Recognition of the Social Rights of the People - Essay Example

?Should social rights be considered human rights? Social rights are defined as the rights made by a group of people to uphold and promote social order in a social community (Surhone, Timpledon & Marseken, 2010). Human rights are used to differentiate between the rights that arise out of consequence from social contrasts in opposition to natural rights, emerging from natural law although before the formation of legal rights by positive law. Broadly speaking, social rights fall in the category of socio-economic rights and are safeguarded and upheld by both international law and regional human rights tools. Human rights too, like social rights, are upheld and protected by both international and regional human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights are defined as the rights that a human has as a result of being a human. This follows that every human being has an inherent authority over human rights. Human rights cannot be divided whether they are civil or political; for example the right to live, no discrimination before the law and freedom of speech and expression. Similarly, economic, social and cultural rights cannot be divided either. However these rights are interrelated and dependent on each other. This follows that progress in one right has an influence on the other and withdrawal of one impact the other (United Nations Human Rights, 2011). Whelan and Donnelly (2007) argue that Western countries have advocated economic and social rights strongly and consistently over the period of time, leading to the post-World War era as we know now. However most analysts are of the perspective that political and civil rights have been given preponderance over social rights. McNally (2006) observes that the global corporate agenda is a representation of the trend towards commodification that has led to the promotion of capitalism since its advent, highlighting the greater importance being given to political rights. Human rights encompass a range of freedoms and rights, of which economic, social and cultural rights form a part of. The human rights definition that follows does imply the notion of protecting social rights and laws and regulations are meant to safeguard the basic and vital “needs of the human person and his/her dignity in times of peace and war” (Kalin, Muller & Wyttenbach, 2004). However human rights do not grant equal importance to the rights that they compromise of. It is argued that social rights are not given the same status by human rights as it gives to civil and political rights. According to Vierdag (1978), civil and political rights have always been considered as absolute and immediate compared to economic, social and cultural rights, which are considered programmatic and to be recognized over the period of time. This will form the core of the argument in this paper and will focus on the status of social, civil and political rights in the context of human rights. When taking human rights as a collective concept, it can be appreciated that human rights have developed and evolved throughout the course of history. This has led to the division of human rights into three generations. Kalin, Muller and Wyttenbach (2004) observe that the pattern and process of the evolution of human rights is manifested in their structure. The Human rights that are represented and divested in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be classified into several generations; this classification is based on the historical origin of each generation. Commonly human rights are divided into three main generations. The first generation consists of civil and political rights and the second generation refers to economic, social and cultural rights. The third generation compromises of collective rights or solidarity rights. The division of human rights into further generations creates a difference in the level of importance attached to each. This paper will delve into the details of the first two generations. Civil and political rights constitute the first generation of human rights and are devised to protect the human being from intervention from the state. Their application is immediate and entails guarantees that pertain to the protection of life including the right to life and the prevention of torture, cruel and brutal treatment of humans and punishment; safeguard against discrimination; procedural guarantees encompassing guarantee to free trial and right to a defence; freedoms including freedom of expression; and political rights such as the right to vote without pressure and to be elected (Metagora, 2011). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Canada is a proponent, observes that all humans have a basic right to self-determination and are free to declare their political status in its context. The Covenant also observes that everyone has a right to form associations with others without any restrictions. This follows that all individuals are guaranteed the right to join trade unions (OHCHR, 2007). The second generation of human rights, economic, social and cultural rights, came into existence at a later period of time than the first generation. The impoverishment and the poor quality of life of individuals and the class struggles of the 19th century were the major cause for the development of social rights. The implementation of these rights necessitates active measures using laws and regulations. The rights covered by the social aspect of the second generation typically includes right to health and social security (Metagora, 2011). Members of the UN, who adhere to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, affirm to the practice of providing healthy and safe working conditions to the employees. The Covenant guarantees that all human beings are entitled to the maximum degree of mental and physical health and states should hence work for the decrease in the infant mortality rate. Article 9 recognizes the rights of the individuals to social security, including social insurance (OHCHR, 2007). Raymond Plant argues that social rights are equivalent to civil and political rights. The definition and approach taken towards social rights is the determining factor in the status positioning of social and political and civil rights (Keane, 2000). Keane (2000) asserts that if social rights are viewed from an aspirational status, they demote to a status lower than that of civil and political rights. On the contrary, Keane contends that if social rights are regarded as real rights and given the same importance as civil and political rights, only then can one say that human rights are being discussed. For social rights to be applied effectively in a social community, social, civil and political rights should be equally made the foundations of a citizenship model. It is necessary for human rights to give equal status to civil and political rights, because social rights have a direct influence on the civil and political rights of the individuals. Social rights are regarded as an important factor that influences patterns of equality. Social rights bestow benefits to the individual which cause the real income of the individual to exceed the money income. This serves to highlight that there is a link between social rights and civil and political rights. For instance, social rights cause an improvement in the social conditions the individual is exposed to such as increased access to social housing and greater educational opportunities. This may lead to the individual being a more active part of the political process and the casting of votes. Moreover it is argued that the upgrading of the social conditions of the person results in greater respect for the law and order; this may have developed as a consequence of decrease in offences pertaining to private property, causing release of a fraction of the money allocated for the maintenance of courts etc (Keane, 2000). Therefore, if social rights are not incorporated into the citizenship model, the effectiveness of civil and political rights is decreased. This helps to establish that giving equal status to social rights is of immense importance. Social rights, in contrast to civil and political rights, do not support the Capitalist system and serve to be a more effective instrument to undermine the system. Social rights emphasize upon the duties that the community confers to the individual. In contrast to civil and political rights, social rights do not ascribe a distributive mechanism to work but consider it a need (Keane, 2000). The system of social inequality is growing at a fast rate in Canada. It is observed that Canada is gaining greater inequality compared to other countries studied. The repercussions of such a trend will have a direct effect on the social rights of the people. When the effects of the global financial crisis wear off and the trend of giving more importance to growth than equality continues to occur, there will be a continuation of the negative impact of the trend on health and social behaviour, perhaps even to a greater degree. Such an approach is ranked as the most dysfunctional of all approaches. A decrease in the wages, lesser welfare benefits and tax policies which are regressive in nature are not only morally and ethically unjust to those people on the lower rungs of the social ladder and characteristic of lowest market-based incomes but are also open assaults on their social rights (Broadbent, 2010). Studies have concluded that when a country acquires a minimum level of wealth, the proponent for an increase in the quality of life is not growth anymore; instead equality becomes a stronger contributor to it (Broadbent, 2010). Wilkinson’s and Pickett’s work provides evidence to the fact that societies that are not equal are not only unjust but are also dysfunctional. Such societies lead to an insecurity budding from status differences and anxiety, causing greater isolation, social estrangement and unconstructive health effects in comparison to societies that are more equal. On the other hand, social rights have greater society-wide advantages to all the social classes. The lower class in Canada is struggling to cope with poverty, with more than half the unemployed people being rejected for El benefits every day. Therefore for Canada, it is not more growth but greater equality that is going to promote a better standard of life for the people. This requires that the government should give equal importance to expenditures on social rights as it does to those on infrastructure (Broadbent, 2010). It is emphasized that allocating budget for social rights is not an option but a legal and ethical necessity, as implied in the legal obligations Canada pledged to adhere to in 1976. Moreover social rights are not “any less important than political and civil rights” (Broadbent, 2010). When studying the determinants of health, the protection of human rights is largely ignored and studies fail to acknowledge that human rights has a normative force which can be employed to counter health challenges (Nixon & Forman, 2008). Recognition of the social rights of the people is important if the country wants to attain political influence and social strength (Zweig, 2001). Reference List Broadbent, E. (2010). The Rise And Fall Of Economic And Social Rights: What Next? Retrieved http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/reports/docs/Rise_and_Fall_of_Economic_and_Social_Rights.pdf Kalin, W., Muller, L., & Wyttenbach, J., (2004). The Face of Human Rights. Swirzerland: Lars Muller Publishers. Keane, M. (2010). Social Rights: a literature review. Dublin: Combat Poverty Agency. McNally, D. (2006). Another World is Possible: Globalisation and AntiCapitalism. Arbeiter Ring. Metagora (2011). Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www.metagora.org/training/encyclopedia/humanrights.html#37th Nixon, S. & Forman, L. (2008). Exploring synergies between human rights and public health ethics: A whole greater than the sum of its parts. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 8:2 doi:10.1186/1472-698X-8-2 OHCHR (2007). International Law. Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ Surhone, L. M., Timpledon, M. T., & Marseken, S. F. (2010). Social Rights. VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller AG & Co. Kg. United Nations Human Rights (2011). What are human rights? Retrieved http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx Vierdag, E. W. (1978). The Legal Nature of Rights granted by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, 9, 69-103. Whelan, D. J. & Donnelly, J. (2007). The West, Economic and Social Rights, and the Global Human Rights Regime: Setting the Record Straight. Human Rights Quarterly, 29(4), 908-949. Zweig, M. (2001). The working class majority: America's best kept secret. New York (NY): Cornell University Press. Read More