Ms. Institute Workshop: Understanding and Using an Economic Human Rights Model

Chris Grove gave this workshop on applying the ESCR framework to human rights work in the United States in Fall 2003 for the Ms. Institute in Austin, Texas.

Introductions (15 minutes)
* Have participants introduce themselves, sharing briefly about any economic or social justice work in which they are engaged and expressing their hopes for the workshop. Introduce the general content and framework of the workshop.

Economic Human Rights Historical Framework (5 minutes)
Outline quick history to illustrate that the struggle for economic rights are not alien to the United States and can thus be reclaimed by a reinvigorated struggle:

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) helped to establish the NAACP in 1909, to struggle against the economic and political disempowerment of Blacks, which had been occurring progressively since the end of the Reconstruction era. In 1903, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois wrote, “Despite compromise, war, and struggle, the Negro is not free… In well-nigh the whole rural South, the Black farmers are peons, bound by law and custom to an economic slavery, from which the only escape is death or the penitentiary.”

In 1941, during another time of war and economic uncertainty, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enumerated the Four Freedoms that the United States must strive to protect. One of these was the Freedom from Want, which included “the right of every family to a decent home [and] the right to a good education.”

Eleanor Roosevelt led an international team in the drafting of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at the United Nations. Heavily dependent on input from NGOs and civil society, the Declaration was largely a response to horrors and genocide of WWII. It incorporated values indigenous to multiple cultures and religions, and international consensus in support of the UDHR has continued to grow with the advent of new nations. Perhaps most significantly, the UDHR recognized the interdependence of all human rights, proclaiming economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights.

Attempts were made to transform the UDHR into an international convention that would be legally binding on all nations that signed and ratified it. However, the Cold War and the United States’ fear of socialism led first to the creation of two separate conventions, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Then, the United States refused to sign even the ICCPR, particularly due to segregation and clear discrimination against its Black population.

The Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., was also very much a struggle for economic rights. His 1963 march to the nation’s capital was entitled, ‘The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,’ while his final speech in 1968 was made in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Particularly in the period following the passage of the civil rights acts, MLK became increasingly vocal in his call for economic rights, as well as in his criticism of the Vietnam War, which was disproportionately drafting soldiers from poor and minority populations, to fight against the poor in other nations. An article critiquing narrow media depictions of MLK, written by Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon, explains this period:
King began challenging the nation's fundamental priorities. He maintained that civil rights laws were empty without "human rights" -- including economic rights. For people too poor to eat at a restaurant or afford a decent home, King said, anti-discrimination laws were hollow.

Noting that a majority of Americans below the poverty line were white, King developed a class perspective. He decried the huge income gaps between rich and poor, and called for "radical changes in the structure of our society" to redistribute wealth and power.
"True compassion," King declared, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."

From Vietnam to South Africa to Latin America, King said, the U.S. was "on the wrong side of a world revolution." King questioned "our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America," and asked why the U.S. was suppressing revolutions "of the shirtless and barefoot people" …instead of supporting them.

In foreign policy, King also offered an economic critique, complaining about "capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries."

In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the Poor People's Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would descend on Washington -- engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be -- until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an "insurrection."

King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America's cities. He saw a crying need to confront a Congress that had demonstrated its "hostility to the poor" -- appropriating "military funds with alacrity and generosity," but providing "poverty funds with miserliness."

The first issue of Ms. Magazine in the Spring of 1972, included stories on the unpaid labor of housewives and welfare rights. Thirty years later, in their Spring 2002 issue, Ms. highlighted some improvement between men and women in the United States, but they noted, “The United Nations estimates the value of the unpaid work that women do in their homes and communities to be about trillion a year—a third of the world’s GDP” (5). Similarly, as a result of Bill Clinton signing the disturbingly named ‘Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act’ that transformed Aid to Families with Dependent Children into Temporary Assistance to Needy Families in 1996, Ms. highlighted, “Three years after leaving welfare, about 70 percent of welfare-to-work participants in Los Angeles earned income below the poverty line” (12). Additionally, the poverty line is widely acknowledged as being too low, and poverty is only one aspect of economic human rights.

Economic Human Rights and Underlying Values (15 minutes)

Discuss and list ideas regarding the nature and role of human rights. What values are foundational to human rights? These might include underlying values, such as dignity, freedom, equality, justice, respect for difference, capability, participation, responsibility—rules and accountability, universality. What is the purpose of human rights? Michael Ignatieff’s notion of human rights protecting agency; Charles Taylor (or John Rawls’) notion of shared consensus about how to live together; challenging Arendt’s observations. One category of human rights is economic human rights; what rights might be included in this category? Why are economic rights important to all other human rights?

Discuss dignity as self-respect, relative to one’s own community first. To bodily dignity, this introduces social dignity. (Illustrate with ’97-’98 Internal Memo sent to Wisconsin Social Workers to encourage clients to dumpster dine behind supermarkets, if they requested food stamps.) Illustrate with concentric circles, starting with the family, then the community, state, nation, international sphere, with the government and human rights cutting through all spheres, including the public/private divide in the home. Introduce the importance of building a human rights culture, in which persons are entitled to dignity and true participation, first in the home and community and then gradually challenging the government.

Have participants compare and contrast current civil rights and their underlying values with human rights values. Human rights recognizes expanded definitions of dignity, equity (versus legal equality), de facto discrimination (versus de jure discrimination), and expanded rights to participation (versus voting and free speech). While civil rights are legally recognized and largely enforceable via the courts in the United States, human rights must rely on other moral and political strategies (while gradually attempting to strengthen justiciability through further legislation and jurisprudence). Compare and contrast current strategies for addressing economic and social issues, via underlying values, of the government, policy advocacy groups, and community groups versus economic human rights approaches. The government does not recognize persons’ entitlement to basic economic rights and normally embraces only formal legal equality, while often placing the interests of economically powerful campaign contributors above average constituents. In terms of policy advocacy, economic human rights does not enter into messaging, apart from education; equity is not highlighted in all issues; and dignity and participation are more constricted to the limits of traditional civil rights. Community groups often emphasize values and rights nearly equivalent of economic human rights. Economic human rights provide a proactive platform for analyzing and challenging larger structural issues. (The US is seemingly spending more on the poor, but on custodial care, so that our prisons are full of nonviolent offenders who did not have access to quality education or jobs; women are sometimes being given money for childcare yet the childcare workers are often making more than they are; and there is insufficient money allotted for adequate housing, but the children of the homeless are being put in foster care that the government funds.)

Economic Human Rights Emerging from Basic Needs (30 minutes)

Begin to look at specific economic human rights by focusing on the needs present in the participants’ lives, communities, and work.

• In small groups, (5 minutes) have participants list specific needs that all persons have in order to develop their full potential. (Ideally, this will include specific needs that they feel their work is currently addressing, as well as additional needs that they perceive in their communities.)

(10 minutes) Next, have participants compare this to the current situation in their communities, the nation, and the world, particularly identifying obstacles to those needs being met. Have each group share a few of the needs that they identified, as well as any obstacles to their fulfillment. Then, highlight the current economic situation utilizing the attached NY Times article from 26 September 2003. Is poverty inevitable, particularly in the United States?

(15 minutes) Finally, noting that many rights emerge out of the basic needs of all persons for a healthy, happy life, have groups compose a bill of rights, focusing on economic rights, which particularly reflects the needs that they identified. Have groups stand and read this bill of rights to the seminar. How are dignity and need related? What values are represented in the rights that have been suggested?

Economic Human Rights Legal Framework (10 minutes)

Mention the following:
1. There is an ongoing process of discussion internationally and elaboration domestically of economic human rights. This involves NGOs and, increasingly, social movements, indigenous peoples, and minority voices within nations.
2. Although many origins of human rights exist, from the writing of the UDHR onwards, the focus has on establishing the content of human rights through consensus at the international level, placing the dignity or value of every human being at the center of discussions.
3. Human rights have largely been practical responses to concrete situations. For example, the UDHR emerged out of the destruction and genocide of WWII.
4. The interdependence of all human rights, namely economic, social, cultural, civil and political, has been widely embraced by most nations. Economic rights allow for the enjoyment of other human rights, while civil and political rights allow for the ongoing protection of economic, social, and cultural rights.
5. All human rights cost money, whether free and fair elections, a fair trial, or adequate housing.

Highlight specific rights and encourage participants connect them to their ‘bill of rights.’ Provide the following summary as a HANDOUT:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Articles 2 (non-discrimination), 23 (right to work, including adequate wage and right to organize), 24 (right to rest, reasonable working hours, and holidays), 25 (right to adequate standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care), 26 (right to education). (Adopted December 10, 1948.)

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Articles 2.2 (affirmative action), 4 (condemn racist propaganda—welfare stereotypes?), 5 (guarantee ESCR to everyone without distinction); Ratified on November 20, 1994.

ICCPR Articles 1 (self-determination, including economic, social and cultural development, and control over natural resources), 22 (freedom of association, trade unions), 2, 3, 26, 27 (non-discrimination and equality); Signed by the United States Oct. 5, 1977, and ratified June 8, 1992.

ICESCR Articles 6 (right to work, including provision of technical training), 7 (just and favorable work conditions, such as fair/equal/decent wages, safe and healthy working conditions, rest and holidays), 8 (trade unions and right to organize and strike), 9 (social security), 10 (assistance to families, paid maternity leave, protection of children), 11 (adequate standard of living, including food, clothing, housing), 12 (highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including healthy environment), 13 (education, including ‘the progressive introduction of free higher education’ and adult literacy), 15 (cultural life and benefits of scientific progress). Only signed on Oct. 5, 1977.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Articles 3 (‘best interests of the child’), 12 (participation based on age and maturity), 18 (child care), 23 (right of mentally and physically disabled children to education, health care rehabilitation, preparation for employment and recreation), 24 (highest attainable standard of health), 26 (social security), 27 (adequate standard of living), 28/29 (education), 32/34-36 (freedom from exploitation). Signed, but not ratified. The United States is the only country in the world to not ratify the Convention.

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Articles 4 (affirmative action), 11 (equality in right to work, equal wages, social security, health and safety in working conditions; paid maternity leave), 14 (right of rural women to participation in development, to adequate healthcare, to social security, to healthcare, to credit, to adequate living conditions). Only signed July 17, 1980.

American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man Articles 7 (right to ‘protection, care, aid’ for women ‘during pregnancy and the nursing period’), 11 (preservation of health through ‘social measures relating to food, clothing, housing and medical care’), 12 (education), 14 (right to work and to wages providing a suitable standard of living), 15 (leisure time), 16 (social security), 23 (‘right to own such private property as meets the essential needs of decent living and helps to maintain the dignity of the individual and of the home’). Adopted May 2, 1948.

The above framework offers a basis for international solidarity, representing near-universal recognition of economic human rights. However, possibilities for legal adjudication remain weak in the US; thus, the framework is primarily useful for educational and political work at present. (Mention the possibility of bringing cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, DC.)

US law: On the national level, Amendment 14 of the US Constitution prohibits states from discrimination (1868), while the Commerce Power has been used by Congress to legislate against racial or sexual discrimination by private parties. Amendment 16 of the US Constitution gives Congress the right to progressive taxation (1913). The US Constitution was established to compliment the constitutions of the states via a federal system, and Amendment 10 clarified: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” Many state constitutions protect at least some economic rights, such as the right to education.

BREAK (15 minutes, after first 1 hour 15 minutes)

Government Responsibilities (10 minutes)
Provide the following information in a HANDOUT:

Although human rights and their underlying values are very important in the relationships of individual persons and communities, the government has the primarily responsibility:
* To promote human rights (educating and publicizing)
* To respect human rights (avoid any policies that discriminate or hinder the enjoyment of rights)
* To protect human rights (against violations by third parties)
* To fulfill human right (through budgetary expenditures and other proactive measures)

In regard to economic human rights, two concepts are central:
Minimum core
* Homelessness: In NYC, there are not sufficient shelters, which would not fulfill the right to adequate housing anyway, and persons are no longer allowed to sleep on subway.
* Progressive realization (based on Article 2 of ICESCR, also ‘maximum…resources’)
* Welfare reform (TANF, 2- and 5-year limits, lack of adequate childcare, denial of welfare to legal immigrants) and New Jersey Child Exclusion Act

Also, mention non-discrimination, monitoring, and conduct and result.

So, a human rights violation must first involve the failure to respect or fulfill a minimum core standard (including non-discrimination), regression, or failure to protect. Secondly, it must be attributable to government policy, action, or inaction where responsibility for enforcement/protection exists.

Discuss: (15 minutes) What is the difference between acknowledging basic needs as economic rights instead of matters of charity or ‘personal responsibility and work’? Why has the US government been reluctant to recognize economic human rights? How does the government justify ongoing poverty, homelessness, poor schools, and the like? Are these reasons legitimate? (Include discussions of conflicting government priorities, particularly national security and the economy, as well as potential conflicts between rights. The US military budget request for 2004 is 9.1 billion, which is likely to be overspent. Highlight that all rights cost money.)

Why have policy advocacy groups, like the ACLU, NAACP, and various policy think tanks, been reluctant to embrace economic human rights? (In the Amicus Brief presented by CESR on the New Jersey Child Exclusion Act, the ACLU only encouraged arguments based on discrimination via birth status, refusing to embrace economic human rights language, perhaps largely for practical reasons. There is also a tendency to highlight bad policy decisions, instead of economic human rights violations.)

Potential Benefits of an Economic Human Rights Framework (15 minutes)
Discuss/list: What are the potential benefits of an economic human rights framework?

Economic human rights speak of entitlements that every person deserves on the basis of being human. Rights are not a matter of charity. Human beings cannot be divided into deserving and undeserving (thus often dehumanized) categories, as suggested by the right to non-discrimination.

Economic human rights also offer a language of empowerment, recognizing the dignity and agency of every individual. Stigmas, stereotypes, oppression are often internalized. (Foucault’s description of Bentham’s Panoptican.)

Affected persons are placed at the center via the right to participation, the right to non-discrimination, and even the right to self-determination. Persons have a right to be heard by the government and to have a voice equal to big business in community decisions. (Right to participate in education—‘Civil Society and School Accountability’: parents are locked out of schools and phone calls are not returned, while few mechanisms exist for parents and students to participate in decision-making.)

Focusing on economic human rights provides a basis for domestic and international solidarity and a proactive, united movement. Although multiple identities are recognized and the importance of experts focused on certain issues acknowledged, the focus is on common values tied to a broader international consensus. A common framework built on shared values and universal economic human rights creates a broader basis for united challenges to rights violations experienced by any individual or group. Instead of struggle between oppressed for a tiny piece of the pie, there might be a struggle together for an adequate portion of the pie for everyone. (Economic human rights may draw on a class-based identity in organizing many of its struggles, yet it recognizes that all are entitled to equal human rights. Thus, a middle-class family without healthcare is also recognized as experiencing an economic human rights violation. Similarly, raced minorities and females are disproportionately affected by economic rights violations. Therefore, Martha Davis and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund adopted the issue of welfare reform, which affected millions of women, who are essential to the feminist movement.)

Economic human rights provide a framework for analyzing and challenging structural inequities, disproportionate impacts, or de facto discrimination.

Economic human rights undermine poverty pimping, which Adolph Reed, Jr., has defined as ‘the pursuit of narrow personal gain under the guise of fighting poverty,’ whether by poverty researchers, well-off ‘spokespersons’ claiming funds designated for the poor, political parties (potentially with xenophobic messages), or individual politicians buying silence in the face of regressive policies. The poor, women, and other minorities are empowered to speak and advocate on their own behalf, entitled to the human rights that allow them to choose their own future.

Human Rights Violations and Strategies for Seeking Justice (5 minutes)
Developing jurisprudence or strengthening justiciability: A recognized human rights violation by the government may be brought before domestic courts, the Inter-American Human Rights Committee, the UN Commission on Human Rights, or Human Rights Committee (but failure to sign or ratify ICCPR Optional Protocol does not give official jurisdiction over complaints). However, only rulings of US domestic courts are legally enforceable for US citizens, and they have been reluctant to recognize economic human rights.

Documentation, monitoring and reporting: Many UN human rights documents have treaty bodies that monitor compliance. Additionally, UN special rapporteurs, ombudspersons, and NGOs monitor and report on human rights situations, pressuring governments to implement changes. At times, this involves budget analysis and other forms of research.
Education and awareness-raising: Although governments are to have a role in promoting the awareness of human rights, families, teachers, religious institutions, and NGOs have an important role to play in informing their communities of their economic human rights.

Lobbying elected officials: This includes pressuring government officials to amend budgets or adopt new policies. Government officials have also been encouraged to consider implementing human rights norms into their city and state laws.
* The Pennsylvania House recently passed HR473, calling on the state congress to investigate possibilities for implementing international human rights norms. Initially, supported by social workers to bring issues of poverty into the public discourse, the success of the resolution has surprised some. San Francisco has adopted CEDAW, and now a coalition, including the Urban Justice Center, is building a grassroots base in support of a New York City resolution that would adopt the combined principles and rights of CEDAW and CERD.

Shaming: Via the media and letter-writing, individuals, community groups, and NGOs often put further pressure on governments to adopt new policies or to end violations.

Creating networks based on the struggle for economic human rights

Voluntary corporate responsibility agreements

Organizing protest actions and civil disobedience

Application of an Economic Human Rights Framework (20 minutes, plus)
In small groups, have participants choose an issue that their organization is currently addressing. Among these, have the group choose one issue (if time permits, each situation can be addressed) and develop a strategy for activism drawing on an economic human rights framework, including broader connections with other organizations that might be formed.
1. What values and economic human rights apply to this situation?
2. Who can be held accountable?
3. What are you or the persons with whom you are working in solidarity entitled to? What do you want to achieve?
4. Particularly, with out the expenditure of excessive additional resources, what are three to four concrete steps that might be taken? (Ideally, this should be more than simply noting that a particular abuse is also an economic human rights violation.)

Challenge and Resources (10 minutes, with evaluations)
* CESR reports and fact sheets on health and education. Also, mention the ESCR-Net. At www.cesr.org and www.escr-net.org.
* Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and the University of the Poor, at www.economichumanrights.org and www.universityofthepoor.org.
* UN Human Rights Treaties, at www.unhchr.ch.