ECH 2300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Free Education
21 Jun 2018
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Module 3: Economic and Social Rights
Video: What are economic, social and cultural rights?
- Food, water, sanitation, education, health, land, health environment are all human rights
- Women, persons with disabilities, migrants, poor, indigenous communities should be treated
equally
Labour and Worker Rights
- Right to work, equal pay for equal work
- Right to work freely (slavery)
- Right to a just salary to maintain your family with dignity
- Right to organize (unions) to have a voice
Right to physical and mental health
- Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- Access to treatment
- Prevention of HIV/AIDS
Right to adequate housing and basic services
- Adequate food, clothing, housing, medical care and continuous improvement of housing
standards
- Right to security when there is unemployment, sickness, disability, old age, widowhood or lack
of livelihoods
- Electricity, water, sanitation…
- Shelter: adequate housing for low-income people
Right to land and natural resources
- Social function of property; means of production; equal rights to property for all
- Land will continue to provide food, employment, etc.
- Respecting community ownership
- Peru: possession over land, water, territory
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Economic, social and cultural rights of women
- Women do not own land…
- Oil spills; degradation (Niger Delta)
- Oil spilled to farmlands and rivers (but women are mostly farmers) so creates displacement
Indigenous peoples’ rights
- Land has not been surrendered
- Also, pollution on lands through mines
- Abuse, human rights violations
- Lands, food, education (culturally relevant and bilingual); preservation of culture, racial
discrimination
Right to take part in the cultural life of the community
Right to education
- Free education in elementary and fundamental stages
- Technical and profession available
- Higher education must be accessible
Right to food, water and sanitation, social security
Debating economic and social rights
Yes, but are they human rights?
- Human right to water on same par as human right to free expression?
- Separate Covenant (than Civil and Political Rights)
1. States would be able to define a different set of obligations
2. Permit states to not accept economic and social rights as human rights
- Relatively late… Amnesty International only brought in into their action in 2001
Arguments against social and political rights
1. Social goods and basic needs cannot be equated to civil and political rights
Entitlement and benefits
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Food, water, sanitation, education, health, land, health environment are all human rights. Women, persons with disabilities, migrants, poor, indigenous communities should be treated equally. Right to work, equal pay for equal work. Right to a just salary to maintain your family with dignity. Right to organize (unions) to have a voice. Article 12 of the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights (icescr) Adequate food, clothing, housing, medical care and continuous improvement of housing standards. Right to security when there is unemployment, sickness, disability, old age, widowhood or lack of livelihoods. Social function of property; means of production; equal rights to property for all. Land will continue to provide food, employment, etc. Oil spilled to farmlands and rivers (but women are mostly farmers) so creates displacement. Lands, food, education (culturally relevant and bilingual); preservation of culture, racial discrimination. Right to take part in the cultural life of the community. Right to food, water and sanitation, social security.
