Economic and Social Rights After the Global Financial Crises

The global financial and economic crises have had a devastating impact on economic and social rights. These rights were ignored by economic policy makers prior to the crises and continue to be disregarded in the current 'age of austerity'. This is the first book to focus squarely on the interrelationship between contemporary and historic economic and financial crises, the responses thereto, and the resulting impact upon economic and social rights. Chapters examine the obligations imposed by such rights in terms of domestic and supranational crisis-related policy and law, and argue for a response to the crises that integrates these human rights considerations. The expert international contributors, both academics and practitioners, are drawn from a range of disciplines including law, economics, development and political science. The collection is thus uniquely placed to address debates and developments from a range of disciplinary, geographical and professional perspectives. 'The link between finance and human rights is one of the great known unknowns of our time. Not even the trauma of the 2007/8 global financial crisis has shaken loose the imperceptibility of this critical intersection. Until now. With commendable ambition and consummate skill, this book takes on the challenge. Not only has Nolan shown vision by focusing the volume on the impact of the crisis on economic and social rights, she has backed it up by assembling an impressive array of leading thinkers and practitioners in the field to cast light on a matter that is as vitally important as it is fundamentally misunderstood.' David Kinley, Sydney Law School '[This book] comes at a critical moment ... By clearly identifying cases of past and present socio-economic rights violations and by expanding on alternatives and legal responses for dealing with economic crisis, [it] will be a fundamental tool to guide policy and law makers, judges and civil society organizations. [It] also promises to be a critical resource for UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures who, in their daily work, are confronted with the (in)direct impact on human rights of the austerity measures discussed here. By calling a spade a spade and elaborating on violations of socio-economic rights in the context of crisis, this book not only brings legal clarity to an often nebulous domain, but also a sense of hope to all those who wish to litigate and enforce these rights in the context of the economic crisis.' Catarina de Albuquerque, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and SanitationIntroduction Aoife Nolan; Part I. Painting the Big (Global) Picture: The Crises and Economic and Social Rights Protection Internationally: 1. Alternatives to austerity: a human rights framework for economic recovery Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona; 2. Late-Neoliberalism: the financialisation of homeownership and the housing rights of the poor Raquel Rolnik and Lidia Rabinovich; 3. The role of global governance in supporting human rights: the global food price crisis and the right to food Olivier de Schutter; Part II. Teasing Out Obligations in a Time of Crisis: 4. Two steps forward, no steps back? Evolving criteria on the prohibition of retrogression in economic, social and cultural rights Aoife Nolan, Nicholas Lusiani and Christian Courtis; 5. Extraterritorial obligations, financial globalisation, and macroeconomic governance Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz; Part III. Exploring Responses to Financial and Economic Crisis: 6. Austerity and the faded dream of a 'social Europe' Colm O'Cinneide; 7. Rationalising the right to health: is Spain's austere response to the economic crisis impermissible under international human rights law Nicholas Lusiani; 8. Tough times and weak review: the 2008 economic meltdown and the enforcement of socio-economic rights in US state courts Helen Hershkoff and Stephen Loffredo; 9. The promise of a minimum core approach: the Colombian model for judicial review of austerity measures David Landau; 10. The impact of the Supreme Court of Argentina on ESCR in the decade following the 2001/2003 crises Ezequiel Nino and Gustavo Maurino; 11. Recession, recovery and service delivery: political and judicial responses to the financial and economic crisis in South Africa Anashri Pillay and Murray Wesson.