New Symposium – John Tasioulas’ Minimum Core Obligations in Economic, Cultural and Social Rights

I am four-fold excited to introduce this new mini-symposium featuring John Tasioulas’ groundbreaking work on “minimum core obligations” in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

First, I’m excited to debate Tasioulas’ two important new reports for the World Bank:

  • Minimum Core Obligations: Human Rights in the Here and Now (see here)

and

  • The Minimum Core of the Human Right to Health (see here).

Both are important contributions to the human rights field. In the former report, Tasioulas provides a sophisticated but accessible philosophical exploration of minimum core obligations, arguing that they represent a sub-set of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that must be complied with immediately, thereby bypassing the doctrine of “progressive realization” that is a particular hallmark of the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In the latter report, he applies insights drawn from his initial conceptual work to the human right to health. In applying theory to this right, he synthesizes law and practice from international and regional systems, undertakes a comparative analysis of national law from seven states, then folds these principles into ideas about sustainable development goals and indicators constructed to measure their realization. For more detailed overviews, I direct readers to the Executive Summary and Introduction sections of each report.

Second, I am especially excited to host this symposium because it brings together some of the leading theorists and practitioners in the world. All of the eight commentators who have kindly agreed to respond to Tasioulas’ reports are eminent experts in different fields. All approach the problem from various disciplinary vantage points, providing us with a rich tapestry of perspectives on what is undoubtedly a central problem for modern conceptions of global justice. Although I will not provide more information about all the commentators for this symposium here, I do want to single out two, who I am especially honored to host. Martha Nussbaum’s work, first on the capabilities approach then on the relationship between emotions and justice, is a major influence on my thinking. I attempted to entice her to participate in an earlier symposium, to which she politely told me that she does not write for blogs, so I am especially privileged to host her in this instance. Similarly, Michael Kirby enjoys a reputation for being one of Australia’s leading judges ever and his work in human rights was a powerful inspiration to me when I first became interested in this area. I’m thrilled to host these and all the other outstanding commentators.

Third, I am particularly enthusiastic about the symbiosis between theory and practice this symposium promotes. In the blog’s manifesto, I set out how “although the blog will seek to engage with theoretical questions, it will also continuously attempt to create symbiosis with practice in an attempt to ensure that practice is defensible and theory is informed.” The aspiration is evident at multiple levels in this symposium. It is reflected, for instance, in the contributions of leading philosophers and a highly-regarded judge, by the transition from philosophy to application in the two reports, and in the practical orientation of the conceptual work for the World Bank. The symbiosis is also enabled by the multi-disciplinary perspective of the various commentators. The outstanding cast of scholars who offer criticisms of the work come from philosophy, law, medicine and international relations. I remain excited by the underlying method as well as the constructive disagreement it has generated, so hope that this type of exchange stimulates others substantively as well as methodologically.

Fourth, I am pleased that this debate contributes, perhaps implicitly, to wider discussions about the adequacy of human rights as responses to massive contemporary problems. For the longest time, human rights projected an image of political agnosticism, promising to act as a thin set of standards that preserved human dignity while allowing diverse forms of culture, religion, and political organisation to flourish around them. Increasingly, that image is disputed, in large part because human rights are perceived as inadequate responses to global inequality. If human rights did unintentionally become part of the problem in global injustice, however, this reality was likely at least partially the product of an over-emphasis on Civil and Political Rights. So, a stronger engagement with the often-times overshadowed Economic, Social and Cultural variants of international human rights promises to inform wider scholarly debates about the salience of the paradigm.

In all these respects, I am particularly excited to host what I believe is an important contribution to the field.