One of the most ambitious legacies of the 20th century was the universal commitment to ensure freedom from want as a human right. But to what extent are countries across the world living up to this commitment? This path breaking book develops an innovative, evidence-based index for comparing performance on education, food, health, work and housing across very differently situated countries and over time. It explores the factors influencing performance and provides empirical evidence to resolve some long standing controversies over the principle of "progressive realization". By defying the boundaries of traditional research disciplines, this work fundamentally advances our knowledge about the status of and factors promoting social and economic rights fulfillment at the dawn of the 21st century.

One of the most ambitious legacies of the 20th century was the universal commitment to ensure freedom from want as a human right. How far have we progressed? To what extent are countries across the world living up to this commitment? This book charts new territory in examining the extent to which countries meet their obligations to progressively realize social and economic rights - the rights to education, food, health, housing, work and social security.

Original scholarship on economic and social human rights from cutting-edge scholars in the fields of economics, law, political science, sociology and anthropology.

The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community? Since 1948, the Declaration has stood as a beacon and a standard for a better world. Yet the work of making its ideals real is far from over. Hideous and systemic human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate around the world. Too many people, particularly those in power, are hostile to human rights or indifferent to their claims. Meanwhile, our global interdependence deepens. Bringing together world leaders and thinkers in the fields of politics, ethics, and philosophy, the Commission set out to develop a common understanding of the meaning of global citizenship – one that arises from basic human rights and empowers every individual in the world. This landmark report affirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeks to renew the 1948 enterprise, and the very ideal of the human family, for our day and generation.

This edited volume offers original scholarship on economic and social human rights from leading and new cutting-edge scholars in the fields of economics, law, political science, sociology and anthropology. It analyzes the core economic and social rights and the crucial topic of non-discrimination, and includes an innovative section on 'meta' rights. The main chapters answer important questions about economic and social rights performance around the world by emphasizing the obstacles that prevent governments from fulfilling their obligations. The interdisciplinary analysis offers a detailed and up-to-date discussion to help scholars and policy makers find the best ways to instantiate economic and social rights. The authors examine the role of the associated obligations, and especially the obstacles to respect, protect and fulfil those obligations. The book's introductory and concluding chapters address conceptual issues and correct mistakes often made by critics of economic and social rights.

Since World War II and particularly during the past 25 years, several nations have adopted "advanced constitutions" containing guarantees of social and economic rights (SER) as well as the more familiar political and civil rights. Many of the nations leading this trend are located in the developing world suggesting the emergence of a new "constitutionalism of the Global South." However the trend toward enforcement of SER also includes some highly industrialized nations, notably Germany. At the same time parallel developments have occurred at trans-national level with the adoption of treaties which commit signatory states t to respecting and guaranteeing fulfillment of SER for their peoples. The adoption of these constitutions and instruments guaranteeing SER mean that activists, scholars, and judges are now regularly called upon to address complex and challenging questions ranging from jurisprudential issues to very concrete problems concerning how majestic words on paper can be translated into delivery on the ground of social goods such as housing, education, and medical care. This book has been undertaken as part of the International Social and Economic Rights Project (iSERP), a global consortium of judges, lawyers, human rights advocates, and legal academics who critically examine the effectiveness of SER law in promoting real change in people's lives, particularly in the so-called developing nations. The book addresses a range of practical, political, and legal questions under these headings, with acute sensitivity to the racial, cultural, and gender implications of SER and particular attention to the path-breaking SER jurisprudence now emerging in the "Global South." The book brings together internationally renowned experts in the field of social and economic rights to discuss a range of rights from both a theoretical and a practical grassroots perspective. The book engages with legal and democratic political theory as well as drawing links between human rights and other discourses such as development theory. It also considers specific issues in the litigation and adjudication of SER cases from the differing standpoints of activists, lawyers, and adjudicators in order to identify and address the specific challenges facing the SER community.

This book charts new territory in examining state performance in progressively realizing social and economic rights. Developing a new measure -- the SERF Index -- and data set, it provides a global picture of progress, regress and disparities between and within countries, explores factors influencing country performance, and draws implications for the theory of progressive realization and state accountability.

The protection of economic, social and cultural rights is vital for everyone, no matter where they live. This volume sets out some of the important legal issues about these rights, including who has obligations, when they apply and how they are relevant to contemporary concerns, such as trade and democracy.

Drawing on a wide range of interdisciplinary resources, this scholarly work provides an in-depth and thorough analysis of the socio-economic rights jurisprudence of the newly democratic South Africa. The book explores how the judicial interpretation and enforcement of socio-economic rights can be more responsive to the conditions of systemic poverty and inequality characterising South African society. Based on meticulous research, the work marries legal analysis with perspectives from political philosophy and democratic theory.

From November 28 - 29, 2005, the Center for Human Rights of Central European University (CEU) organized a roundtable around the theme: Re-thinking Socio-Economic Rights in an Insecure World. The roundtable brought together scholars and human rights practitioners from different regions to reflect on the following questions relating to social and economic rights, particularly in the context of the global insecurity: If social rights are human rights, how does the failure to advance these rights undermine security? Are social rights human rights or do the claims they incorporate represent social needs? Are they moral or legal rights? Who has a duty to respect these rights? Is there a hierarchy among those who have such duties? How can these duties be fulfilled? What is an appropriate approach to social and economic concerns in developing countries? Is the argument for socio-economic rights an argument that overcomes the causes and legacy of conflicts? Do socio-economic rights deserve constitutional protection? What are the problems behind constitutional protection of such rights? Is the vagueness of social and economic rights an enough reason not to assign such rights to people? Is the rhetoric of social and economic rights helpful in protecting marginalized and neglected groups?