukrainian constitutional legal practice. The social component of the system of functions of the modern state was studied. The present article analyses the activities of states where an intellectual, political, and practical breakthrough was made in solving the problem of state functions in the context of socio-economic reform. Attention is drawn to the specifics of the implementation of social activities of the Ukrainian state. The methodological framework of this study includes the main general scientific methods, namely socio-economic methods and techniques of the empirical level of cognition, the method of systematic analysis of numerous theoretical provisions on positive law, historical and statistical methods, the method of comparisons and analogies, generalisation methods, an analytical review of the available scientific publications on the subject under study. Furthermore, scientific methods in the field of legal science were also employed, such as normative-logical, comparative legal, historical legal. It was concluded that a social state is a state whose policy has a priority social orientation, which is expressed in the appropriate service of civil society by the state, the creation of necessary and sufficient conditions for the realisation of economic, social, and cultural human rights, the guarantee of its social protection and social security, based on the socio-economic capabilities of the state based on the principles of justice, proportionality, and a harmonious combination (balance) of public and human interests

Corrupt from the Head Down: Human Rights Impacts of Political Favouritism in Public Procurement

Public procurement represents a significant part of the global economy and influencesthe nature and quality of public goods and services. Consequently, it has substantial direct and indirectlinks with the human rights of a wide array of rightsholders. However, public procurement systemsrarely reflect these links and remain resistant to calls on human rights integration from internationalorganizations and academic scholarship. While this divergence is often discussed, the root governance issues that create the gap between public procurement and human rights and contribute to the lackof progress remain relatively unexplored. This paper investigates a prevalent governance issue inpublic procurement – political favouritist corruption schemes – and their role in the paradoxical lackof progress in aligning public procurement systems with human rights requirements. Through theanalysis of primary and secondary sources, the paper demonstrates the links between such corruptpractices and prevalent human rights issues in public procurement. It argues that by underminingpublic procurement systems, political favouritism jeopardizes primary economic and secondarysocial objectives of procurement and brings about adverse human rights impacts. These impactsharm civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural human rights in national contextsand obstruct the development at large. Moreover, this corrupt arrangement represents a roadblockfor promoting human rights integration in public procurement and, hence, hampers the progressfor the novel approach of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in general, andits provisions concerning the state-business nexus in particular. The paper concludes by outliningthe need for further interdisciplinary and empirical research which will explore this issue throughthe lens of business and human rights, and offer a systemic analysis of root causes, the state of playand potential solutions.

“Ma sei fuori?”: a path to awareness on mental health and stigma

Abstract Mental health issues, frequently associated with weirdness and danger, can easily derail the lives of the people who suffer from them, creating loneliness and isolation. Due to stigma, people with mental health disorders could experience limitation in their economic, social and cultural human rights. In the effort to fight stigma against mental health issues, Fondazione The Bridge promoted a contest called “Ma sei fuori?”, targeted to students from secondary school. “Ma sei fuori?” could be translated as “Are you off your rocker?” or, more simply, as “Are you crazy?”; this phrase has been adopted by our juvenile slang to identify a person who's generally considered “not in line”. To those who answered our public call, we sent the contest regulation and factsheets on schizophrenia and stigma, matched with a brief bibliography/filmography. Students involved had to develop a slogan on stigma linked with music and images; 140 classes competed. The best catchphrase had been voted by a jury composed of influencers, clinicians, policy makers, writers, patient associations and other KOLs; besides the winning class, the jury issued three special mentions. All the results had been broadcasted live on Facebook during a public event. The winning class, as prize, got access to financial resources for didactic use and its slogan will be the core of a TV spot. The project had been backed by a communication campaign on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, with the involvement of the most famous italian tiktokers; just on TikTok the campaign reached 4.8 billion views. The project final scope was to raise young people's awareness about mental health issues and stigma, by stimulating a cultural shift. Students underlined another important result: working together online after school during the pandemic helped them filled the gap caused by the lack of socialization. Projects of this kind, easily replicable in other contests, could help creating a common language on the impact of stigma. Key messages Social stigma still has a great impact on the lives of people with mental issues and disorders. Tackling bias and discrimination is the first step to raise awareness and build a stronger community. As a community, we must promote a responsible behavior and a common language to tackle prejudice on mental health issues; starting from young people could be the key to boost a cultural shift.

Political Priorities of Public Administration, Welfare-state and Constitutional Democracy after the 2020-2021 Pandemic

At the time of the official Coronavirus, 2020-2021 Pandemic emergency measures and general restrictions on the freedom of movement and the other fundamental human and constitutional rights and freedoms were and still are in place. The question of what kind of world will we enter after the official end of the Pandemic was quickly raised. The problem of fear intensified. This is not only a social problem but also a legal one: people have a fundamental human right to protection against fear. The absolute short-term priorities of public administration in all EU and Council of Europe Member States will have to be focused on ensuring that fear and anxiety do not become a new epidemic. Concern for the efficiency and quality of the public health system should be strengthened and improved. Including mental health care and suicide prevention, care for the well-being of the elderly and terminally ill, people with disabilities (in general and disabled workers), care for children, especially children with special needs, and care for large, diversified, and quality palliative care. Also, a need exists for a changed and improved legal policy regarding the system of education, scientific research, and employment. Last but not least, care must be taken not to take fundamental human rights and freedoms for granted. The health crisis will result in a new economic crisis. It should not be accepted as the end of the Welfare (Social) State. It is a new opportunity to defend social and economic human rights and to create the common European Welfare State. Right now, new ideas are needed –even crazy ideas. We need a kind of utopia. And faith and hope in it, which will be the driving force of active action. The experience of the Pandemic must not prevent or take this away from us.