What is the economy for? We don’t often stop to ask this basic question. Economies shape how we organize societies and how widely rights are enjoyed. But “the economy” is often talked about as a monolithic force that cannot be controlled, and which is separate from the day-to-day lives of humans. It is depicted as numbers on a chart, or the rise and fall of the stock market, or a mechanized assembly line in a factory. We talk about having to sacrifice health or justice or equity in service of the economy. But in reality, we are all the economy. In this sense, we all have to ask what the economy is for and who it serves.
For a decade, CESR has been bringing movements and like-minded organizations together to co-create a Blueprint for a Rights-Based Economy. In 2020, CESR published its flagship report A Rights-Based Economy: Putting people and planet first. This report has been used by partners in the Global South and Global North and informed research deepening our understanding of what it means to ‘right the economy'. Over the years, CESR and others have also connected with the excellent work of the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Economy.
Together with 6 allies (Amnesty International, the Financial Transparency Coalition, Human Rights Watch, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, GI-ESCR, and the Tax Justice Network), CESR has developed a joint working paper describing our shared vision for a Human Rights Economy. This working paper defines what is a human rights economy and how it can be put into practice.
As Dr. Marianna Leite, our Director of Program, notes: “Economic policies have failed people and the planet. Yet, many insist on tinkering around the edges rather than fixing the root of the problem. Human rights economies provide precisely the solution we need when it comes to tackling structural inequalities and sustainability issues.”
The concept of a human rights economy does not prescribe a particular economic model. There are various possible human rights economies. A human rights economy framing can support policy makers in two ways: it can help to inspire and design new policies to deliver on human rights and a healthy planet; and it can be used to measure the impact of previous and existing laws and policies against human rights.
At CESR, we argue that the primary purpose of a Rights-Based Economy would be to guarantee the material, social and environmental conditions necessary for all people to live with dignity on a flourishing planet. The measure of its success is whether all people are able to enjoy their full rights – economic and social, civil and political, cultural and environmental - without discrimination and without reducing the ability of future generations to do so.
Human rights, we argue, enrich our vision of economic justice and gender equality by providing a widely agreed framework of ethical values and legal obligations that should underpin our economies, informed by a holistic understanding of human wellbeing. They demand action to redistribute resources, remedy inequalities and rebalance power.
The idea of the human rights economy is still evolving, with contributions from a range of academics, civil society organizations, and international organizations over the past few decades. We are therefore inviting all policymakers, organizations and social movements to contribute to the next version of the working paper by providing inputs via humanrightseconomy@gmail.com.
