Making human rights law more distributive by design:righting socio-economic inequality.

There is a renewed interest in extreme socio-economic inequality. On the one hand, it is acknowledged that extreme socio-economic inequality is economically and socially harmful. On the other hand, there is an acute awareness that climate change measures, and sustainable development more generally, necessitate a renewed debate on socio-economic distribution. Some have argued that the economy of the future must be distributive by design. Human rights law may make a distinctive contribution to socio-economic distribution, but has not shown as much interest in socio-economic inequality as in status inequality, and may also not be optimally equipped for that task. This project seeks to future-proof human rights law by making it not only redistributive, but also more predistributive by design. In particular, it will focus on strengthening the equality principle in human rights law.

Keywords:SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, EQUALITY, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Disciplines:Human rights law