Human Rights and Capitalism

Human Rights and Capitalism brings together two important facets of the globalisation debate and examines the complex relationship between human rights, property rights and capitalist economies. Human rights issues have become increasingly important in this debate and their place as harbingers of justice or as an instrument of oppression is fiercely contended. Both sides of this issue are considered in the contributions to this book and the complex relationships between human rights, human dignity and capitalist economies are the themes running throughout the work. Appearing at a time when these issues are a subject of extreme controversy, this book is distinguished by its balanced and academic approach. In three sections, the work first of all deals with theoretical and philosophical issues, exploring tensions between capitalism and human rights. The second section considers more specific problems relating to the trading regime, which have significant impacts on human rights, and the final section considers human rights and capitalism in a South American context.

This is an interdisciplinary exploration of the tensions which occur in the modern globalised trading regime between capitalism and the attainment of universal human rights. It will be of interest to scholars interested in the globalisation debate, as well as economists, lawyers, philosophers and political scientists.