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University of California Press

Closing the Rights Gap

From Human Rights to Social Transformation

by LaDawn Haglund (Editor), Robin Stryker (Editor)
Price: $75.00 / £63.00
Publication Date: Mar 2015
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 392
ISBN: 9780520958920
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 13 Tables, 7 Maps, 15 Charts/F

About the Book

Do “human rights”—as embodied in constitutions, national laws, and international agreements—foster improvements in the lives of the poor or otherwise marginalized populations? When, where, how, and under what conditions? Closing the Rights Gap: From Human Rights to Social Transformation systematically compares a range of case studies from around the world in order to clarify the conditions under which—and institutions through which—economic, social, and cultural rights are progressively realized in practice. It concludes with testable hypotheses regarding how significant transformative change might occur, as well as an agenda for future research to facilitate rights realization worldwide.

About the Author

LaDawn Haglund is Associate Professor of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University and author of Limiting Resources: Market-Led Reform and the Transformation of Public Goods.

Robin Stryker is Professor of Sociology, Affiliated Professor of Law, Affiliated Professor of Government and Public Policy, and Research Director, National Institute for Civil Discourse, at the University of Arizona. She publishes regularly in journals including American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Law & Social Inquiry, Sociological Methods and Research, Socio-Economic Review, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, and Social Politics.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables and Boxes
List of Contributors
Preface

Introduction: Making Sense of the Multiple and Complex Pathways by which Human Rights Are Realized (LaDawn Haglund and Robin Stryker)

PART ONE: PROMISES AND CHALLENGES OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (ESCR) REALIZATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
1. Do Non–Human Rights Regimes Undermine the Achievement of Economic and Social Rights? (M. Rodwan Abouharb, David L. Cingranelli, and Mikhail Filippov)
2. Linking Law and Economics: Translating Economic and Social Human Rights Norms into Public Policy (William F. Felice)
3. Advances and Ongoing Challenges in the Protection of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights within the Inter-American System and the United Nations Special Procedures System (Leonardo J. Alvarado)

PART TWO: THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC LAW AND COURTS IN ESCR REALIZATION
4. The Impact of Legal Strategies for Claiming Economic and Social Rights (Varun Gauri and Daniel Brinks)
5. The Role of Human Rights Law in Protecting Environmental Rights in South Asia (Sumudu Atapattu)
6. The Morality of Law: The Case against Deportation of Settled Immigrants (Doris Marie Provine)

PART THREE: BEYOND JUDICIAL MECHANISMS AS MEANS TO ESCR REALIZATION
7. Social Movements and the Expansion of Economic and Social Human Rights Advocacy among International NGOs (Paul J. Nelson)
8. The Challenge of Ensuring Food Security: Global Perspectives and Evidence from India (Shareen Hertel and Susan Randolph)
9. Achieving Rights to Land, Water, and Health in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Heinz Klug)
10. Social Accountability in the World Bank: How Does It Overlap with Human Rights? (Hans-Otto Sano)

PART FOUR: MEASURING ESCR REALIZATION
11. Making the Principle of Progressive Realization Operational: Economic and Social Rights Obligations (Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Terra Lawson-Remer, and Susan Randolph)
12. Deepening Our Understanding of Rights Realization through Disaggregation and Mapping: Integrating Census Data and Participatory GIS (Rimjhim Aggarwal and LaDawn Haglund)
13. Studying Courts in Context: The Role of Nonjudicial Institutional and Socio-Political Realities (Siri Gloppen)
Conclusion: Emerging Possibilities for Social Transformation (Robin Stryker and LaDawn Haglund)

Index

Reviews

"In recent years, global movements fighting ills—from hunger to inequality to pollution—have taken up the language of human rights. Haglund and Stryker assemble a dynamic interdisciplinary team to build rubrics for assessing movement effects and a rich theoretical toolkit for understanding how human rights claims are translated into positive policy changes. This book will set the standard for global studies of human rights for years to come."—Frank Dobbin, Professor of Sociology, Harvard University

"Few volumes can claim to accomplish so much. This book not only theorizes what is likely to be general about rights realization in civil/political domains and across economic, social, and cultural domains, but also highlights what is likely to be specific within these domains. This volume marks a major advance in the social science of human rights."—John Hagan, John D. MacArthur Professor, Northwestern University

"Haglund and Stryker have assembled a powerful set of chapters that analyze diverse aspects of the challenges of and possibilities for transforming the aspirational promises of human rights principles into meaningful social change for immiserated and marginalized people around the globe. The diversity of contributors’ perspectives underscores the point that human rights scholarship has moved beyond the legal domain and is deeply enriched by multidisciplinary engagement and initiatives."—Alicia Ely Yamin, Lecturer on Global Health, Policy Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University

"This volume helps us understand in very concrete ways how rights are adopted in practice. By focusing on a range of mechanisms and a variety of actors, it offers a compelling analysis of the pathways through which the progressive realization of social and economic rights can take place."—Ariel Fiszbein, Policy Director, Inter-American Dialogue

"Goes beyond critique to identify the key contextual factors, actors, and strategic pathways that account for how and when human rights advocacy does or does not contribute to transformative economic and social justice. This ambitious volume is a very welcome and important contribution."—Michael McCann, Gordon Hirabayashi Professor for Advancement of Citizenship, University of Washington