Economic rights in Canada and the United States / edited by Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann and Claude E. Welch, Jr.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Howard-Hassmann, Rhoda E., 1948-

Welch, Claude Emerson.

Series:

Pennsylvania studies in human rights.

Pennsylvania studies in human rights

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights--Canada.

Human rights.

Human rights--United States.

Capitalism.

Equality.

Canada--Economic policy.

Canada.

United States--Economic policy.

United States.

Canada--Social policy.

United States--Social policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, PA : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2006.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Readers in Western developed countries are most familiar with abuses of political and civil rights, but the international human rights regime also embraces a set of laws regarding economic rights. These rights include the right to work and to just and favorable working conditions; the right to join and form trade unions; the right to social security; specific rights for the family; the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, and "the continuous improvement of living conditions"; and the right to "the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."In original essays by scholars senior and junior, this volume explains how these rights are realized-or violated-in Canada and the United States. Contributors analyze the philosophy, law, and politics of economic rights and discuss specific issues such as poverty, health care, and the rights of people with disabilities. Central to the problems of both countries are the human rights abuses evident in all contemporary capitalist societies. When the inequalities among citizens are not cushioned by a national commitment to economic rights, or when governments fail to maintain social safety nets for all citizens, economic rights are at risk.Contributors consider the problem from the perspective of their own countries: Canada, the United States, and, for contrast, the Netherlands. They do so in order to explore whether their own countries fall short of meeting international standards of economic rights. They also address the criticism often made by non-Western scholars of human rights-that their Western colleagues preach human rights abroad without regard to the human rights flaws at home.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction. Looking at Ourselves / Howard-Hassmann, Rhoda E. / Welch, E.

Part I. Philosophy, Law, and Politics of Economic Rights

Chapter 1. Justifying Socioeconomic Rights / Orend, Brian

Chapter 2. International Law of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights / Weissbrodt, David

Chapter 3. On the Margins of the Human Rights Discourse / Forsythe, David P. / Heinze, Eric A.

Part II. Poverty

Chapter 4. Homelessness in Canada and the United States / Carroll, Barbara Wake

Chapter 5. Welfare Racism and Human Rights / Neubeck, Kenneth J.

Chapter 6. The Movement to End Poverty in the United States / Bricker-Jenkins, Mary / Baptist, Willie

Part III. Contentious and Emerging Issues

Chapter 7. So Close and Yet So Different / Leary, Virginia A.

Chapter 8. International Labor Rights and North American Labor Law / Atleson, James B.

Chapter 9. Deconstructing Barriers / Armstrong, Sarah / Noble, Mindy / Rosenbaum, Pauline

Chapter 10. The Economic Rights of Migrant and Immigrant Workers in Canada and the United States / Satzewich, Vic

Part IV. A European Comparison

Chapter 11. The Netherlands / Baehr, Peter R.

Appendix 1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Appendix 2. Excerpts from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's State of the Union Address, January 6, 1941

Appendix 3. Excerpts from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's State of the Union Address, January 11, 1944

Abbreviations

Notes

Contributors

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-260) and index.

ISBN:

9781283896801

128389680X

9780812204780

0812204786

OCLC:

794702130