The Marketization of Socio-Economic Rights and State Obligations

This talk discusses state obligations to protect and to fulfil human rights to material resources where the state has outsourced supply of these resources to markets. State obligations transcend any such policy choice but provision through markets invokes questions as to the scope and form of these obligations. It is argued that obligations to protect and to fulfil under marketization require a political economy approach grounded in understanding extant market formations. The paper constructs the duty to protect as a comprehensive duty to regulate all businesses acts that reduce access to rights, such as wage theft and restrictions on supply designed to increase the value of holdings. It constructs the duty to fulfil as a duty to ensure outcomes through market regulation, such as implementing rent control to guarantee access to housing where necessary. The paper argues that doctrinal state duties under marketization include that businesses are regulated so as to contribute to fulfilment of rights. The talk will also address political economy approaches to human rights more broadly and current research on the private equity business model and its impact on access to rights. 

This talk is based on the paper titled 'Reconstructing State Obligations To Protect And Fulfil Socio-Economic Rights In An Era Of Marketisation' by David Birchall in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly.

David Birchall is a lecturer in law at London South Bank University. He specializes in business and human rights with a focus on the commodification of socio-economic rights, including the impact of markets, business law, and contemporary capitalism on access to human rights.

Dr Malcolm Rogge, a lecturer at the University of Exeter, will be the discussant. He completed his Doctorate of Juridical Science (SJD) at Harvard Law School under the supervision of University Professor Amartya Sen, Professor Robert C. Clark, Professor John Coates and Professor John G. Ruggie. Previously, he completed the joint J.D. and Master of Environmental Studies program at Osgoode Hall / York University in Toronto, concentrating on human rights and the environment. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) and a B.A. First Class Double Honours in Philosophy and English Literature from the University of Manitoba.