Economic Rights

This book assesses economic rights: defined as the right to a decent standard of living, the right to work, and the right to basic income support for people who cannot work. It explains how economic rights evolved historically, how they are measured, and how they can be implemented internationally. The book includes chapters by leading scholars in economics, law, and political science. Unlike many other books on the subject, this one includes a substantial introduction and is tightly organized around three themes: concepts, measurement, and policy implementation of economic rights.

Shareen Hertel is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut and holds a joint appointment with the university's Human Rights Institute. She has served as a consultant to foundations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies in the United States, Latin America and South Asia. She is the author of Unexpected Power: Conflict and Change Among Transnational Activists (2006), co-editor of Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and has published numerous scholarly articles. Hertel is incoming editor of The Journal of Human Rights and serves on the editorial boards of Human Rights Review, Human Rights and Human Welfare, and the International Studies Intensives book series of Paradigm Publishers.

Lanse Minkler is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Connecticut and Director of Socio-Economic Rights at the University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute. Much of his research has concerned worker knowledge contributions and worker motivations. Most recently, he has been interested in the intersection between ethics and economics - resulting in the book Integrity and Agreement: Economics When Principles Also Matter (University of Michigan Press, forthcoming). His current research interests center on economic rights, most particularly on the right to work. He has recently served on the Editorial Board and as Associate Editor for the Review of Social Economy.