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Human Rights
and Public Goods
The Global New Deal
Third Edition
William F. Felice
Eckerd College
Diana Fuguitt
Eckerd College
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
20_0357-Felice.indb 1 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Executive Editor: Susan McEachern
Assistant Editor: Katelyn Turner
Higher Education Channel Manager: Jonathan Raeder
Credits and acknowledgments for material borrowed from other sources, and
reproduced with permission, appear on the appropriate pages within the text.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

Second edition 2010.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Felice, William F., 1950– author. | Fuguitt, Diana, author.
Title: Human rights and public goods : the global new deal / William F. Felice,
Eckerd College, Diana Fuguitt, Eckerd College.
Other titles: The global new deal
Description: Third edition. | Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2021] | Updated
edition of: The global new deal : economic and social human rights in world
politics / William F. Felice, c2010. | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020012622 (print) | LCCN 2020012623 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781538129319 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538129326 (paperback) | ISBN
9781538129333 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Human rights. | Social rights.
Classification: LCC JC571 .F424 2021 (print) | LCC JC571 (ebook) | DDC 330—
dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012622
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012623
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
20_0357-Felice.indb 2 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Contents
List of Illustrations v
Acknowledgments for the Third Edition vii
Core International Human Rights Instruments and
Their Monitoring Bodies xi
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xiii
Introduction xv
1 Global Policy Choices: There Are Alternatives 1

2 International Law: Human Rights and Human Development 13
3 International Political Economy and Global Public Goods 51
4 Linking Law and Economics: Human Rights and Public Goods 99
5
The United States and Europe: Conflicting Approaches to
Human Rights and Public Goods 189
6 The Environment and Economic and Social Human Rights 221
7 Women and Economic and Social Human Rights 241
8 Military Spending: Human Rights and Public Goods Trade-offs 265
9 The Global New Deal 301
Notes 351
Index 407
About the Authors 431
iii
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20_0357-Felice.indb 4 8/26/20 11:34 AM
Illustrations
Boxes
2.1 The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 49

3.1 IPE Concepts Central to Economic and Social Human Rights 71
4.1 Thailand Case Study: Primary Health Care for All 158
5.1 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Economic Bill of Rights 191
5.2 FDR and International Human Rights 192
7.1 Feminist Perspectives on International Political Economy (IPE) 259
9.1 The Global New Deal Policy Proposals 303
Figures
2.1 I ntergenerational Mobility and Income Inequality for

Advanced Economies (Great Gatsby Curve) 44
2.2 I ntergenerational Mobility and Income Inequality
for Emerging-Market and Developing Countries
(Great Gatsby Curve) 45
Tables
2.1 World Poverty Totals 35

3.1 C
omparing Theories of International Political Economy:
Strengths and Weaknesses in Relation to Public Goods
and Economic and Social Human Rights 56
v
20_0357-Felice.indb 5 8/26/20 11:34 AM

vi Illustrations
3.2 Public, Private, and Mixed Goods 75

5.1 ealth Expenditures and Health-Care Resources:
H
Europe and the United States 213
5.2 Health Outcomes: Europe and the United States 214
8.1 U.S. Military Expenditures, 2000–2018 270
8.2 umulative Appropriations for All U.S. Overseas
C
Contingency Operations (OCO), FY 2001–2019 272
8.3 Summary of U.S. War-Related Spending, FY 2001–2019 273
8.4 ost and Schedule Changes for Programs in DOD’s 2017
C
Portfolio 284
8.5 ublic Spending Priorities: Costa Rica and Latin America
P
(WB data) 289
8.6 uman Development in Costa Rica and Latin America
H
(WB data) 290
8.7 uman Development in Central America: The Costa Rican
H
Success (UNDP data) 291
20_0357-Felice.indb 6 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Acknowledgments
for the Third Edition
T
his third edition of Human Rights and Public Goods: The Global New
Deal substantially deepens and expands our analysis of the critical
links between international law and economics in the formulation
of public policy to achieve economic and social human rights. The rigor
and depth of the research presented in every chapter was in large part
the result of an outstanding and remarkable team of student research
assistants who not only checked every fact but also helped to clarify the
central arguments of the book. We are thus extremely grateful for their
hard work. Rosie Kerber kicked off these efforts, devoting a year after
graduation to diligently reading the extensive literature in global health
and global public goods, writing cogent notes on essential concepts, ar-
guments, empirical evidence, and the like. Lee Staley offered exemplary
insights, distilling critical information relating to intergovernmental
organizations (UNAIDS, World Bank, World Health Organization) and
universal health coverage in developing countries. Both Dustin Colson
Leaning and Derek Godshall undertook superlative research delineat-
ing the private right/public good interface and market failures. Dustin
focused on pharmaceuticals, intellectual property rights, public health,
and the right to health, while Derek searched the literature on the right
to food, market challenges, and global food governance, pursuing a keen
interest in the provision of affordable and nutritious food to all humans.
Timothy Walsh proved to be indefatigable in applying his stellar skills
in searching for data relating to health, social mobility, and numerous
economic indicators for advanced and developing countries. And after
graduation, Alissa Hevesh returned to assist us for the year, skillfully
researching myriad topics ranging from poverty, to military spending,
vii
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viii Acknowledgments for the Third Edition
to agroecology, to name a few. With an exemplary eye for lucid writing,

she has diligently read every word of the manuscript and offered critical
editing suggestions as well as perceptive input on the substantive content.
In all, these outstanding research assistants have shaped our knowledge
and thinking in more ways than they can imagine with their intelligent
questions, insights, and perspectives.
We have the good fortune to work at a wonderful liberal arts col-
lege committed to its students. Eckerd College’s devotion to creative
pedagogy is unrivaled. This book was enriched through our interac-
tions with our colleagues and, most importantly, with our students. We
are very appreciative of the long-standing support of scholarship and
hexennial leaves over the life of this project from two deans of faculty,
Lloyd Chapin and Suzan Harrison, and President Donald Eastman.
Funding received through the Eckerd College faculty development
program allowed William to present this research at annual meetings
of the International Studies Association (ISA). In addition, a generous
grant from the Eckerd Lloyd W. Chapin Faculty Fellowship Program
allowed for extensive research at the United Nations (in New York and
Geneva) on the approach to economic and social human rights adopted
by the UN’s member states. Special thanks to Kyle Biss, administrative
assistant for the Behavioral Sciences Collegium, for his devoted help in
securing copies of research materials as well as carefully reading and
offering detailed feedback on chapter drafts. This ongoing support from
our home institution for our research agenda was fundamental to the
success of this project.
At Rowman & Littlefield, it has been a joy to work with both senior edi-
tor Susan McEachern and executive editor Traci Crowell. Both Susan and
Traci have been tremendous sources of support and encouragement for
this third edition and of enormous assistance throughout the production
process. We are extremely grateful for their professionalism and skilled
editorial supervision.
We wish to acknowledge with gratitude permission to draw on the
following previously published work: William F. Felice, The Ethics of In-
terdependence: Global Human Rights and Duties (Lanham, MD: Rowman &
Littlefield, 2016); Glenn P. Hastedt and William F. Felice, Introduction to
International Politics: Global Challenges and Policy Responses (Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), chapters 8, 9, 10.
Over the years, the three editions of The Global New Deal have ben-
efited from thoughtful critiques from colleagues including: Anthony
Brunello, Brent Pickett, Sigrun Skogly, Michael J. Smith, and Maurice
Williams. We are extremely grateful for their time and assistance. In
addition, the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
20_0357-Felice.indb 8 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Acknowledgments for the Third Edition ix
Rights in Geneva has been tremendously helpful to our researching of

the UN human rights system.
We would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers of the third
edition.
While all of these people gave generously of their time, the responsibil-
ity for the contents of this book is entirely our own.
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20_0357-Felice.indb 10 8/26/20 11:34 AM
Core International Human
Rights Instruments and
Their Monitoring Bodies
T
here are ten core international human rights instruments: one dec-
laration and nine treaties. Each treaty establishes a committee of
experts to monitor implementation of the treaty provisions by its
states parties. These instruments listed below are in chronological order
by their adoption dates and include the names of the monitoring bodies.
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the

UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948
2. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (ICERD), adopted in 1965 and entered into
force in 1969.
• Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimi-
nation (CERD)
3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ad-
opted in 1966 and entered into force in 1976.
• Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), titled the Hu-
man Rights Committee (HRC)
4. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR), adopted in 1966 and entered into force in 1976.
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
5. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (ICEDAW), adopted in 1979 and
entered into force in 1981.
• Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW)
xi
20_0357-Felice.indb 11 8/26/20 11:34 AM

xii Core International Human Rights Instruments and Their Monitoring Bodies
6. International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhu-

man or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (ICAT), adopted in
1984 and entered into force in 1987.
• Committee Against Torture (CAT)
7. International Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICRC), ad-
• Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
8. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMW), ad-
• Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)
9. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance (ICED), adopted in 2006 and entered into
force in 2010.
• Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
10. International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabili-
ties (ICRPD), adopted in 2006 and entered into force in 2008.
• Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
20_0357-Felice.indb 12 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Abbreviations and Acronyms
ACA Affordable Care Act

CAT Committee Against Torture
CCPR Committee on Civil and Political Rights (titled the Human
Rights Committee)
CEDAW Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
CERD Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
CTBT Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
CRC Committee on the Rights of the Child
CWC Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons
and Their Destruction
ECHR European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council of the UN
ESC European Social Charter
ESCR European Committee of Social Rights
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
GAD Gender and Development
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP gross domestic product
GNI gross national income
GNP gross national product
HDI Human Development Index
HRC Human Rights Council
xiii
20_0357-Felice.indb 13 8/26/20 11:34 AM

xiv Abbreviations and Acronyms
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ICEDAW International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women
ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Racial Discrimination
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
ICRC International Convention on the Rights of the Child
IEL international environmental law
IFI international financial institution
IGO intergovernmental organization
ILO International Labor Organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPE international political economy
LDC less developed country (i.e., developing country)
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MNC multinational corporation
MPI UNDP and Oxford’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
NGO nongovernmental organization
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
OPCW Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
PPP purchasing power parity
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SERF Social and Economic Rights Fulfillment Index
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UN United Nations
UNCTAD UN Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP UN Development Program
UNEP UN Environment Program
UNESCO UN Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
UNHCHR UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNHCR UN High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF UN Children’s Fund
WAD Women and Development
WHO World Health Organization
WID Women in Development
WTO World Trade Organization
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature
20_0357-Felice.indb 14 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Introduction
T
he overall analysis presented in the first two editions of The Global
New Deal (2003, 2010) remains vibrant and applicable to interna-
tional political and economic relations today (2020). The continuing
framework of Human Rights and Public Goods: The Global New Deal (third
edition) remains an elaboration of the critical links between international
human rights law, international political economy, and global organiza-
tions in the formulation of public policy to alleviate human suffering and
to protect basic human rights for all. This third edition of The Global New
Deal upholds and deepens this agenda, applying the highest standards of
social science research to articulate workable legal, economic, and devel-
opment policies to actualize economic and social human rights.
Fundamentally strengthening this new third edition is the addition of
a new coauthor, Dr. Diana Fuguitt, who brings her training and expertise
as a scholar and teacher of economics to the drafting of the manuscript.
Dr. William Felice, on the other hand, is a professor of political science,
with a focus on human rights and international law. Each author thus
brings to this project his and her individual expertise in their particular
academic fields—human rights/law (Felice) and economics (Fuguitt). By
working together, and integrating legal and economic approaches to hu-
man rights fulfillment, we hope that we are able to significantly deepen
the research and proposals of Human Rights and Public Goods: The Global
New Deal (third edition).
In the last decade since the second edition was published, a backlash
against economic globalization has been promoted by a variety of politi-
cians around the world. A resurgent nationalism is often pitted against
international organizations and frameworks for global cooperation. In
this new edition, we account for how the current global political climate
impacts the creation and implementation of national and global policies
for the provision of public goods and the protection of human rights.
xv
20_0357-Felice.indb 15 8/26/20 11:34 AM

xvi Introduction
Some of the new features in this third edition include the following:
• A clear summary and analysis of how poverty and inequality are

measured and evaluated by the World Bank, the United Nations De-
velopment Program (UNDP), and Oxford’s Global Multidimensional
Poverty Index.
• An evaluation of the successes and failures of the UN’s Millennium
Development Goals (2000–2015) and the targets and programs of the
new UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030).
• An updated and strengthened analysis of three economic concepts
central to economic and social rights fulfillment: global public goods,
economic equality, and the capabilities approach.
• An entirely new chapter on the integration of economics and law in
the formulation of global and national public policy concerning six
central economic and social human rights claims: education, the en-
vironment, food, health care, housing, and water.
• An evaluation of global efforts to contain and lower global warming,
including the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. We also ex-
amine the feasibility of a carbon tax on fossil fuels as a market mecha-
nism to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• An expansion of our analysis of the economic effects of high levels
of military spending on economic growth and human development.
Human Rights and Public Goods focuses on the practical steps that state
and nonstate actors can take to fulfill their duties under the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to protect
the vulnerable and to respect, protect, and fulfill economic and social
human rights. Chapter 1 introduces the nexus between law and econom-
ics and presents the case that there are workable global policy options
for human rights fulfillment. Chapter 2 reviews the development of
economic and social human rights in international law. In addition, the
UN’s approach to economic and social human rights is discussed, with a
particular focus on the work of the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (CESCR). Chapter 3 examines economic and social rights
through the lens of international political economy (IPE) and introduces
three concepts central to the achievement of these rights: global public
goods, economic equality, and the capabilities approach. Chapter 4 ar-
ticulates the nexus between law and economics in the creation of public
policy to attain economic and social human rights in education, the
environment, food, health, housing, and water. Chapter 5 compares the
different approaches to economic development in Europe and the United
States. While the United States rejects incorporating human rights norms
20_0357-Felice.indb 16 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Introduction xvii
into its domestic legal structure, Europe has established the world’s
strongest regional human rights system. This difference manifests itself
in policy outcomes with higher protections in Europe for the poor, the
vulnerable, and the weak. Chapter 6 discusses the priority of ecosystem
protection and sustainability within all growth strategies. The debates
surrounding a human rights approach to environmental sustainability
are summarized and the practicality of a carbon tax is explored. Chapter
7 turns to women’s rights and the work of the UN Committee on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Feminist theories of IPE are critiqued in relation to approaches to
women’s rights in international law. Chapter 8 addresses the impact of
military spending on economic growth and the achievement of economic
and social human rights. And finally, the public policy proposals of the
Global New Deal are presented in chapter 9. The Global New Deal is a
set of recommendations for global and national public policy designed
to facilitate the achievement of economic and social human rights. Such
action at the global level, through international law and international
organization, and at the national level, is needed to help all individual
governments adjust policies to protect the vulnerable from the often
negative externalities that accompany economic globalization.
The Global New Deal identifies the policies that state and nonstate
actors (multinational corporations [MNCs], international financial insti-
tutions [IFIs], and so on) can pursue to implement economic and social
human rights. In particular, policy proposals to realize human rights to
education, a healthy environment, food, essential health care, housing,
and water are articulated. Achieving economic and social human rights
depends on addressing all of these areas as progress in one is dependent
on progress in the others. There is a symbiotic, interdependent relation-
ship among them. Under international human rights law, governments
have a legal duty to take actions to alleviate suffering, provide for human
security, and meet their economic and social human rights obligations.
The Global New Deal presents a roadmap for action and demonstrates
that these rights are more than aspirations: they are a legal and practi-
cal framework to guide public policy. The project combines legal and
economic approaches to achieve sustainable economic and social public
policies. Through a comprehensive evaluation of the successes and fail-
ures of both legal and economic avenues to social protection, clear policy
directions for rights fulfillment are articulated.
Since William first proposed a “Global New Deal” in 2003, others have
made complementary reform programs within a “New Deal” framework.
For example, in March 2009, British prime minister Gordon Brown called
for a “global new deal whose impact can stretch from the villages of Af-
rica to reforming the financial institutions of London and New York—and
20_0357-Felice.indb 17 8/26/20 11:34 AM

xviii Introduction
giving security to hard-working families in every country.” The prime

minister proclaimed the need to “work for a more stable world where we
defeat not only global terrorism but global poverty, hunger and disease.”1
It was indeed refreshing to see the leader of Great Britain endorse the
need for a “global new deal” to overcome preventable suffering.
In 2019 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator
Edward J. Markey (D-MA) submitted a resolution in Congress calling
for a “Green New Deal.” Their manifesto embraces a “10-year national
mobilization” designed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero and
guarantee jobs for all. In addition, the Green New Deal calls for: “Pro-
viding all people of the United States with—(i) high-quality health care;
(ii) affordable, safe, and adequate housing; (iii) economic security; and
(iv) access to clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, and na-
ture.” The proposed congressional resolution also calls for: “Providing
resources, training, and high-quality education, including higher educa-
tion, to all people in the United States.” The Green New Deal resolution
is a broad statement about policy priorities and if passed would not
have the force of law. Formal legislative proposals would be needed to
implement this vision.2
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal for America clearly continues
to inspire as a monument to how a government can act to protect the
vulnerable and the weak. FDR pushed through legislation, from social
security to unemployment benefits to jobs programs. The government
acted to protect the economic and social rights of all Americans. In a par-
allel fashion, the basic premise behind our proposals for a Global New
Deal is that governments have a responsibility to enact public policy to
overcome market failure, protect public goods, and fulfill economic and
social human rights.
Human Rights and Public Goods focuses on practical and doable policies
and actions that state and nonstate actors can take to uphold economic
and social human rights. These policy directions flow from an apprecia-
tion and understanding of the link between these human rights claims
and key economic arguments justifying governmental intervention in the
market. As previously mentioned, this new edition contains a new exten-
sive discussion in chapter 4 of the global public goods components that
characterize the following economic and social human rights: education,
a healthy environment, food, essential health care, housing, and water.
As discussed in chapter 3, market mechanisms alone often fail to provide
socially optimal quantities of public goods. The well-recognized and
accepted logic justifying government action to provide for such public
goods as national defense and police protection should also apply to these
economic and social human needs as well.
20_0357-Felice.indb 18 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Introduction xix
The fundamental idea inspiring Human Rights and Public Goods: The
Global New Deal (third edition) is that through a legal-rights-based,
sustainable-development framework, the global community has the
means and measures to alleviate global poverty. This book is an attempt
to articulate the linkages between international human rights law, inter-
national organization, and economic policy at the global and national lev-
els. We believe that these “Global New Deal” ideas and policies articulate
a program that governments can undertake to end preventable suffering
and preventable deaths.
20_0357-Felice.indb 19 8/26/20 11:34 AM

20_0357-Felice.indb 20 8/26/20 11:34 AM
1
Global Policy Choices

There Are Alternatives
W
e have privileged lives; we are teachers. It is hard to imagine a
more rewarding and fulfilling job. It is a joy to go to work. As
teachers of international relations and economics, we are able
to engage young women and men on the crucial issues confronting the
planet. Our students are demanding and will not accept shallow explana-
tions or superficial theories. They challenge us to be clear, relevant, and
thoughtful. Their contemporary and fresh approaches to life and knowl-
edge continuously force us to reevaluate our thinking and to modify our
understandings. This ongoing intellectual and human colloquy with stu-
dents enriches our lives immeasurably.
To our dismay, however, over the last two decades we have also wit-
nessed a very disturbing phenomenon. The vitality and richness of youth
that these students bring to the classroom is tempered by an overwhelm-
ing cynicism and despair about the possibility of bringing about positive
fundamental change. Conservative, liberal, and radical students express
again and again the futility of challenging an economic and political sys-
tem dominated by corporate power. To these students, the corruption of
our political system is beyond repair. The students search in vain for a
Kantian “moral politician” who is not groveling before the wealthy class,
a politician not eager to serve elite interests.
Students recognize the real problems that confront humanity. They are
outraged by the callous destruction of our ecosystem. They are shocked
20_0357-Felice.indb 1 8/26/20 11:34 AM

2 Chapter 1: Global Policy Choices
by the needless suffering occurring in every country as a result of pre-

ventable poverty, preventable malnutrition, and preventable disease.
Yet many of these students believe that nothing can be done to stop this
anguish. These students believe that the current economic and political
system, responsible for a great deal of human misery, will never really
change. They argue that perhaps some small steps can be taken and some
examples of gross maleficence can be exposed, but nothing beyond minor
reform is possible. Nothing can be done to change the system overall.
These students are profoundly cynical and see little hope in working for
fundamental structural change. There is too much money involved, and
these powerful interests are committed to the status quo. These students,
therefore, consider it utopian and foolish to talk about creating policy to
end world hunger, create global peace, or maintain ecological balance.
There is no room for such dreamy “idealist” and “utopian” thinking in
the “realist” minds of many of today’s college students.
As teachers, we are frustrated by this pessimism. It limits the imagination.
It prevents one from looking at feasible policy options to create necessary
change. It can block true understanding. Consider the following example.
As discussed below in chapter 2, the World Bank reports that 736 mil-
lion poverty-stricken people lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2015. Many
just above that level are still very poor and often in debt. The bank reports
that more than 1.9 billion people (26.2 percent of the world’s popula-
tion) live on less than $3.20 a day; and nearly 3.4 billion (46 percent of
the world’s population) live on less than $5.50 a day.1 The NGO Save
the Children in 2019 noted with dismay that an “estimated 5.4 million
children still die before their fifth birthday each year. At a time when the
knowledge and technology to save lives is available, 15,000 child deaths
each day is unacceptable.” Yet these mainly preventable child deaths go
largely unnoticed.2
Now imagine that fifteen thousand people died every day from
plane crashes or buildings collapsing. The outrage would be palpable!
Demands would be made for the government to intervene to stop the
slaughter. Public policy would be quickly enacted to make planes and
buildings safer. Corporations manufacturing planes and construction
companies erecting buildings would be held legally accountable to higher
standards. These public policy changes would happen quickly, and lives
would be saved. These attempts to craft public policy to guarantee the
construction of safer planes and buildings would not be labeled “idealist”
or “utopian.” Instead, they would be viewed as “realistic” approaches to
ending a tragic loss of life and essential to the security of the society.
Yet the attempts today to craft public policy to end the daily deaths of
fifteen thousand children from preventable causes are labeled “idealist”
and “utopian.” There is no sense of urgency to end the pain and suffering
20_0357-Felice.indb 2 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Global Policy Choices 3
of these innocents. This lethargy stems in part from ingrained, comfort-

able “commonsense” ideology; that is, the poor will always be with us,
we are doing all we can, scarcity is a fact, there is nothing that can be
done, and so on. But more disturbing, this acceptance of unnecessary
human misery comes from an overwhelming sense of the futility of chal-
lenging existing structures of economic and political power. This sense of
the impotence and uselessness of challenging enduring arrangements of
power and wealth infects many young people today.
At the end of his final exam in his international political economy
course, a student wrote William the following note:
You have taught me that solving the problems of economic globaliza-

tion will involve “thinking outside the box.” Global priorities have to
include ensuring that human rights apply to all (ending all forms of
discrimination!), demilitarization of the planet, and the preservation
of the environment. But I don’t honestly see how we can make the
jump from here to there. Economic principles of efficiency and order
will never be sacrificed or compromised to achieve common global
public goods like human rights and environmental balance. The Bret-
ton Woods system and the great powers would have to restructure
their economic and foreign policies to allow for such change. Unfor-
tunately, I don’t see that happening. I will try to cling onto the hope
your class gave me, but I fear I will lose it very quickly.
This student clearly wanted to believe in humane alternatives, but

feared that these options were probably not viable. But at least he was
open to looking at alternatives. Many other students quickly reject such
global reforms as utopian nonsense. When we try to show that in fact we
can end needless suffering in the world, these students look at us as if we
were relics from the 1960s. The demise of “socialism” in the former So-
viet Union reinforced the perception among many that current economic
and political models of development are the only game in town. The
daily message too often absorbed from the New York Times and the Wall
Street Journal is that “there is no alternative”3 to the liberal or nationalist
economic models (discussed in chapter 3) dominating the post–Cold War
world. Students are bombarded with this message: There is no alternative
to the existing global economic system and model of development. It is foolhardy
and counterproductive to challenge the fundamentals of current economic de-
velopment models. Unfortunately, there are some who won’t benefit from the
“creative destruction” that accompanies economic growth and globalization. But
since there are more winners than losers—and particularly since we are among
the winners—we should all support this process. The global protestors focusing
on the rising inequality, ingrained poverty, and unsustainable development that
20_0357-Felice.indb 3 8/26/20 11:34 AM

accompanies economic globalization should recognize the futility of expecting

rapid change and stop fighting history. And besides, no one has come up with
anything better. The system may not be perfect, but it’s the best that human be-
ings have created. This is the message that our young people are indoctri-
nated with over and over. It preaches the wisdom of accepting the status
quo and of working for only small, minor reforms. It teaches the folly of
conceiving of, let alone promoting, fundamental change.
Students recognize the failures of the current system. They are con-
cerned about economic and social human rights, ecological balance, and
peace. They speak out and act for equal rights for women, ethnic minori-
ties, and the LGBTQ community. They volunteer by the thousands to help
the homeless and feed the needy. Yet beneath these noble actions is a
quiet acceptance of the way things are. Since there are no alternatives to
existing structures, the most that can be done is individual action to try
to protect the vulnerable. Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or the
local soup kitchen is to be applauded. But if we are serious about ending
suffering, we must go beyond volunteerism and charity.
So, let us scream out: “There are alternatives! There are policy op-
tions. There are ways in which we as a global community can end need-
less suffering.” The goal of this book is to address the quandary of the
political-economy student who could not see the path from here to there.
We hope that this book provides a direction for viable structural reform
to protect those left behind by the global economy. There are policy op-
tions for states to implement to protect the vulnerable and to end needless
suffering. This book attempts to define that global public policy and to
articulate the conditions for the fulfillment of economic and social human
rights for all.
Quoting Albert Einstein, a poster on campus recently proclaimed:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Yes, imagination is
vital. We do need to expand our imaginations to break out of the limita-
tions of the current era. We need to open our minds and imaginations to
the idea that as a human species we can do better. It is unfortunate that
the “great debates” of the twentieth century, including the viability and
validity of liberation theology, socialist humanism, and moral incentives,
seem to have ended with the end of the century. Few people living in
developed countries now imagine a world different from the present. For
example, an exposition at the New York Public Library at the beginning of
the twenty-first century on visionaries, futurology, and imaginative alter-
native lifestyles ended with the 1980s. This must change. The creation of a
pathway toward global humane governance will require us to rediscover
our creativity and break open our imaginations.
Nevertheless, the poster is misleading: imagination is not more impor-
tant than knowledge. Rather, imagination and knowledge are equally
20_0357-Felice.indb 4 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Global Policy Choices 5
vital. Knowledge provides the means to achieve our visions and inspira-
tions. Our ability to craft effective public policy depends on our knowl-
edge of the successes and limitations of existing policy and programs. On
a global level, this means examining the work of the existing international
organizations committed to ending human suffering. The work of the
specialized agencies of the UN is a particular focus of this book because
of these agencies’ stated commitment to the protection and fulfillment of
economic and social human rights. The insights gained from a critique
of the development experience of the UN will enhance the proposals for
global policy reform. Imagination alone can be utopian. Knowledge and
imagination combined can lead to actions that produce results.
What are some of the problems in the global economy that public policy
must address to protect economic and social human rights? The examples
leap out from the daily news:
• Education: In its 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report, the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
reports that one-third of all education facilities worldwide lack basic
drinking water and basic sanitation. In addition, UNESCO states that
“750 million adults are illiterate. There are almost 40% more illiterates
aged 65 and above than illiterate youth. In relative terms, the elderly
are more likely to be isolated illiterates, living in households with no
literate members, in richer [more so] than in poorer countries.”4
• Environment: In May 2019, the UN released an extensive report on
the decline in biodiversity and the dangers this creates for human-
ity. Compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on
thousands of scientific studies, the report concludes: “Human actions
threaten more species with global extinction now than ever before.
An average of around 25 percent of species in assessed animal and
plant groups are threatened, suggesting that around 1 million species
already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken
to reduce the intensity of drivers of biodiversity loss. Without such
action there will be a further acceleration in the global rate of species
extinction, which is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher
than it has averaged over the past 10 million years.”5
• Food: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations reports the following: “For the third year in a row, there has
been a rise in world hunger. The absolute number of undernourished
people, i.e. those facing chronic food deprivation, has increased to
nearly 821 million in 2017, from around 804 million in 2016. These are
levels from almost a decade ago.”6
• Health: In its recently published World Health Statistics 2019, the
World Health Organization (WHO) reports: “In 2015, an estimated
20_0357-Felice.indb 5 8/26/20 11:34 AM

303,000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth. In 2016, ma-

ternal mortality was the second leading cause of death for women of
reproductive age, after HIV/AIDS, and was the leading cause among
women aged 15–29 years. Almost all maternal deaths occurred in
low-income and lower-middle-income countries, and almost two
thirds (65%) occurred in the WHO African Region.”7
• Housing: The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing,
Leilani Farha, documents a fundamental transformation of the hous-
ing and real estate markets. “Known as the financialization of hous-
ing, the phenomenon occurs when housing is treated as a commod-
ity—a vehicle for wealth and investment rather than a social good.”
Farha reports that this has resulted in a severe lack of progress for
the right to housing around the world, with over one billion people
unable to secure adequate housing in 2019.8
• Water: The UN reports that over 4 billion people worldwide experi-
ence difficulties obtaining safe water. Growing populations and ur-
banization have created water scarcity around the world, including
in the Arab States and the African Sahel. In addition, water shortages
have begun to appear in Central Africa and East Asia. The UN esti-
mates that these regions “could see declines of as much as 6 percent
of GDP by 2050 because of water-related impacts on agriculture,
health and income.”9 In addition, the Global Multidimensional Pov-
erty Index 2018 (discussed below in chapter 2) reports: “Forty-four
percent of poor persons around the world lack access to clean drink-
ing water within a 30-minute roundtrip walk from their home.”10
This list could go on and on. Pick up today’s newspaper and add to this
list yourself. Chances are you will quickly find another example of the
negative impact of both nationalist economic strategies and economic
globalization on the lives of the most vulnerable. You will probably also
find numerous examples on all continents of economic growth and indus-
trialization being achieved while economic and social human rights, that
is, clean air, education, and primary health care (see chapter 4), are being
neglected. Our leaders seem unwilling to either aid the vulnerable or pro-
tect our fragile ecosystem from the onslaught of the destructive aspects of
national and global economic forces.
Perhaps we need to modify the criteria we use to evaluate our public of-
ficials. Politicians should be judged on the basis of their actions to protect
the most weak and vulnerable. Those politicians who let child poverty
and homelessness rise on their watch or who do nothing while control-
lable diseases devastate poor communities should be voted out of office.
Leaders who ignore the negative impacts of globalization on the weak
while continuing to subsidize the rich and powerful should be sent pack-
20_0357-Felice.indb 6 8/26/20 11:34 AM

International Economic and Social Human Rights 7
ing. Economic and social human rights should apply to all and not just to
the winners in the global economy. In addition, our leaders should act to
protect global public goods and common resources, including biodiver-
sity, the global atmosphere, the sustainability of a healthy environment,
and the preservation of the global commons. It is in the self-interest of
all (all classes, all races, and all states) for these global public goods to be
realized. It is not an exaggeration to state that the very survival of the hu-
man species is linked to the protection of global public goods.
International Economic and Social Human Rights
International human rights law defines economic and social human rights
(see chapter 2). Economic rights refers to the right to property, to work, and
to income security. Social rights, on the other hand, are those necessary for
an adequate standard of living; they include rights to food, shelter, health,
and education.
During the Cold War, many capitalist countries considered economic
and social human rights to be socialist propaganda. Since the end of the
Cold War, the concept of economic and social human rights is still often
criticized by academics and practitioners in the developed world for its
supposed “vague” content and “unrealistic” claims. The U.S. government,
for example, refuses to ratify the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Many of these critics contend that
these economic and social claims are merely aspirational goals achievable
only in some future, utopian world. It is thus misleading, according to
these critics, to argue that these economic and social objectives represent
valid human rights claims.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
has spent a great deal of time defining the core content of the claims
articulated in the ICESCR. The CESCR attempts to establish a minimum
threshold of compliance that all states should achieve regardless of their
economic situation. The burden of proof lies with the state. States Parties
to the ICESCR must prove to the CESCR that they have mobilized their re-
sources to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, and that any remaining
poverty, destitution, and hunger are due to factors beyond their control.
The Committee thus works to establish universal criteria to hold states
accountable for the economic and social rights of their citizens.
Yet problems persist. It is exceedingly difficult to establish minimum
thresholds and standards for economic and social rights at the inter-
national level. Are different criteria to be applied to resource-poor and
resource-rich countries? Should the minimum level be raised in those
countries that have the ability to meet a higher level of demand? And
20_0357-Felice.indb 7 8/26/20 11:34 AM

which actors are responsible for meeting these rights obligations? In a

globalized economy, transnational actors—multinational corporations
(MNCs), international financial institutions (IFIs), and so on—often have
a direct impact on the well-being and/or destitution of a population.
As we saw earlier, current international economic structures are un-
responsive to the approximately 1.9 billion people (26.2 percent of the
world’s population) who, according to the World Bank in 2015, live on
less than $3.20 a day.11 Despite an abundance of food produced globally,
millions of people still do not receive an adequate caloric intake in their
diets. These human beings are so poor that they are irrelevant to interna-
tional markets. They are economically invisible. They can neither partici-
pate in world commodity markets nor buy internationally traded food.
They cannot compete with the market demand for grain to feed the cattle
of the world’s wealthy people.12 Many of the desperately poor have been
denied the means to grow their own food. The structures of the global
market economy too often entrench rather than alleviate this suffering.
Equal freedom from hunger has not been respected.
We believe that all thoughtful scholars and practitioners want destitu-
tion on this extreme level ended and that their disagreements are over
the most effective means to achieve this goal. The post–Cold War period
should give us an opportunity to innovate. We cannot remain fossilized in
limited theories that offer bleak hope to those millions on the bottom. We
have the ability to end massive destitution.13 The means are available. The
global community can face this moral imperative and find imaginative
methods to guarantee everyone basic economic and social human rights.
The Global New Deal takes on this challenge and charts a clear direction
for economic and social rights fulfillment.
The Global New Deal
The Global New Deal draws its inspiration from Franklin Delano Roos-
evelt’s New Deal for America. The negative externalities accompanying
economic globalization have brought forth a number of calls for global
reform.14 As a global community, we can summon strength from Roos-
evelt’s attempt to create a government responsive to the economic and
social human rights of American citizens during the tragedy of the Great
Depression. We can act for the global public welfare and enact a new
global covenant.
Effective public policy to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights to
education, a healthy environment, affordable food, essential health care,
housing, and clean water will require multilateral action through interna-
tional organization and international law. There are clear links between
20_0357-Felice.indb 8 8/26/20 11:34 AM

The Global New Deal 9
economic and social rights protection at the national level and the global
economy. An individual state often has limited ability to counteract the
negative consequences of globalization. And, thus, global problems re-
quire reforms at the global level.
The public policy proposals of the Global New Deal, described in de-
tail in chapter 9, are realistic and doable. In addition to new ideas, we
incorporate into the Global New Deal many specific recommendations for
change proposed over the last decade by activists and scholars concerned
about global social justice. The Global New Deal is our attempt to bring
together a comprehensive program for structural reform to create the con-
ditions for the fulfillment of economic and social human rights.
A great deal of progress has been made in (1) defining economic and
social human rights in international law and (2) documenting the im-
pact of economic globalization on the poor. Not enough attention has
been paid, however, to the development of public policy to meet basic
human needs in this economically interdependent world system. This
project is designed to close this gap through an approach that combines
theories of international political economy (IPE) with international hu-
man rights law.
Scholars have inadequately elaborated the link between IPE and inter-
national human rights law. The UN has attempted to relate IPE strategies
with human rights through the right to development. In 1986, the UN
General Assembly defined the right to development as the right of “every
human person and all peoples . . . to participate in, contribute to and en-
joy economic, social and cultural and political development, in which all
human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.” But the
General Assembly did not define what states must do to fulfill this right.
What are the human rights obligations of state and nonstate actors under
the right to development?15 In its 1998 publication “Integrating Human
Rights with Sustainable Human Development,” the UN Development
Program (UNDP) called for a rights-based approach to economic plan-
ning. But again, the responsibilities of state and nonstate actors remained
vague. The Global New Deal develops this approach more fully by defin-
ing the economic policies that governments and nonstate actors (MNCs,
IFIs, trade organizations, and so on) have a duty to implement in order to
respect, protect, and fulfill economic and social human rights.
Implementing the Global New Deal necessitates the strengthening of
the UN agencies that focus on economic and social human rights (see
chapters 2, 6, and 7). The well-publicized flaws and weaknesses of the
UN have led many to question the viability and utility of the organiza-
tion. While we recognize the political and structural deficiencies of the
UN system, we do not believe that the system is beyond repair. Many
of the reforms of the Global New Deal thus focus on making these UN
20_0357-Felice.indb 9 8/26/20 11:34 AM

agencies, commissions, and departments responsive to the needs of the

vulnerable and the weak. To a substantial degree, the UN system, which
includes hundreds of NGOs working with and affiliated to the global
organization, is the only forum of international cooperation in existence.
Rather than start over, the attempt here is to revitalize key components
within the UN structure to be able to meet the challenges of economic
and social rights implementation.
At this point, you may be thinking that, given the current political
environment, there is little or no chance of implementing a Global New
Deal. To many, proposals to affirm and strengthen international law
and international organizations are unrealistic. They think that these
ideas, although appealing to moral and ethical sensibilities, have no
chance of moving forward given the realities of power politics and the
current resurgent authoritarian nationalism. For the last seventy-plus
years, for example, the UN has been put in a defensive posture and has
struggled to just survive. You may thus be skeptical that new programs
to strengthen human rights enforcement and the UN system would be
either adopted or implemented.
We urge you to set aside this “realist” logic for a moment (at least while
you are reading this book). Our knowledge of the current international
system allows us to imagine a more just future—knowledge and imagina-
tion. Each proposal of the Global New Deal is based on a comprehensive
evaluation of the successes and failures of current efforts to address eco-
nomic and social human rights. The analysis undergirding the proposals
of the Global New Deal is presented throughout each chapter of this book.
We hope that the logic and practicality of these reforms will be clear to all
readers by the end of the book.
Both empathy and self-interest are central to the human condition and
are found within each individual human being and collectively within
the community of states. The Global New Deal appeals to both of these
human characteristics. On the one hand, the Global New Deal provides
a means to show compassion for those who suffer. Its programs are a
concrete means for people in all states on all continents to act to protect
the vulnerable, end destitution, and save our ecosystem. For millions of
people, compassionate action on behalf of the community is central to
their sense of self and key to what it means to be a human being. On the
other hand, the Global New Deal appeals to individual self-interest. It is
not a platform of charity. The rich and the poor, the strong and the weak,
all need clean drinking water, unpolluted air, and a demilitarized planet.
All communities and nations suffer from deepening global poverty, dis-
eases that cross borders, and the destabilizing consequences of massive
economic and environmental refugee flows. Global warming and the loss
of the earth’s biodiversity will harm not only the weak, but the powerful
20_0357-Felice.indb 10 8/26/20 11:34 AM

The Global New Deal 11
as well. It is thus in everyone’s self-interest to enact the Global New Deal.

From a purely “national interest,” “America First” perspective, the United
States should take the lead and push this reform program forward. The
citizens of the United States depend on the protection of global public
goods and will benefit from programs focused on economic equality. Each
individual nation’s security depends on attention to the issues addressed
in the Global New Deal.
History teaches us that profound change can happen quite quickly
and often when least expected. As late as 2007, the overwhelming major-
ity of U.S. citizens thought it impossible for an African American to be
elected president of the United States. Furthermore, our theories of how
the world works have proven unable to predict change. For example, not
one theory of international relations predicted the end of the Cold War.
Scholars were unable to decipher the currents at work within the former
Soviet Union that undermined the state and brought about its rapid de-
mise. Today, in countries around the world, there are forces for change
at work within civil society, beneath the level of the state, promoting
the normative principles underlying the Global New Deal. Hundreds of
thousands of people on every continent are working for environmental
preservation, human rights protection, and the provision of basic human
needs. There is growing recognition and appreciation in many countries
of the importance of international organization and cooperation to resolve
global issues. None of us knows where all of these efforts will lead. They
may lead to a more relevant and powerful UN, or they may go nowhere.
Current economic and political structures are strong and resilient and
will resist change. Political realists thus have us believe that these reform
efforts are doomed. But we believe that more modesty is in order. Those
theorists who were so wrong about the former Soviet Union should be a
bit hesitant before labeling the Global New Deal “utopian idealism.” The
currents at work behind these ideas are strong and vibrant. None of us
knows how or when change will occur. If history is our guide, it’s clear
that change can happen quite abruptly.
20_0357-Felice.indb 11 8/26/20 11:34 AM

20_0357-Felice.indb 12 8/26/20 11:34 AM
21
International
Chapter Title
Law
THuman Rights and Human Development
ext
How does the United Nations (UN) approach economic and social human rights?
How are these rights defined in international law? Is it possible to develop ac-
curate indicators of human development to measure the achievement of economic
and social human rights? How does the UN monitor and enforce member-states
compliance with international human rights law? Is it possible to energize the
global implementation and monitoring of these basic human rights and enact
effective policies to protect the vulnerable? How does the UN’s 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development seek to help governments develop workable programs
to alleviate human suffering?
F
or many years as part of William’s class, International Organization,
he traveled to Geneva with students to better understand the work
of various international organizations, national missions to the UN,
and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). During these meetings, a
series of incidents brought into sharp focus the ongoing UN deadlock
between the North and the South over economic and social human rights
and development.
This impasse was strikingly visible, for example, in the approach to the
internationally recognized “right to development.”1 The human rights of-
ficer of the Pakistani mission to the UN told us repeatedly that the right
to development was the most important human right. As a priority, his
13
20_0357-Felice.indb 13 8/26/20 11:34 AM

14 Chapter 2: International Law
government fights for the right to development to be included as part of

the International Bill of Human Rights, which encompasses the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).2 His stress on the criti-
cal importance to poor countries of development rights brought back the
oft-quoted words of Leopold Senghor, the former president of Senegal:
“Human rights begin with breakfast.”3 At subsequent meetings at the U.S.
mission to the UN, U.S. human rights officers consistently declared that
the right to development was simply rhetoric and held no real meaning.
The U.S. position was that this claimed “right” was impossible to imple-
ment and was pushed by the less developed countries (LDCs) to pressure
the developed countries into increasing aid levels. The U.S. formal accep-
tance of the validity of development as a human right at the 1993 Vienna
World Conference on Human Rights did not appear to change U.S. policy.
After leaving these meetings, it was hard to see how even a dialogue
could move forward given these diametrically opposed positions.
Conflicts between the developed and the less developed countries
also surfaced in meetings with the World Trade Organization (WTO),
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to the WTO, and the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Rulings by the WTO Appellate Body
in the late 1990s struck down U.S. legal protections for endangered
sea turtles. The students William traveled with were environmentally
conscious and concerned not only about this ruling, but also about how
intertwined trade and environmental policies have become. According
to the WWF, sea turtles are an internationally protected species endan-
gered around the world by the loss of their habitat. They became an in-
ternational trade issue with the advent of mechanized shrimp trawling,
which by 1990 had caused some one hundred thousand adult turtles to
drown each year in nets. This loss is easily preventable. A turtle excluder
device has proven effective in keeping turtles out of the shrimp nets.
The device is inexpensive, easy to install, and standard practice in more
than a dozen countries. The United States not only required its domestic
shrimp industry to use turtle excluders, but also applied identical stan-
dards to countries selling shrimp in U.S. markets. In response, Malaysia,
Thailand, India, and Pakistan filed a complaint to the WTO claiming
that the requirement deprived them of market access guaranteed under
most-favored-nation status. The WTO Appellate Body in 1998 decided
in favor of the four Asian countries, expressing concern over the coer-
cive effect of the U.S. measure on the policies of other governments. The
United States lost this case because the WTO determined that the United
States applied its rules regarding shrimp fishing arbitrarily, which dis-
criminated against the nations filing the complaint. The decision was
20_0357-Felice.indb 14 8/26/20 11:34 AM

International Law 15
not based on environmental criteria, but on the perceived unfair appli-

cation of trade rules. The United States was required to open its markets
to countries whose fishing methods threaten sea turtles.4
The WTO representative we met with characterized U.S. policy as
imperialistic. She claimed that the United States had no right to impose
its environmental standards on the rest of the world. She sided with the
shrimp fishermen in Malaysia whose jobs, she claimed, were threatened
by turtle excluder devices.5 The U.S. trade representative referred us to
President Bill Clinton’s 1998 address to the WTO. President Clinton had
declared, “We must do more to harmonize our goal of increasing trade
with our goal of improving the environment and working conditions. . . .
International trade rules must permit sovereign nations to exercise their
right to set protective standards for health, safety, and the environment
and biodiversity. Nations have a right to pursue those protections—even
when they are stronger than international norms.”6
A further dramatic example of the clash between the developed states
and LDCs over trade and development was the formal collapse of the
“Doha” rounds of WTO trade negotiations in July 2008. The objective of
the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations was to lower trade
barriers and increase global trade specifically to help the less developed
nations. These discussions began in Doha, Qatar, in 2001. After seven
years of ministerial meetings that stretched from Cancun to Hong Kong
to Paris to Potsdam and Geneva, the talks failed to achieve a compromise
on agricultural import rules. In particular, there were disagreements be-
tween the developed and developing nations over the “special safeguard
mechanism,” a measure designed to protect poor farmers by allowing
LDCs to impose a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event
of a fall in prices or an import surge.7
In the years since, only limited gains have been achieved regarding the
Doha Development Agenda. Most notably, the WTO Ministerial Confer-
ence in Nairobi, in December 2015, negotiated a “historic” agreement to
eliminate agricultural export subsidies, yet excluding certain agricultural
goods. And the progress on the “special safeguard mechanism” involved
the WTO ministers agreeing to “continue negotiations.”8 Moreover, regard-
ing the Doha Development Agenda, the European Commission reported
that “despite the EU’s efforts, negotiations have stalled largely due to the
lack of readiness from certain WTO Members to reform their agricultural
policies.”9 Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief World Bank economist, explains
more pointedly: “In December 2015, the WTO gave up on the Develop-
ment Round. By then, it was clear that the United States would not make
the concessions necessary to create a fairer globalization. The United States
would not give up on its cotton subsidies—even though they were de-
clared noncompliant with the WTO under previous trade agreements.”10
20_0357-Felice.indb 15 8/26/20 11:34 AM

These differences, regarding economic rights and development, be-

tween the developed and less developed countries demonstrate the dif-
ficulty of achieving a global understanding of economic and social human
rights. The United States not only undermines the right to development,
but also refuses to ratify the ICESCR, which is strongly supported by the
LDCs. Many LDCs continue to see not only environmental regulations,
which are often strongly supported by developed countries, but also
trade-labor linkages as impediments to their economic growth. For ex-
ample, as early as 1996, developing countries succeeded in derailing the
social clause movement—in other words, the attempt to link adherence
to basic labor rights with membership in the WTO. The LDCs argued
that the social clause would infringe on their sovereignty and deny them
a legitimate comparative advantage. This opposition allowed the WTO
to declare that it would not pursue the trade-labor linkage any further.
Economic and social human rights thus exist within a global framework
filled with discord, fragmentation, and dissension. Progress depends on
overcoming these differences, which have unfortunately too often led to
mistrust between governments.
The International Bill of Human Rights,11 which as noted above in-
cludes the UDHR, ICCPR, and ICESCR, incorporates civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights. It acknowledges human needs of
survival, well-being, identity, and freedom. In the twenty-first century,
collective human rights of gender, class, sexuality, and ethnicity/race
have been added to this framework. The goal is to create political, civil,
and socioeconomic rights that enable all individuals to develop valu-
able, independent, and fulfilling lives within their sovereign nations. We
now have the ability to create a world of humane governance informed
by these normative priorities. Perhaps in other times, such an ambitious
agenda was not possible, but there is no question that today, with growing
economic development, technological breakthroughs, and innovations in
communications, we have the ability to protect basic human dignity.
It is now commonly accepted that it is not possible to achieve significant
progress on human rights without subsistence needs (food, sanitation,
education, and so on) being met. It is also impossible to achieve human
rights progress and development in societies controlled by repressive and
corrupt regimes. Governments can be either the facilitator of, or the main
obstacle to, achieving economic or political rights. Most UN scholars and
human rights activists promote an interdependence between the two sets
of rights (civil/political and economic/social/cultural) and criticize those
who make too sharp a distinction between them. As will be demonstrated
in this chapter, economic and social rights are complementary to the hu-
man rights principles found within civil and political rights. And civil and
political rights can be fully realized only if everyone has a minimum of
20_0357-Felice.indb 16 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Defining Economic and Social Human Rights 17
economic security, as impoverished peoples often have scant motivations

and abilities to fully participate in the civic life of society. The two sets of
rights are thus both symbiotic and mutually dependent.
This chapter examines the following key aspects of the UN approach to
economic and social human rights:
• Defining
• Monitoring and Implementing
• Measuring
• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Defining Economic and Social Human Rights
Human rights today are commonly understood to embrace key moral

principles regarding human behavior that everyone is entitled to simply
because she or he is a human being. Individuals can claim certain inalien-
able entitlements based on these moral principles, such as the right to life,
liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion, the right to
work, education, and so on. Human rights have been defined as claims on
others to a certain type of treatment fundamentally linked to the preven-
tion and alleviation of suffering.12 Human rights are considered “a special
class of rights, the rights that one has simply because one is a human being
. . . moral rights of the highest order.”13 Human rights claims arise from a
shared moral conception of the nature of the human person and the condi-
tions necessary for a life of dignity. Because such claims are essential to pro-
tecting human life and enhancing human dignity, they should receive full
social and political approval. Everyone is entitled to these rights regardless
of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or any other status.14
Modern human rights are social constructions—claims or entitlements
that derive from legal and moral rules essential to protecting human life
and enhancing human dignity across cultures, political boundaries, and
ideological divides. The social construction of human rights refers to the
development over time by the global community of the content of legiti-
mate claims by individuals and groups for the prevention and alleviation
of suffering. The global community has collectively constructed a shared
social understanding of the content of these human rights claims. Inter-
national human rights norms and laws are designed to give individuals
and groups effective tools and means of protection from the actions of
predatory state and nonstate actors, including multinational corporations
(MNCs) and individuals.
Human rights claims have also been designed to provide relief and pro-
tection from structural violence, which is the denial of economic and social
20_0357-Felice.indb 17 8/26/20 11:34 AM

rights to the most vulnerable sectors as a byproduct of either national eco-

nomic policy or penetrating economic globalization. The impoverization
and suffering that has accompanied the expansive economic globaliza-
tion of the twenty-first century has led to the emergence of human rights
claims to promote economic justice for the poor. In sum, human rights are
not written in stone like the Ten Commandments, but evolve to address
modern sources of human suffering.15
Since human rights claims evolve over time, there is a strong link
between the growth of new human rights and social and economic
development. As modern global society has matured, accompanied by
deep ecological interdependence, new threats to the individual and the
group have surfaced. To combat these threats, governments and NGOs
have raised issues of environmental balance, economic growth, social
equality, and disease eradication. Global cooperation between state and
nonstate actors is seen as critical to address this perplexing new agenda
of world politics. Accordingly, the list of human rights claims keeps
growing. Complex social relations give rise to these demands as new
claims are made to alleviate suffering. What appears fundamental in one
historical era may not be in another. Human rights claims today have no
relation to a primitive “state of nature” where people lived with a few
essential needs. For example, a “right to education” cannot be found
in any of the most well-known descriptions of a “state of nature.” Yet,
as Norberto Bobbio points out, there are no current charters of rights
that do not recognize the right to education, which broadens, as society
develops, to include secondary and university as well as primary educa-
tion.16 In sum, international human rights claims today are a product of
this particular historical period.
The UN approaches economic and social human rights through a
framework of legal positivism; that is, rights are defined by what nation-
states have actually agreed to through consent. Consent is most often
demonstrated either through written agreement (treaty, convention, and
so on) or through customary practice. A legal positivist thus does not look
to moral and/or religious principles as the fundamental source of modern
human rights. Instead, the UN’s legal-positivist approach examines state
treaties, customs, and general principles of international law as the pri-
mary sources of international economic and social human rights.
Since the 1940s, the international community has worked through the
UN and affiliated organizations to establish a global system of human
rights. This system of global human rights governance includes both (a)
norm creation and standard setting and (b) permanent institutions and
compliance procedures. In terms of economic and social human rights,
the UN has been most successful in norm creation and least effective in
ensuring compliance with them.17
20_0357-Felice.indb 18 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Defining Economic and Social Human Rights 19
Norm Creation and Standard Setting

Scholars, diplomats, and activists have linked economic and social rights
claims to meeting basic human needs and the alleviation of global pov-
erty. For example, sociologist Johan Galtung, the principal founder of the
discipline of peace and conflict studies, locates human needs inside indi-
vidual human beings, whereas human rights are situated between them.
He justifies economic and social rights by their relationship to fulfilling
human needs. To identify human needs, he asks, “What is it you cannot
do without?” This human-needs approach places the economic and social
human rights debate firmly among the suffering, where the nonsatisfac-
tion of minimum subsistence needs has drastic consequences.18 In a simi-
lar vein, political theorist Christian Bay uses the analogy of any reputable
hospital, which would serve the most severely injured and in need first.
The claims of those in global poverty deserve preferred treatment. Basic
human needs are powerful realities, not just philosophical speculation,
and should inform the content of economic and social human rights. Bay
writes, “Provided we take the universality of basic human needs and
of need-based rights seriously enough, we may envisage an expanding
world-wide human rights movement as a viable third way toward a more
human and sustainable world, post-liberal and post-Marxist.”19
With the development of the idea of “basic rights,” philosopher Henry
Shue presented perhaps the most influential case for economic and social
human rights. Shue argues passionately and effectively for “subsistence”
as a basic right. All development programs and economic theories must
ensure a minimum floor of economic security for all citizens. Indeed, all
human rights are contingent upon these development rights being re-
spected. All people are entitled to make minimum reasonable demands
upon the rest of humanity to have basic rights met. Shue writes, “Basic
rights are the morality of the depths. They specify the line beneath which
no one is to be allowed to sink.” Subsistence rights meet basic human
needs and are essential because without them other rights cannot be real-
ized. For all human beings to be able to fully function in today’s world,
their subsistence rights must be respected. Shue calls this the “transitivity
principle” for rights: “If everyone has a right to y, and the enjoyment of x
is necessary for the enjoyment of y, then everyone also has a right to x.”20
Arguing along similar lines, Thomas Pogge, the director of the Global
Justice Program at Yale University, links human rights fulfillment to the
alleviation of poverty. “Piecing together the current global record, we
find that most of the current massive underfulfillment of human rights is
more or less directly connected to poverty. The connection is direct in the
case of basic social and economic rights, such as the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family,
20_0357-Felice.indb 19 8/26/20 11:34 AM

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
y entrer, comme à la comédie, et quand le père montait se coucher,
il disait : « Bonsoir, mes enfants, je vas à la comédie ! »
— Cette espèce de rideaux n’existe plus, dit Mme Philippe. La
dame du château les a détruits. Elle les achetait pour faire des
tentures.
— Mon père lui a vendu les siens cinquante francs, dit Philippe.
C’est bien payé. Ils n’en valaient pas vingt.
— Nous avons, dit Mme Philippe, encore un lit de cette taille-là
sur le grenier.
— Pourquoi ne l’utilisez-vous pas ? A votre âge, vous seriez
mieux chacun dans votre lit.
— Que Philippe couche, s’il veut, dans un lit à part, répond Mme
Philippe. Moi, je couche dans le mien.
— Dans le tien ! C’est le mien aussi, dit Philippe.
— C’est le lit de nos noces, dit-elle.
— Et vous croyez que vous dormiriez mal dans un autre lit ?
— Je n’y dormirais pas à ma main, dit-elle.
— Et vous, Philippe ?
— Jamais je ne découche.
Il ne s’agit pas d’affection et de fidélité. Ils couchent une première
nuit ensemble et voilà une habitude prise pour la vie. L’un et l’autre
ne quitteront le lit commun qu’à la mort.
Ils ne se servent pas de leurs oreillers. Ils les posent la nuit sur
une chaise, parce que ces oreillers doivent rester le jour sur le lit,
pleins et durs, blancs et frais à l’œil.
— Ça fait joli et il ne faut pas, me dit Mme Philippe, que le monde
les voie fripés.
— Cachez-les sous la couverture, personne ne les verra.
— C’est la mode de les laisser dessus.
— C’est cependant si naturel, quand on a un oreiller de le mettre
sous sa tête !
— On le place sous la tête, dit Philippe, dans le cercueil. Les
héritiers laissent toujours un oreiller au mort.
— Mais ils donnent n’importe lequel, dit Mme Philippe, ils ne sont
pas obligés de faire cadeau du meilleur.
Les Philippe couchent sur une paillasse et un lit de plume. Ils ne
connaissent pas le matelas. La laine et le crin valent trop cher, et ils
ont pour rien la plume de leurs oies.
— J’ai souvent vu, dis-je, sur la route des oies si déplumées
qu’elles faisaient de la peine. Je les croyais malades.
— Elles étaient déplumées exprès, dit Philippe, seulement elles
l’étaient trop. Il ne faut pas ôter les plumes qui maintiennent l’aile,
sans quoi l’aile pend et fatigue la bête.
— Elle doit souffrir et crier, quand on la plume ainsi vivante ?
— On attend, dit Mme Philippe, que la plume soit mûre et se
détache toute seule. C’est le moment de la récolter. On la récolte
trois fois par an.
— Une ménagère habile ne se trompe pas d’époque, dit Philippe,
et elle ne laisse pas perdre une plume. On prétend même qu’une
fille n’est bonne à marier que lorsqu’elle saute sept fois un ruisseau
pour ramasser une plume.
— C’est une gracieuse légende.
— Oh ! répond Philippe, c’est une blague.
Philippe couche sur le bord et Mme Philippe au fond.
— Est-ce que vous mettez une chemise de nuit ?
— Celle du jour n’est donc pas bonne ? dit Philippe.
Elle est tellement bonne qu’elle dure au moins une semaine et
quelquefois deux. Je ne suis pas sûr que Mme Philippe ôte son
jupon. A quoi ça l’avancerait-il de tant se déshabiller ? Il y a belle
heure qu’ils ne se couchent que pour dormir. Ils dorment d’ailleurs
dans le lit de plume comme dans deux nids séparés. Ils y enfoncent
chacun de leur côté. Ils y reposent sans remuer, à l’étouffée ; ils y
soufflent et ils y suent, et le matin, quand ils ouvrent la porte, ça sent
la lessive.
— Rêvez-vous, Philippe ?
— Rarement, dit-il, et je n’aime guère ça, on dort mal.
Il croit qu’on ne peut faire que des rêves désagréables. Quant à
Mme Philippe, elle ne rêve jamais.
— Ou si je rêve, dit-elle, je ne m’en aperçois pas.
— De sorte que vous ne savez pas ce que c’est qu’un rêve ?
— Non.
— Je te l’ai expliqué, dit Philippe.
— Tu m’expliques ce qui se passe dans ta tête, et moi je te
réponds qu’il ne se passe rien de même dans la mienne ; alors ?
En échange, c’est toujours elle qui se lève la première.
— A quelle heure ?
— Ça dépend de la saison.
— L’été ?
— L’été, ce n’est pas l’heure qui me règle, c’est le soleil.
— Malgré les volets ?
— Jamais je ne les ferme, dit-elle, j’aurais peur du tout noir, et
j’aime être réveillée par le soleil. Il habite là-bas juste en face de la
fenêtre, et aussitôt qu’il sort de sa boîte, il vient jouer sur mon nez.
Philippe a fait bâtir une grange près de la maison et la grange

neuve est bien mieux que la vieille maison qui menace ruine.
D’abord on ne voit pas clair à l’intérieur de cette maison. Il faudrait
remplacer la porte pleine par une porte fenêtre ; mais on en parlera
une autre fois. Ce qui presse, c’est le toit de chaume : il s’affaisse et
s’éboulera si on ne change la grosse poutre du milieu.
— Il n’y a plus à reculer, se dit Philippe.
Il achète une poutre et la charroie devant la porte de sa maison,
et c’est tout ce qu’il peut faire pour le moment. Il la mettra sur le toit,
plus tard, quand il aura de quoi payer une couverture de paille. La
poutre reste par terre, à la pluie, au soleil, dans l’herbe, et les
gamins s’amusent à courir dessus, quand ils sortent de classe.
Philippe n’a pas de métier spécial ; il sait seulement tout faire. Il

sait conduire un cheval, panser le bétail, tuer un cochon, faucher,
moissonner, fagoter et mesurer et empiler du bois sur le petit port du
canal, jeter l’épervier, cultiver un jardin. Il sait faire le serrurier, le
couvreur et le maçon. Mais, quelque travail qu’on lui commande, il
ne l’accepte qu’après avoir réfléchi. Je crains toujours un refus.
— Philippe, pourriez-vous réparer cette cheminée qui finira par
tomber sur la tête de quelqu’un ?
Philippe regarde longtemps la cheminée, calcule ce qu’il faudrait
d’échelles, de briques, de mortier, et dit :
— Oh ! ma foi, monsieur, c’est possible.
— Philippe, voulez-vous planter là une pointe ?
Il observe l’endroit du mur que je désigne, la pointe, le marteau.
— Par Dieu ! dit-il, tout de même il y aurait moyen.
Je suis venu au monde avec mes deux bras, dit Philippe.
A leur mariage, ils avaient, sa femme et lui, quatre bras. Chaque

nouvel enfant ajoute les deux siens. Si personne de la famille ne
s’estropie, ils ne manqueront jamais de bras, et ils risquent
seulement d’avoir trop de bouches.
Le jour de son mariage, Philippe rit comme jamais il n’avait ri, et il

mangea de quatorze plats. Il fit danser toutes les femmes du village,
et les plus vieilles même durent virer à son bras, secouées ainsi que
de maigres épouvantails par un temps d’orage.
Au contraire, Mme Philippe, muette et sans appétit, resta assise.
Elle ne comprenait pas les mots plaisants, elle rentrait une
épingle, elle rejetait en arrière sa plante grimpante. Tantôt, les doigts
croisés, elle songeait qu’il faudrait dès demain se mettre à l’ouvrage
et nettoyer ; tantôt elle regardait avec résignation son mari, comme
une bête estropiée tourne les yeux vers le monde.
Enfin, ils se couchèrent. D’abord, tout alla bien. Mme Philippe,
coite, ne bougeait pas, seulement préoccupée de rendre à Philippe,
coup pour coup, les baisers qu’il lui appliquait.
Mais quand elle bêla, sursautante, comme le mouton qu’on avait
saigné hier :
— Ah ! crie si tu veux, mâtine ! lui dit Philippe, il y a trop de jours
que j’attends, je ne peux plus durer.
Tandis qu’il caressait la mariée d’une main légère, d’une main
pesante il lui fermait la bouche.
Qu’avez-vous donc à la main ?

— Je me suis coupé un morceau du poignet, dit Philippe.
Il souffre moins qu’il ne s’étonne. Il a pu jusqu’ici couper avec sa
serpe, sans une égratignure, des arbres durs, gros comme la cuisse.
Or, il veut ce matin couper une mince petite baguette. Il faut croire
qu’il vise mal et qu’il y met trop de force. Il manque la baguette et sa
serpe lui entaille le poignet jusqu’à l’os. La blessure se cicatrisera,
mais elle bâille bien grand. La baguette, restée au bois, l’a échappée
belle.
— Je crois qu’il le fait exprès, dit sa femme. A chaque instant, il
lui arrive des tours pareils.
Et elle raconte qu’une autre fois il vient de nettoyer un coin de la
grange afin d’y battre du blé. Le sol est net comme une table.
Philippe grimpe en haut, par l’échelle, pour descendre une gerbe. Sa
fourche mal piquée cède et il tombe, en arrière, dans la grange. On
le relève avec trois trous à la tête, trois trous qui faisaient une grosse
bosse.
Je vois que Philippe, qui écoute sa femme, s’apprête à rire.
— Oui, monsieur, dit-elle, imaginez-vous qu’il tombe juste à la
place qu’il avait si proprement balayée !
A ces mots, Philippe éclate de rire.
Mais Mme Philippe, qui est une femme courte et ronde, ne rit
pas. Elle agite ses petits bras de lézard et me dit :
— Entendez-moi, monsieur ; après chacune de ses bêtises, il
reste des semaines sans travailler. Il est temps que ça finisse et je
lui promets que, s’il recommence à faire le braque, je lui jette un pot
d’eau bouillante à la figure !
C’était un beau canard à queue bouclée, gras et de riches

couleurs, et qui portait son bec, comme une large barbe, au milieu
du visage. Chacun se réjouissait de le manger, mais personne ne
voulait le tuer. La servante même, qui le tenait par les pattes, faisait
des grimaces. Heureusement, Philippe travaillait non loin de là, au
jardin ; il vit notre embarras et dit :
— Apportez-le-moi.
Je prévoyais la scène. J’avais envie d’aller ailleurs. Je me forçais
à rester. La servante tendit à Philippe le couperet de cuisine. Après
en avoir tâté du doigt le tranchant, il préféra sa serpe. Il appliqua sur
une bûche plate le ventre du canard. La tête dépassait un peu,
ahurie, presque immobile.
— Attachez-lui la tête avec une ficelle, dit la servante. Je tiendrai
le bout, sans quoi il va retirer la tête.
— Il n’aura pas le temps, dit Philippe.
Et d’un seul coup de serpe, tandis que nous fermions les yeux, il
fit voler la tête du canard.
Puis il l’éleva en l’air et le laissa saigner.
Le canard décapité battait de l’aile et, d’un effort spasmodique,
dressait son cou rouge et ruisselant.
Il avait la vie dure.
Et bientôt il rendit par le cou et non par le bec (son bec était là-
bas, au pied du mur), les dernières graines avalées.
— Il démange, dit Philippe retourné à son travail.
Le canard mollissait. Toutefois, ses plumes se gardèrent
longtemps chaudes.
On félicita Philippe.
— C’est à croire, lui dis-je, que vous avez pris des leçons de
Deibler.
Il répondit gravement :
— Jamais personne ne m’a montré.
— Et ça ne vous fait pas quelque petite chose ?
— De tuer un canard, non, dit Philippe. Peut-être que si c’était
une autre bête !… Mais les canards, j’en tuerai tant qu’on voudra.
Philippe et Mme Philippe ne sont jamais venus à Paris et Mme

Philippe n’a pas envie d’y venir.
— Pourquoi ?
— Parce que, dit-elle, si j’avais soif dans les rues, comment donc
que je ferais pour boire un coup d’eau ?
Au contraire, Philippe voudrait bien voir Paris.
Il a même failli le voir. En ce temps-là, il était domestique chez le
fermier Corneille qui lui dit :
— Je ne peux pas m’absenter cette semaine. Tu vas prendre ma
place et accompagner le toucheur qui mène nos bœufs au marché
de la Villette.
Déjà on avait embarqué les bœufs, et Philippe, qui portait une
veste sous sa blouse, montait dans un wagon à bestiaux, à côté du
toucheur. Il était content, il riait, il parlait fort, lorsqu’accourut le
fermier Corneille :
— J’ai réfléchi, dit-il, je peux aller à Paris.
— Alors, moi, dit Philippe, je reste ?
— Naturellement, dit le fermier Corneille. Nous n’avons droit qu’à
deux places dans le wagon à bestiaux. Et d’ailleurs, quand je ne suis
plus à la ferme, personne, excepté toi, n’est capable de la garder.
Philippe s’en retourna, déçu d’une part et flatté de l’autre.
Le ménage Philippe travaille dans le jardin. Philippe relève et

noue les poireaux. Il leur fait, dit-il, les chignons. Mme Philippe, à
genoux, allume en plein air la lessiveuse avec du papier et des
bûchettes et elle écoute si le feu pétille. Elle dit bientôt :
— Je crois qu’il commence à faire la vie.
— Venez, leur dis-je, prendre une tasse de café.
Comme s’ils étaient sourds, il faut que je les appelle une seconde
fois. Ils ont bien entendu et s’observent de loin. Puis, sans que je
sache quel signe les a mis d’accord, ils quittent ensemble leur
ouvrage, et, préoccupés d’arriver ensemble, ils s’approchent d’un
même pas, les yeux baissés.
— Sucrez-vous.
Mme Philippe, la première, pince des doigts un morceau de
sucre qu’elle pose avec précaution dans sa tasse.
— Sucre-moi aussi, dit Philippe.
— N’es-tu pas capable de te sucrer tout seul ? dit Mme Philippe
qui me regarde.
— J’ai les mains trop sales, dit Philippe.
Mme Philippe pince un autre bout de sucre et le met sur la table.
— Le laisses-tu là ? dit Philippe.
— Faut-il donc, dit-elle, que je l’apporte jusque dans ta tasse ?
— On finit ce qu’on commence, dit-il.
Ils font ces manières autant par gêne que pour se taquiner. Et
c’est encore Mme Philippe qui, la première, remue son café et se
brûle les lèvres à la tasse fumante. Non qu’elle soit effrontée, mais
elle veut prouver à Philippe qu’elle a moins peur que lui du monsieur.
Qu’avez-vous mangé, hier, Mme Philippe ?

— Notre reste de lapin maigre.
— Pourquoi maigre ?
— Parce que nous ne l’engraissons pas avant de le tuer. Il
reviendrait trop cher. Depuis trois jours, nous vivons dessus à six
personnes. Je l’avais coupé en dix-huit morceaux. J’en ai fait cuire
six dimanche avec des oignons, six lundi avec des carottes et six
hier avec des pommes de terre.
— Et plus on allait, meilleur c’était, dit Philippe.
— Mais vous en aviez chacun gros comme une noix ?
— Regardez ce goulu-là, dit Mme Philippe ; il s’en donnait mal au
ventre.
Philippe rit selon son habitude. C’est-à-dire qu’il ouvre la bouche
comme s’il riait et que sa peau cuite fait des plis serrés autour de
ses yeux. On n’est pas sûr qu’il rit. Les yeux clairs tranquillisent par
leur gaieté puérile, mais la bouche, qui bâille inutilement, trouble un
peu. Et quand cette bouche se ferme, la figure de Philippe cesse de
vivre. Elle ressemble à une motte de terre dont sa barbe serait
l’herbe sèche.
Les Philippe peuvent s’offrir un lapin maigre par an ; mais il leur

arriva une fois, en 1876, de si bien manger qu’ils ne l’oublieront
jamais. Ils recevaient la visite d’un cousin éloigné, et Mme Philippe
eut l’idée de le fêter par un repas où elle ne ménagerait rien.
Elle alla consulter Mme Loriot, la cuisinière du château.
— Je veux, dit-elle, faire à notre cousin une soupe qui le régale.
Enseignez-moi une soupe.
— Quelle soupe ? dit Mme Loriot.
— Une soupe comme la vôtre, une soupe de riches.
— Oh ! moi, je connais tant d’espèces de soupes, dit Mme Loriot,
que je vous engage à faire un pot-au-feu. C’est ce qu’il y a de
meilleur et de moins difficile.
— Faudra-t-il mettre du pain dedans ? dit Mme Philippe.
— A votre place, dit Mme Loriot, j’y mettrais du vermicelle. C’est
plus distingué.
Mme Philippe courut s’approvisionner, et, rentrée chez elle, vida
un plein sac de vermicelle dans son pot, avec le bœuf et les
légumes.
Et, le soir, elle servit d’abord le bouillon où chacun put déjà
goûter quelques brins de vermicelle qui excitèrent l’appétit.
Puis elle servit les légumes et le gros du vermicelle.
Et elle servit enfin la viande de bœuf et le reste du vermicelle qui
s’y était collé comme par un jour d’orage.
Mme Corneille fut une fermière économe, et il ne lui arriva qu’une

fois dans sa vie d’offrir quelque chose à un de ses domestiques. Il
faisait chaud, chaud, ce jour-là ; jamais peut-être il n’avait fait si
chaud. Inoccupée et à l’ombre sur sa porte, elle regardait Philippe,
alors domestique chez les Corneille, barbouiller de vert une charrue.
Coiffé d’un vieux petit chapeau déteint, sans forme, et qui n’était pas
de paille, il suait, il fondait, il gouttait. La peau de sa figure devenait
rose tendre. Juste sous le soleil, il travaillait tête basse et, observé
par sa maîtresse, il écartait la couleur comme un vrai peintre.
Mme Corneille, quoique dure pour les autres et pour elle, ne put
se retenir.
— Venez boire un coup, Philippe, dit-elle bourrue.
Philippe ne prit pas le temps de s’étonner. Il vint, comme s’il
obéissait à un ordre, et entra derrière Mme Corneille, après avoir
quitté ses sabots. Mme Corneille tira du seau une bouteille qui
rafraîchissait et elle emplit un verre.
— Avalez, dit-elle, à peine moins impérieuse que si elle eût
donné de l’ouvrage.
Philippe but sans cérémonie, comme un trou dans une terre
sèche, et brusquement il ôta de sa bouche le verre encore à moitié
plein. Il frissonnait, les lèvres rétrécies, toussant et sourcillant.
— On croirait que vous grimacez, dit Mme Corneille. N’est-il pas
bon ?
— Si, si, Maîtresse, dit Philippe qui tâchait de rire.
— Vous dites si, comme vous diriez non. Le vin aurait-il un goût ?
— Non, non, Maîtresse.
— Cette fois, vous dites non, comme vous diriez oui, fit Mme
Corneille, du ton qu’elle prenait quand les choses allaient se gâter.
Puisque notre vin n’a pas de goût, il vous déplaît donc ? J’aime
mieux le savoir. J’irai vous en chercher du meilleur.
— Pour ne pas mentir, Maîtresse, il a un petit goût suret, mais
c’est plutôt agréable, dit Philippe mal à l’aise.
Il vida le verre, mit ses sabots et retourna colorier sa charrue au
soleil.
— Et après, dis-je à Philippe qui hésitait, finissez. Pourquoi, en
buvant, faisiez-vous la moue ?
— Parce que, dit Philippe, la maîtresse m’avait versé, au lieu du
vin, du vinaigre.
— Du vinaigre ! Ah ! ah ! mon pauvre vieux Philippe !
— Oui, de ce vinaigre rouge qu’elle fabriquait et qui emportait la
mâchoire.
— Et vous ne disiez rien !
— Je n’osais pas.
— Ce n’était qu’une erreur de Mme Corneille.
— Je ne savais pas.
— Comment ? Supposiez-vous qu’elle vous attrapait ?
— Qu’est-ce que je devais croire ? Aujourd’hui même je me le
demande. J’étais fort embarrassé. Je me disais : « Si la maîtresse
ne le fait pas exprès, faut-il la mortifier, pour une fois qu’elle est
gracieuse avec un domestique ? et si elle le fait exprès, si elle
s’amuse, faut-il l’empêcher de rire ? » Et, dans le doute, je me
taisais.
— Mme Corneille s’est aperçue de la méprise ?
— Elle ne m’en a point parlé.
— Vous pouviez lui raconter l’histoire plus tard. Elle aurait ri.
— Elle ne riait guère, dit Philippe, et elle n’aimait pas avoir tort.
Chaque fois que le mot me venait au bout de la langue, je ravalais
ma langue.
— Ce qui m’étonne, c’est que vous ayez eu le courage de boire
le verre tout entier.
— C’était moins mauvais à la deuxième moitié.
— Cela vous brûlait ?
— Ça piquait un peu l’estomac. Comme la maîtresse regardait
ailleurs, j’ai couru m’éteindre avec un pot d’eau fraîche. Les
gencives m’ont écumé toute la nuit. Mais le vinaigre est sain.
D’abord on est malade, et puis on se trouve fortifié. Je n’y pense
plus.
— Peut-être que votre ancienne maîtresse y pense toujours. A
votre place, je voudrais en avoir le cœur net.
— Un monsieur comme vous peut-il se mettre à la place d’un
domestique ?
— Accordez-moi, Philippe, que vous avez de la bonté de reste !
— Je ne dis pas le contraire.
En semaine, Philippe ne va pas à l’auberge, et le soleil seul cuit
ses joues ; mais chaque dimanche, après vêpres, le vin achève de
les cuire. Non que Philippe se saoule ; il boit avec mesure, pour se
récompenser, et il fait durer le plaisir. Ce n’est que très tard qu’il
éprouve une espèce de joie enfantine et bruyante qu’il connaît bien.
Aussitôt, il s’arrête de boire et quitte l’auberge. Sur la route, il
exagère un peu son ivresse ; il s’amuse à gesticuler, à briser sa ligne
de marche et il ne perd pas la tête quand arrive une voiture. Puis,
dès qu’il aperçoit une maison, il s’inquiète. « Qu’est-ce que le
monsieur dira ? »
Il rentrait heureux et je vais gâter sa journée.
Il devine que je le guette de la terrasse du jardin, où j’ai l’habitude
de respirer l’air du soir, et il faut qu’il passe devant moi, pour
rejoindre sa femme déjà couchée. Il hésite, immobile à la porte du
jardin, et je l’entends souffler.
Enfin, résolu, il pousse la porte : son ombre frôle la mienne ; il
lève son chapeau d’un geste humble et court, à peine visible, et
murmure : « Bonsoir ! » Et il tâche de bien suivre le milieu de l’allée,
de peur d’écraser une fraise.
C’est l’heure où le coucou chante avec sa voix de poterie brute.
Demain matin, Philippe se lèvera encore plus tôt que d’ordinaire,
il travaillera avec repentir, taciturne et le nez bas, comme pour
enterrer l’odeur de vin restée à son haleine.
Le soir, sa soupe mangée chez lui, dans l’obscurité, Philippe

vient souvent respirer le frais à côté de moi. Il apporte sa chaise,
s’installe à califourchon, sort ses pieds lourds de fatigue et les met
sur ses sabots, à l’air. Il bourre à moitié sa pipe et la tend à son petit
garçon, Joseph, qui court l’allumer lui-même au feu de notre cuisine
et qui tire les premières bouffées. C’est ainsi que le petit Joseph
s’apprend à fumer, puis il va s’asseoir dans un coin, et il bâille
jusqu’à ce que le goût du tabac ne lui fasse plus mal au cœur.
Tantôt j’interroge Philippe et il me questionne à son tour, par
exemple, sur les étoiles. Je récite tout ce que je sais d’elles, et il me
dit que le petit Joseph les connaît aussi bien et qu’il a déjà du plaisir
à regarder le ciel.
— Où est-elle, gars, la Grande-Ourse ? lui dit-il. Indique voir au
monsieur ?
Le petit Joseph, sans se lever de son coin, sans ôter les mains
de ses poches, remue à peine la tête, lance au ciel un coup d’œil qui
s’arrête à la visière de sa casquette et dit :
— La Grande-Ourse, elle est droit là.
Tantôt nous préférons nous taire, immobiles et mystérieux. Je ne
distingue presque plus Philippe et le petit Joseph, car la nuit,
profitant de ce qu’on bavardait, s’est glissée entre nous, comme une
chatte, et nos voix, comme des rats peureux, restent dans leurs
cachettes de silence.
Le petit Joseph n’ira plus à l’école, parce qu’il en sait assez long,
et il a profité hier de la grande louée de Lormes pour se louer. Il
gardera les moutons du fermier Corneille. Il est nourri et blanchi. On
lui donne cent francs par an et les sabots.
Il couchera dans la paille, près de ses moutons, et il sera debout
avec eux dès trois heures du matin.
— Je me suis loué du premier coup, dit-il avec fierté.
Il portait un flocon de laine à sa casquette, ce qui signifiait : « Je
me loue comme berger. » Ceux qui veulent se louer comme
moissonneurs ont un épi de blé à la bouche. Les charretiers mettent
un fouet à leur cou. Les autres domestiques se recommandent par
une feuille de chêne, une plume de volaille ou une fleur.
Joseph arrivait à peine sur le champ de foire que le fermier
Corneille l’attrapa :
— Combien, petit ?
Joseph ne dit pas deux prix. Il dit : « Cent francs », et le fermier le
retint. Et comme Joseph oubliait de jeter par terre, la laine de sa
casquette, on l’arrêtait encore. Il se serait loué vingt fois pour une et
chacun voulait l’avoir parce qu’il était doux de figure. Il s’amusait
bien en se promenant. Au retour, il eut de la tristesse, mais son père,
Philippe, le consola :
— Écoute donc, bête, tu seras heureux comme un prince ; tu
auras un chien ; tu partageras avec lui ton pain et ton fromage, et il
ne voudra suivre que toi.
— Oui, dit Joseph, et je l’appellerai Papillon !
Et Joseph connaît maintenant le plaisir d’avoir de l’argent à soi,

dans sa poche. Il ne dépense jamais rien. Un sou de gagné, c’est un
sou d’économisé. Il connaît le plaisir d’avoir un chien docile qui
ramène les moutons lambins, et les serre de près, sans les mordre,
et le plaisir d’avoir un fouet. Il fouaille de bons coups qui cassent les
oreilles et retentissent par le village. La mèche usée, il s’assied au
bord du fossé, quitte un sabot, une chaussette, noue le fouet à son
orteil, et, la jambe raide, il se tresse, les doigts fréquemment
mouillés, une longue mèche de chanvre neuf.
Il se trouve plus heureux que son frère Gabriel qui s’est loué
l’année dernière. Non que les maîtres de Gabriel soient méchants ;
ils ne lui rendent pas exprès la vie dure, mais il faut qu’aux époques
de labour il se lève chaque matin à deux heures. Il va chercher les
bœufs au pré, pour qu’on les attelle à la charrue.
La nuit est noire et le pré loin. Gabriel traverse d’abord avec
assurance le village endormi, mais, aussitôt qu’il a dépassé
l’auberge, la peur le prend. Ses yeux, pleins de sommeil, distinguent
mal, à droite et à gauche, le fossé, les arbres immobiles, le canal
muet, la rivière chuchoteuse et, de temps en temps, une borne sur la
route. Mais ce qui l’impressionne le plus, c’est, quand il arrive au
pré, d’ouvrir la barrière grinçante.
Le voilà seul dans les herbes où son pied tâtonne. Il perd la tête,
il tombe à genoux et demande à Dieu pardon de ses péchés. Sa
prière ardente et brève lui redonne du courage. Il devine que les
bœufs sont cette blancheur là-bas. Il les écoute se dresser et
respirer bruyamment, et il s’approche d’eux, les bras tendus.
— Holà ! Rossignol ! dit-il d’une voix faussée, où es-tu ?
Ce n’est pas Rossignol ! c’est Chauvin qu’il touche le premier. Il
le reconnaît à son poil usé au flanc gauche par le timon. Le poil de
Rossignol s’use au flanc droit. Et Gabriel reconnaît aussi les cornes
de Chauvin. Celles de Rossignol sont égales et Chauvin n’en a
qu’une tout entière ; l’autre est cassée et le bout manque.
Dès que Gabriel tient la plus longue dans sa main, il lui semble
qu’il se réveille, que les ténèbres se dissipent et qu’il n’a jamais eu
peur, et il serre fortement la corne. Chauvin s’ébranle d’un pas de
laboureur ; Rossignol marche derrière avec docilité et les deux
bœufs ramènent Gabriel au village.
A leur âge, me dit Philippe, j’étais loué depuis longtemps. Je me

rappelle que la première fois que j’ai couché avec mes moutons, je
ne savais pas où faire mon lit. J’ai mis une botte de paille dans le
râtelier pour y dormir. Quand je me suis réveillé le matin, les
barreaux tâtaient mes côtes. Il ne restait plus un brin de paille sous
moi. Les moutons m’avaient mangé mon lit. Et je me rappelle que la
nuit suivante, il faisait un gros orage. J’avais peur tout seul. Je me
suis levé pour aller près de mon chien qui dormait sous un chariot
dans la cour : c’était une compagnie.
En ce temps-là, les petits bergers et les petits porchers étaient
traités dur. On ne leur donnait que du pain.
— Rien avec ?
— Rien que l’eau de leur soupe.
— Pas de salé ?
— Ni salé, ni légumes, ni un œuf, ni un morceau de fromage. Je
vous le dis : rien que du pain. Avant d’aller au champ, ils coupaient
au pain commun ce qu’il leur fallait pour la journée et c’était fini.
Demandez aux fermiers Corneille qui se sont retirés et qui vivent de
leurs rentes. Mme Corneille défendait au berger et au porcher de
rester là, quand les autres domestiques se mettaient à table ; on
aurait pu passer en cachette, aux gamins, un peu de fricot !
— Quels avares, que ces Corneille !
— Ils avaient raison, dit Philippe. C’est de cette manière-là qu’ils
sont devenus riches. Aujourd’hui, nos gamins ont de la chance. Ils
se louent mieux que les autres domestiques. On les recherche parce
qu’ils sont commodes. Une ferme a toujours besoin de deux
servantes, d’une forte fille pour les gros ouvrages et d’une plus jeune
pour l’aider. Mais celle-ci, on la remplace avec avantage par un
gamin. Il peut faire tout ce qu’elle fait. Il peut encore porter la soupe
au loin dans les champs, et il ne craint pas les ouvrages malpropres.
Il faut un lit à une fille, à un gamin il ne faut que de la paille. Aussi,
on les paye de plus en plus cher, on les soigne comme des
hommes.
C’est pourquoi la rage de se louer tient le dernier des Philippe à

son tour, le petit Émile, qui n’a pas dix ans. Elle le tenait déjà l’année
passée, et son père a dû le calotter. Elle le reprend plus fort cette
année, mais Philippe refuse.
— Non, lui dit-il, quand je dis non, c’est non.
Quelque espérance reste au cœur d’Émile. Il obtient la
permission d’aller voir, au moins, les autres se louer.
Il ne peut durer ce matin au lit. Enfin, son père se lève ; ils partent
et personne n’arrive avant eux sur la place où se fait la louée. Par
jeu, Émile met à sa bouche une feuille de chêne en signe qu’il est à
louer. Comme son père lui dit de l’ôter, il la mange. Il regarde venir
les voitures pleines de monde et les bandes de domestiques qui
tiennent la largeur d’une route. Tous ne sont pas des environs. Il en
est qui viennent de loin. Émile observe de préférence les gamins de
son âge qui circulent librement à la recherche d’un maître. Il ne fait
pas attention aux colporteurs qui vendent des ceintures, des chaînes
de montre et des porte-monnaies. Les femmes se mêlent, à part,
aux filles qui veulent être servantes. On se dévisage, on attend des
offres, on cause peu ou plutôt, tournant sur pied, on se récrie.
Parfois, un groupe se détache et entre à l’auberge.
Tout à coup, un fermier passe devant Émile et s’arrête.
— Est-il loué, ce petit gars-là, dit-il ?
Émile, malade d’émotion, baisse la tête. Philippe répond pour lui :
— Non, il n’est pas loué et il n’est pas à louer.
Le fermier s’éloigne. Les lèvres d’Émile tremblent, grimacent et il
se met à pleurer. On rit de son chagrin, autour de lui, moi le premier.
— Écoute, lui dis-je, si tu veux, je te loue à mon service.
J’achèterai un cochon, et chaque jour, après la classe, tu viendras le
prendre pour le mener au champ. Tiens, mets dans ton porte-
monnaie tes quarante sous d’arrhes.
Émile croit que je me moque de lui comme les autres. Il se
détourne, chine plus fort et du pied râpe la terre.
Philippe agacé le secoue.
— Si tu ne te tais pas, dit-il, je vas te flanquer une paire de
calottes. Au moins tu sauras pourquoi tu pleures. Et si tu veux rester,
reste, moi je rentre.
Et il fait semblant de le laisser là. Mais à peine a-t-il le dos tourné
qu’Émile le rattrape et se cache dans sa blouse.
Comme j’ai recommandé à Philippe de me prévenir, il me

télégraphie : Tuerai cochon samedi. Le temps de passer douze
heures en chemin de fer, et me voilà chez les Philippe.
— Il va bien ? dis-je.
— Oui, répond Philippe.
— Où est-il ?
— Dans l’écurie, en liberté.
— Calme ?
— Il se repose depuis deux jours ; je ne lui donne pas à manger,
il vaut mieux le tuer à jeun.
— Il est très doux, dit Mme Philippe, je l’ai promené hier dans la
cour. Je n’espérais pas le rentrer toute seule. J’en suis venue à bout
comme d’un mouton.
— Combien pèse-t-il ?
— Deux cent sept livres.
— C’est un poids.
— C’est raisonnable, dit Philippe, et je crois qu’il sera bon. Je l’ai
acheté à un fermier que je connais et qui l’a engraissé avec de
l’orge.
— Pourvu qu’il fasse beau demain !
— Le vent tourne au nord, dit Philippe. Il fera sec, et si nous
avons la chance qu’il gèle cette nuit, ce sera le meilleur temps pour
tuer un cochon.
— Tout est prêt ?
— Oui, j’ai retenu mon voisin Pierre, il n’ira pas travailler au canal
et nous aidera.
— Je vous aiderai aussi.
— La voisine et moi, nous ferons le boudin, dit Mme Philippe.
— A quelle heure le réveillerez-vous ?
— Le cochon ?
— Oui.
— Au lever du soleil.
— Bonsoir, dis-je ; allons dormir et prendre des forces.
— Votre arrivée m’a fait plaisir, me dit Philippe. Je suis content de
le tuer devant vous.
Le lendemain matin, à sept heures, il frappe à ma porte et je
m’habille au clair du soleil qui tombe par la cheminée. Philippe a mis
un tablier propre. Il s’assure que son couteau coupe bien. Il a écarté
de la paille sur le sol. Tandis que les femmes, Mme Philippe et la
voisine, font les effarées, il est grave.
Pierre, les mains dans ses poches, et moi, nous le suivons
jusqu’à l’écurie. Il entre seul avec une corde et nous laisse à la
porte. Nous écoutons.
J’entends Philippe qui cherche le cochon et lui parle. Le cochon
grogne à cette visite, mais il ne marque ni satisfaction ni inquiétude.
Pierre, habitué, m’explique ce qui se passe.
— Philippe, dit-il, va lui prendre la patte avec un nœud coulant.
Oh ! oh ! le cochon se fâche. Cette fois il grogne assez fort pour
que les chiens, là-bas, lui répondent. Je devine qu’il se sauve et que
Philippe l’a manqué.
— Laissez entrer un peu de jour, dit Philippe.
J’ouvre la porte et je la referme vite, parce que j’ai vu
brusquement le nez du cochon. Je dis à Pierre, qui sait mieux que
moi, de la tenir comme il faut. Mais la chasse dure peu : Philippe
accule le cochon dans un coin de l’écurie et, après une courte lutte
corps à corps, le maîtrise.
— Ouvrez ! crie-t-il entre les cris désespérés du cochon.
Tous deux sortent de l’écurie. Le cochon a une patte de derrière
prise dans la corde que Philippe tient d’une main haute et il est joli à
voir, frais et net, comme s’il venait de faire sa toilette. Notre
présence et la lumière du jour l’étonnent. Il se précipitait, il s’arrête et
cesse de crier. Il fait quelques pas dehors et se croit libre. Il souffle, il
flaire déjà des choses. Mais Philippe donne la corde à Pierre, saisit
le cochon par les oreilles et le renverse, gigotant et hurlant, sur la
paille écartée. Les femmes tendent, celle-ci un linge et le couteau à
saigner, celle-là une poêle pour recevoir le sang. Pierre tire la patte
et l’immobilise, et moi je vais à droite et à gauche.
Philippe, son couteau dans les dents, s’affermit, pose un genou
sur le cochon, et lui tâte sa gorge grasse.
Pierre, qui riait, devient sérieux ; les femmes ne bavardent plus ;
le cochon terrassé se débat moins, mais il crie de toutes ses forces

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ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

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Published by Rowman & Littlefield

6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

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1 Global Policy Choices: There Are Alternatives 1

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2.1 The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 49

2.1 I ntergenerational Mobility and Income Inequality for

2.1 World Poverty Totals 35

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3.2 Public, Private, and Mixed Goods 75

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to agroecology, to name a few. With an exemplary eye for lucid writing,

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Rights in Geneva has been tremendously helpful to our researching of

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1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the

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6. International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhu-

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ACA Affordable Care Act

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ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

20_0357-Felice.indb 14 8/26/20 11:34 AM

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• A clear summary and analysis of how poverty and inequality are

20_0357-Felice.indb 16 8/26/20 11:34 AM

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giving security to hard-working families in every country.” The prime

20_0357-Felice.indb 18 8/26/20 11:34 AM

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Global Policy Choices

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by the needless suffering occurring in every country as a result of pre-

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of these innocents. This lethargy stems in part from ingrained, comfort-

You have taught me that solving the problems of economic globaliza-

This student clearly wanted to believe in humane alternatives, but

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accompanies economic globalization should recognize the futility of expecting

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2.1 I ntergenerational Mobility and Income Inequality for