The purpose of this section is to enable you to develop a rights-based perspective and approach to economic, social and cultural (ESC) issues.

We are indebted to the International Human Rights Internship Programme for permission to include this section, written by D.J. Ravindran. It was originally published in Circle of rights: Economic, social and cultural activism: a training resource. IHRIP & Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, 2003.

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• describe the development of a rights-based perspective;
• describe the intrinsic value of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights;
• explain the need to reflect on development policies and strategies;
• have an informed view of the role of the state in ensuring ESC rights and the indivisibility of rights.

For your convenience, we include a summary along with all other documents that we refer to in this chapter. We recommend that you print this document now.

allpdfsESRC.pdf

The dignity of an individual cannot and should not be divided into two spheres - that of civil and political and that of economic, social and cultural. The individual must be able to enjoy freedom from want as well as freedom from fear.

The ultimate goal of ensuring respect for the dignity of an individual cannot be achieved without that person's enjoying all of his or her rights.

Ultimately, it is a question of putting the human being in the centre - not as an atomistic individual, but as part of a community and an ecological system. Advancing ESC rights requires a new paradigm and a new perception of rights.

In February 2000 the Indonesian government imposed a ban on use of 'becak' in the capital, Jakarta. Becak are tricycles that are used for transporting goods and people; they provide a livelihood for the many people who pedal them.

A becak

In imposing the ban, the government argued that becak cause traffic jams; they are slow-moving and an oddity in a city full of brand-new cars and other motor vehicles.

This is not the first time that the use of becak has been declared illegal. The previous ban was lifted in 1997 due to the acute economic crisis in the country.

Becak driving provided much-needed employment. Many poor people sold their meagre possessions to buy a becak in order to earn their livelihood. Now, with the new ban, they are back to square one.

The implicit assumption underlying the government's ban is that becak drivers have no place in Jakarta's busy urban environment, where their mode of earning a livelihood is no longer relevant.

The ban also carries the implication that the government holds no responsibility for the marginalization of the becak drivers; while the latter may have rights that protect them against arbitrary arrest, torture and killing, they have none that would ensure their economic and social well being.

A common argument is that the becak drivers' choice of livelihood should give way to economic development, which will, in the long run, save them from the drudgery of pedalling a becak all day. In the meanwhile, instead of telling them they have rights, why not provide them with charity, so that they do not starve?

The food, housing, health and other basic requirements of becak drivers are typically viewed within a development per-spective; they are seen simply as needs and not as entitlements. The assumption is that economic development will enable a person or group to meet its basic needs.

The plight of the becak drivers is not unique. Their circumstances and similar circumstances of many other people, however, do pose a difficult question: How can we understand and discuss their situations not as ones involving charity or development, but as ones involving human rights, and specifically economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights?

It is easy to say that ESC rights exist, but articulating their relationship to real-life situations such as these is a challenge.

It is essential to understand that working for development by extending services or providing for basic needs is different from working to ensure the enjoyment of ESC rights. We cannot ignore the effect that deprivation of basic ESC entitlements has on the dignity of a person.

Individuals cannot be asked to wait for economic development to happen before their dignity is respected. The dignity and wellbeing of human beings is the foundation on which a rights-based approach is built.

ESC rights rest on the belief that economic and social deprivation should no longer be considered the result of natural conditions ordained by God or fate, as has historically often been the case.

They also rest on the belief that those who do not enjoy the fulfilment of their ESC rights are not to be automatically blamed for their plight, on the charge of being lazy, reckless in spending or non-enterprising.

A rights-based approach is founded on the conviction that each and every human being, by virtue of being human, is a holder of rights. A right entails an obligation on the part of the government to respect, promote, protect and fulfil it.

The legal and normative character of rights and the associated governmental obligations are based on international human rights treaties and other standards, as well as on national constitutional human rights provisions.

Thus a rights-based approach involves not charity or simple economic development, but a process of enabling and empowering those not enjoying their ESC rights to claim their rights.

When individuals or peoples cannot exercise what they understand and believe to be their right, activists can encourage and help them to claim the right through judicial and administrative channels or, where an established mechanism does not exist, by other means such as public demonstrations.

The process of staking a claim not only asserts an individual's ownership of his or her entitlement. It also helps define the right and raises awareness that what has been claimed is not a privilege or an aspiration, but a right.

One human rights activist has described a rights-based approach in the following way - as shown in the file below.

dignity.pdf

The intrinsic value of ESC rights

ESC entitlements (for example, food, education, housing) are normally perceived only as instrumental to achieving certain ends, such as development and economic growth. This view has been in line with the notion that ESC rights are only aspirations, not rights proper.

Derived from this is the idea that these rights can only be achieved progressively, since their enjoyment is linked to availability of resources.

At this point, the 'negative' and 'positive' categorization of rights comes into play, whereby civil and political rights can be immediately enforced, since they require only non-intervention by the state, while all ESC rights supposedly require a positive role by the state.

The debate regarding ESC rights thus becomes entangled in the politics of free market versus state intervention. The debate on ESC entitlements is typically conducted not from the perspective of rights but from the perspective of development or welfare policy.

An approach that makes ESC entitlements dependent upon the development policies of a state undermines the fundamental principle that human rights cannot be given nor taken away. It is essential to establish the intrinsic value of ESC rights. They have a value-and are an end-in and of themselves.

The 'capability' approach suggested by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen provides a useful frame-work for understanding the intrinsic value of ESC rights. According to Sen,

He argues that economic poverty and deprivation should be seen in relation to their role in curtailing the freedom of a person to lead a life that s/he values.

The freedom to live a normal span of life, for example, is curtailed by premature mortality, and the freedom to read or write is curtailed by illiteracy. Enjoyment of ESC rights enhances the freedom of individuals by increasing their capabilities and their quality of life.

Seeing poverty as a capability failure can lead to demands for appropriate social arrangements through placing obligations on states. This approach also provides a framework for judging policies by their impact on the enhancement of citizens' capabilities (whether or not the enhanced capability comes through the growth of real incomes).

Finally, a capability approach can be a means of assessing the impact of discrimination based on factors such as race, class, caste and gender. Discrimination can, for example, constrain the capability and thus freedom of a person through denying him/her employment or appropriate medical care.

Sen identifies five ways in which education and health contribute to the freedom of a person - described in the following document.

educationandhealth.pdf

The effects of education and health are not necessarily confined to the person who receives them.

"Expansion of health and education can have influences that go much beyond the immediate personal effects. For example, one person's educational ability can be of use to another. The interpersonal connections can be of political significance as well; for example, a community may benefit generally from the civic attention it receives through the educated activism of a particular group within that community" (Dreze and Sen, 1998).

Sen also examines the role of food in fostering freedom:

With regard to food policy, Sen distinguishes two kinds of perspectives - the instrumental perspective and the intrinsic perspective.

The instrumental perspective emphasizes economic incentives for expansion of national output, including food production. Sen proposes that the instrumental perspective should not limit itself to advancing the freedom to earn profits, however.

Other, broader kinds of freedoms such as freedom of information, assembly and opposition should also be advanced. These freedoms play a crucial role in the delivery and use of food.

In the intrinsic perspective, according to Sen, freedom from hunger can be seen as having value in and of itself. Therefore, economic development and social progress should be assessed by examining whether they enhance basic positive freedoms to avoid premature mortality, to escape morbidity, to eliminate malnutrition, and so on.

Sen's arguments regarding food policy can be extended to social and economic policy (development policy) matters in general. They can be examined to assess whether they intrinsically enhance ESC rights and thereby the dignity and freedom of the individual.

Becak drivers through a capability lens

At first glance, the outlawing of the becak (which we described earlier) appears to only affect the working status of the becak drivers.

However, an examination of their situation through the lens of Sen's capability approach reveals a much greater impact on the rights and freedoms of the newly marginalized becak driver:

• Having a job as a driver held intrinsic value in and of itself. The opportunity to work and to carve out a position in society increased the driver's effective freedom and overall quality of life;

• The self-employment of the driver enabled him to support himself and potentially his family as well. This, in turn, increased his ability to take part in community life, and gain access to necessary services and needs, such as adequate food, health care, etc.;

• In workday life, the becak driver came into contact with many people, thus expanding his knowledge and awareness of society as a whole. These interactions are essential to his freedom in society and community;

• The ability of the driver to earn a living may well have affected his ability to organize, resist oppression and create a more just life for himself and his family.

The Indonesian government's decision to outlaw becak was taken without the effective participation of those whose livelihoods depend on them. This not only deprived the becak drivers of their ability to earn a living and the freedoms that would ensue from this, but also denied them their voice, role and potential. It effectively 'disappeared' them from society.

A rights-based approach to this situation would include encouraging and helping the drivers to claim their right to a livelihood and the accompanying freedoms that are theirs as human beings.

Development policies and strategies

Advancing ESC rights entails a paradigm shift from existing models of development. Economic, social and cultural entitlements are normally associated with needs and brought into the ambit of development policy.

In order to advance ESC rights, it is essential for activists to reflect on and understand the implications of development policies pursued by national governments and international agencies.

They also have to have an historical perspective on the development strategies pursued by governments and international agencies, if they are to be able to critique them and, where necessary, propose alternative models that respect ESC rights.

National planning and'development'

Let's look at a brief history on national planning and the meaning of'development'.

The industrial revolution gave rise to the need for social planning. Urban squalor and poverty caused by industrialization called for the provision of welfare measures.

Initially, it was left to charities to cope with these 'social problems.' The latter proved to be so enormous, however, that they soon required intervention by professionals and the state. Poverty, ill health, lack of education and hygiene and unemployment required extensive social planning and intervention in everyday life.

Planning became a central technique of development, redefining social and economic life in accordance with the demands of industrial society. This 'scientific' (rational and efficient) planning was infused with an instrumental attitude towards people and nature.

In the 1920s and 30s, following the mobilization of national resources to fight World War I, planning attained prominence with Soviet planning, the scientific management movement in the United States, and Keynesian economic policy (Escobar, 1995).

The spread of colonialism and the export of 'modernity' paved the way for planning in the colonies. Planning became a central tool in modernizing traditional developing societies. The nationalists who emerged in the colonies also believed in planning as a way of building strong and modern postcolonial nations.

The planning model was intended to achieve wholesale transformation of human and social structures, replacing them with new, rational ones.

The zeal for modernizing developing societies was also reflected in the official policies of the international institutions. For example, the first World Bank mission to Colombia, in 1949, called for a comprehensive program of development.

The Bank mission stated:

'One cannot escape the conclusion that reliance on natural forces has not produced the most happy results. Equally inescapable is the conclusion that with knowledge of the underlying facts and economic processes, good planning in setting objectives and allocating resources, and determination in carrying out a programme for improvement and reforms, a great deal can be done to improve the economic environment by shaping economic policies to meet scientifically ascertained social requirements ...'

'... In making such an effort, Colombia would not only accomplish its own salvation but would at the same time furnish an inspiring example to all other underdeveloped areas of the world' (see Escobar, 1995).

Thus, 'development' was about salvation. The process was facilitated with the launching of Development Decades by the United Nations. With each decade, the emphasis changed.

In the 1950s, it was growth and national planning; in the 60s, the Green Revolution and sectoral and regional planning; in the 70s, basic needs and local-level planning; and in the 80s, the emphasis changed to environmental planning for sustainable development and planning that incorporated women or the grassroots into development.

The impact of these development programs has not always been positive - witness the situation of the becak drivers. In fact, these programs have often been particularly detrimental to women and indigenous people.

According to a critic,

'Even in terms of increased production, rural development programmes have had dubious results at best. Most of the increase in food production in the Third World has taken place in the commercial capitalist sector, while a good part of the increase has been in cash or export crops. In fact, as has been amply shown, rural development programmes and development planning in general have contributed not only to growing pauperization of rural people, but also to aggravated problems of malnutrition and hunger' (Escobar, 1995).

It is thus important that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) which are involved in carrying out development programs examine their programs from the perspective of rights. Do their programs contribute to enhancing the rights of people or do they undermine them? These are real debates and cannot be ignored.

Debate on the role of the state

Those concerned with economic and social issues cannot escape the debate on the role of the state. At the grassroots level, activists are engaged in challenging the negative effects of development and the role of the state in contributing to those negative effects.

At the same time, state intervention in promoting development is being challenged by others who advocate reduction of the state's role in economic and development activities more generally. The concept of the state itself and its responsibilities, including its role in public policies, has been brought into question in this era of globalization.

The postwar consensus that existed in most Western European countries regarding the role of the state in ensuring basic human welfare has been undermined.

The market versus state debate is important for those working on ESC rights issues. At the same time, it should be clarified that states have obligations to uphold human rights irrespective of the economic system they follow.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has made clear that under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 'undertaking to take steps [to guarantee ESC rights] neither requires nor precludes any particular form of government or economic system.'

It should be stressed that it is not a question of one form of government or another. It is rather a question of the type of governance that ensures the realization of ESC rights. In the current debate, the negative role of the state (particularly relating to restrictions and controls) has been given much prominence.

What is important to stress, however, is the positive role of the government in developing and implementing public policies relating to the provision of education, health care, land distribution and other social and economic entitlements.

It is now well established that positive interventions by governments can bring about rapid changes in living conditions. Among ten developing countries that achieved the largest reductions in infant and child mortality rates between 1960 and 1985, five were cases of what Dreze and Sen call 'growth-mediated success'; that is, the success was achieved as a result of economic growth.

The other five countries belong to the category of 'support-led success.' The latter achieved reduction in mortality despite low economic growth through concerted public programs in the areas of health, education and social security.

The relation between public intervention and the removal of endemic deprivation has been established even in the experiences of the rich and industrialized countries.

One example is the sharp increase in longevity in Britain during the decades of the world wars, which were periods of rapid expansion of support for public food distribution, employment generation and health care provisioning.

In the contemporary period, persistent hunger and deprivation in some sections of the population, even in rich countries, seem to have a clear connection to a lack of public policy and intervention (Dreze & Sen, 1989).

The achievements made by some developing countries through government intervention are evidence that it is possible to achieve rapid improvements in living conditions despite slow economic growth.

It is worth pointing out, for example, that despite high economic growth, Thailand and South Korea still have lower life expectancy at birth than Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Costa Rica.

Similarly, in India, the State of Kerala has experienced exceptional achievements in the social field despite its low income level; it has a higher life expectancy at birth (of about 72 years) than some other economically successful countries in the region (Thailand at 69 years and South Korea at 71 years).

How did Sri Lanka and Kerala achieve social development despite being part of a region where economic deprivation is endemic? Kerala's success can be traced to public intervention relating to elementary education, land reform, the role of women in society and equitable provision of health care and other public services.

Neglect in these same areas has been related to the extreme social deprivation that is prevalent in some other provinces in India.

In fact, the glaring contrast between Kerala and other Indian provinces is evidence that ensuring ESC entitlements requires a range of public interventions that increase the agency of individuals by providing them basic education and health facilities.

The indivisibility of rights

Realization of ESC rights also requires the protection of civil and political rights as enabling conditions for the participation of citizens in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of social policies.

However, the importance of these enabling conditions does not mean that civil and political rights take precedence over ESC rights. In reality, they go hand in hand.

The experience of a group in Rajasthan, India shows that those working on ESC entitlements can embrace civil and political rights as a means of advancing ESC rights-and thereby advance freedoms in general.

http://www.samarmagazine.org/archive/article.php?id=128

The group in Rajasthan demanded access to information, not as an individual's right related to freedom of expression, but as the inalienable right of the weaker sections to life and livelihood.

Reorienting our perception on rights

In developing a rights-based approach, it is important to reexamine our way of thinking and acting on issues that confront disadvantaged individuals and groups.

The human rights movement has historically sought to ensure that those who were silenced or 'disappeared' through civil and political repression regained their voice, visibility and freedom.

The movement, however, has too long neglected the rights of millions of people made invisible or 'disappeared' as a result of social, economic, and cultural policies.