Righting the Economy - by Marianna Leite & Matti Kohonen (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection of essays from both civil society professionals and academics advocates for a new economy, one built on the foundation of human rights.

Book Synopsis

Human rights and economics are not often spoken about in the same breath. Yet increasingly, human rights actors are calling for a shift towards a rights-based or human-rights economy. One that puts the economy truly at the service of communities contending with extreme social and economic inequality, climate catastrophe and corporate abuses.

The economies we live in structure our daily experiences and represent systems which can profoundly affect our ability to enjoy our rights to decent work, adequate healthcare, political participation, freedom from violence and more. This book systematizes academic and practitioners' analyses and experiences, drawing from different epistemologies, literatures and case studies, to flesh out what a rights-based economy would look like, and the tools and actions - economic, legal, environmental and social - needed to get there.

Review Quotes

The human rights framework is not fixed or uniform; it is dynamic and designed to adapt in response to the diverse assertions and perceptions of injustice among us as human beings. The contributions to this book push the agenda forward to keep thinking and enabling human rights to effectively address the ever-growing and pressing demands of the current moment.--Radhika Balakrishnan, Professor of Women's and Gender and Sexuality Studies, Rutgers University

This stimulating book calls for the disruption of the forces that produce economies that manifestly fail to fulfil human rights and the reassembly of economies that will fulfil these rights, drawing on human rights norms and institutions, and a wide range of innovative ideas about economic alternatives. It offers new thinking for both practitioners and academics and will be indispensable reading for courses on human rights, political economy, and social and economic policy.--Diane Elson, Emeritus Professor, University of Essex and Chair, Commission on a Gender Equal Economy

About the Author

Matti Kohonen is executive director of the Financial Transparency Coalition, a group of 11 international civil society organisations. Before joining the FTC, he worked for Christian Aid, Oxfam and the Tax Justice Network. He holds a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics and is the co-editor of Tax Justice: Putting Global Inequality on the Agenda (2009).

Marianna Leite is ACT Alliance's Global Advocacy and Development Policy Manager. As a lawyer, researcher and activist, she has over 15 years of professional experience across the legal, academic and development sectors. She holds a post-doctorate certificate in Human Rights and Democracy from the Faculty of Law of University of Coimbra and a PhD in Development Studies from Birkbeck, University of London.