Developing the Right to Work: Intersecting and Dialoguing Human Rights and Economic Policy

This article explores why the “right to work” remains underdeveloped through an analysis of its theoretical origins and developmental path. First, the article explores specific content of the right to work, as well as the international legal instruments that generate that content. Second, the article examines the development of the right over time, and the debates that have shaped it. This discussion progresses into analysis of the different perspectives and approaches to the right to work emerging from the human rights and labor movements. The differences in approach between policy makers and those in the human rights sector, caused largely by developments in economic theories, is also examined to help explain the contemporary status of the right to work. Ultimately, the article discusses the challenges of bringing human rights dialogue to bear on economic decision-making, and concludes with recommendations for the future development of the right to work.