Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right: Who Owes What to the Very Poor? » (1st Edition)

Having received his PhD in philosophy from Harvard, Pogge has published widely on Kant and in moral and political philosophy, including various books on Rawls and global justice. He is Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, Professorial Fellow at the ANU Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, and Professor II of Philosophy at the University of Oslo.

Collected here in one volume are fifteen cutting-edge essays by leading academics which together clarify and defend the claim that freedom from poverty is a human right with corresponding binding obligations on the more affluent to practice effective poverty avoidance. The nature of human rights and their corresponding duties is examined, as is the theoretical standing of the social, economic and cultural rights. The authors largely agree in concluding that there is a human right to be free from poverty and that this right is massively violated by the present world economy which creates huge unfair imbalances in income and wealth among and within countries. This searing indictment of the status quo is all the more powerful as the authors endorsing it exemplify diverse philosophical methods and moral traditions and also highlight different aspects of poverty and global institutional arrangements.

This volume will be of great interest and value to academics working in the fields of philosophy, political science and international relations, as well as to undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines. It will also be a crucial aid and challenge to practitioners in international governmental organizations (such as the UN and its agencies) and NGOs who think of their work in human-rights terms. Indeed, in view of the magnitude of the human rights deficit at issue, any moral citizen has reason to engage with the arguments of this book. And the book makes this possible for most in that, throughout, even the most complex aspects of rights theory is discussed in clear, direct language, making the text accessible to specialists and lay readers alike.

This volume is co-published with UNESCO publishing.

List of Contributors xi

Introduction Thomas Pogge 1

1 Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation Thomas Pogge 11

2 Poverty as a Violation of Human Rights: Inhumanity or Injustice? Tom Campbell 55

3 The Moral Reality of Human Rights John Tasioulas 75

4 Inequality and Poverty in Global Perspective Alvaro de Vita 103

5 Poverty as a Form of Oppression Marc Fleurbaey 133

6 Neglected Injustice: Poverty as a Violation of Social Autonomy Regina Kreide 155

7 The Duties Imposed by the Human Right to Basic Necessities Elizabeth Ashford 183

8 Duties to Fulfill the Human Rights of the Poor Alan Gewirth 219

9 Extreme Poverty in a Wealthy World: What Justice Demands Today Marcelo Alegre 237

10 Responsibility and Severe Poverty Leif Wenar 255

11 Global Poverty and Human Rights: The Case for Positive Duties Simon Caney 275

12 The Right to Basic Resources Stephane Chauvier 303

13 Poverty Eradication and Human Rights Arjun Sengupta 323

14 Enforcing Economic and Social Human Rights Osvaldo Guariglia 345

15 The Right of Resistance in Situations of Severe Deprivation Roberto Gargarella 359

Bibliography 375

Index 391