Human Rights and Economic Inequalities

Gillian MacNaughton, JD, DPhil, is Associate Professor of Human Rights at the University of Massachusetts Boston, co-editor of Economic and Social Rights in a Neoliberal World (Cambridge University Press, 2018), and co-founder of the Collaborative Research Network on Economic and Social Rights in the Law and Society Association. Diane F. Frey, PhD, is a lecturer in Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University, co-editor of Economic and Social Rights in a Neoliberal World (Cambridge University Press 2018), and co-founder of the Collaborative Research Network on Economic and Social Rights in the Law and Society Association. Catherine Porter is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Lancaster University, UK. She has provided policy advice to the UK and Ethiopian Governments, the United Nations (UNICEF, UNDP) and the World Bank. Her latest project examines the unequal impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic in low income countries.

• Introduction Gillian MacNaughton, Diane F. Frey and Catherine Porter; Part I. Conceptualizing and Measuring Human Rights and Economic Inequalities: 1. Emerging human rights norms and standards on vertical inequalities Gillian MacNaughton; 2. Constraints on economic inequality: comparing Canada and the United States Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann; 3. What the UN human rights treaty bodies tell us about economic inequalities and human rights: an empirical analysis of 20 years of practice Sylvain Aubry, Katherine James, Lucy McKernan, Beth Munro and Caroline Noyrez; 4. How can economists help human rights practitioners measure changes in economic inequalities? Catherine Porter; Part II. Causes and Consequences of Economic Inequalities: 5. A framework for fiscal justice: how human rights can change public finance Anja Rudiger; 6. Global tax justice and human rights Alex Cobham, Fariya Mohiuddin and Liz Nelson; 7. Growing inequality and risks to social rights in our new data economy Carmel Williams; 8. Caste, economic inequality and climate justice in India Dadasaheb Tandale; Part III. Socio-Economic Rights and Economic Inequalities: 9. Distributive justice, and economic and social rights Joo-Young Lee; 10. Fair wages and a decent living: paths to greater vertical equality Diane F. Frey and Gillian MacNaughton; 11. The right to social security and economic inequality: contested meanings and potential roles Beth Goldblatt; 12. Education, income inequality and the right to participate in cultural life James Murphy; 13. Implications of the health equity perspective for the right to health Chuan-Feng Wu; 14. The potential impact of the right to housing to address vertical inequalities Vicente Silva.

'This stimulating collection fairly engages distinctive positions on the relationship between the cause of human rights and our age of economic inequality, forcing all participants to reflect anew on the ethical realities and political opportunities of our time. After an introduction that captures the state of the art, the chapters range widely, bringing unprecedented economic expertise to bear. The results transform a debate that will continue to rage.' Samuel Moyn, Yale University