Human Rights from Field to Fork: Improving Labor Conditions for Food-sector Workers by Organizing across Boundaries

Human dignity: social movements invoke it, several national constitutions enshrine it, and it features prominently in international human rights documents. But what is it, and why is it important? This book offers a sophisticated and comprehensive defence of the view that human dignity is the moral heart of human rights. First, it develops the network of concepts associated with dignity, highlighting the notion of human dignity as an inherent, non-instrumental, egalitarian, and high-priority normative status of human persons. People have this status in virtue of their valuable human capacities rather than as a result of their national origin and other conventional features. Second, it shows how human dignity gives rise to an inspiring ideal of solidaristic empowerment, generating both negative duties not to undermine, and positive duties to facilitate, people’s pursuit of a flourishing life in which they develop and exercise their valuable capacities. The most urgent of these duties are correlative to human rights. Third, the book illustrates how the proposed dignitarian approach allows us to articulate the content, justification, and feasible implementation of specific and contested human rights, such as the rights to democratic political participation and decent labor conditions. Finally, the book’s dignitarian framework illuminates the arc of humanist justice, identifying both the difference and the continuity between basic human rights and more expansive requirements of social justice such as those defended by liberal egalitarians and democratic socialists. Human dignity is indeed the moral heart of human rights. Understanding it enables us to defend human rights as the urgent ethical and political project that puts humanity first.

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When (Not) to Trade with Autocrats: Complicity, Exploitation, and Human Rights

Moral Philosophy and Politics ◽

10.1515/mopp-2021-0007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Kevin K. W. Ip

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Global Economy ◽

Recent Book ◽

Liberal Democracies ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

Trade Relations ◽

Special Obligation ◽

Trade Sanctions ◽

Autocratic Regimes ◽

Transnational Trade

Abstract Transnational trade is at the heart of the global economy. Trade relations often transcend both ideological divides and regime type. Trading with autocratic regimes, however, raises significant moral issues. In their recent book, On Trade Justice, Mathias Risse and Gabriel Wollner argue that trade with autocratic regimes is morally permissible only under a very limited set of circumstances. This article discusses the morally permissible trade policies that liberal democracies ought to adopt toward autocratic regimes. Liberal democracies trading with autocratic regimes have a special obligation to improve the human rights conditions in these regimes. This duty is partly based on their complicity in human rights violations and on the fact that the democracies benefit from these violations in their trading relationships. Their responsibility goes beyond the improvement of labor conditions and requires various strategies such as imposing trade sanctions and export controls, and making trade conditional on human rights performance.

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Fairtrade Certification, Labor Standards, and Labor Rights

Sociology of Development ◽

10.1525/sod.2018.4.2.191 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 191-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Laura T. Raynolds

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Labor Standards ◽

Labor Rights ◽

Food Sector ◽

Systematic Account ◽

Voluntary Programs ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

Certification System ◽

Compliance Model ◽

Inclusive Governance

Fairtrade International certification is the primary social certification in the agro-food sector intended to promote the well-being and empowerment of farmers and workers in the Global South. Although Fairtrade's farmer program is well studied, far less is known about its labor certification. Helping fill this gap, this article provides a systematic account of Fairtrade's labor certification system and standards and compares it to four other voluntary programs addressing labor conditions in global agro-export sectors. The study explains how Fairtrade International institutionalizes its equity and empowerment goals in its labor certification system and its recently revised labor standards. Drawing on critiques of compliance-based labor standards programs and proposals regarding the central features of a ‘beyond compliance’ approach, the inquiry focuses on Fairtrade's efforts to promote inclusive governance, participatory oversight, and enabling rights. I argue that Fairtrade is making important, but incomplete, advances in each domain, pursuing a ‘worker-enabling compliance’ model based on new audit report sharing, living wage, and unionization requirements and its established Premium Program. While Fairtrade pursues more robust ‘beyond compliance’ advances than competing programs, the study finds that, like other voluntary initiatives, Fairtrade faces critical challenges in implementing its standards and realizing its empowerment goals.

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The Theorized Relationship between Organizational (Non)Compliance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Desired Employee Workplace Outcomes

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12052130 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 2130

Author(s):

Magda B. L. Donia ◽

Salvador Herencia Carrasco ◽

Sara Seck ◽

Robert McCorquodale ◽

Sigalit Ronen

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

Financial Incentives ◽

Business Case ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Bottom Line ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

Nation States ◽

Guiding Principles ◽

The United Nations

Despite the presence of guiding legislation such as the United Nations Guiding Principles, respect for human rights is subject to the conscience of organizational actors. Given that some transnational corporations are more powerful than nation states, they play an important role in the economies in which they operate, often with far-reaching impact on the labor conditions and human rights protections within these countries. In the current global context, respect for human rights may be undermined when organizational decision-makers are tempted to ignore unethical practices due to considerations such as competition and short-term financial incentives. We propose that the higher standards to which younger generations increasingly hold corporations provide a compelling and “business case” incentive for the protection of human rights of external stakeholders by organizational decision-makers. Drawing on related research on corporate social responsibility and on projections regarding demographical changes in the workplace worldwide, we make the case for a bottom-line advantage to respecting human rights in attracting and retaining top talent in work organizations. We conclude by highlighting the theoretical and practical implications of our theorizing.

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TRABAJAR EN TIEMPOS DE COVID. FRICCIONES DE LO ESENCIAL EN LA PRODUCCIÓN ALIMENTARIA. EL CASO DE LOS FRUTOS ROJOS EN LA PROVINCIA DE HUELVA.

Revista Andaluza de Antropología ◽

10.12795/raa.2021.19.04 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 67-86

Author(s):

Soledad Castillero Quesada

Keyword(s):

Food Industry ◽

Growing Season ◽

Food Sector ◽

State Of Emergency ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

The Government ◽

Ethnographic Methodology ◽

First Time ◽

Depth Interviews

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 is generating a state of emergency in which, for the first time, a series of professions and professionals are considered key workers. This is the case of the food sector and the different people and spaces it encompasses. In Andalusia, the declaration of lockdown coincided with one of the agricultural campaigns that best illustrates the functioning of the agri-food industry today: berry growing season. This article shows how the classification of this work as essential by the Government during the first period of lockdown did not translate into appropriate improvements in the socio-labor conditions of workers in this sector. Following a qualitative ethnographic methodology based on in-depth interviews with agricultural workers, the article analyzes the contrasts that emerged between the classification of this activity as essential and the real circumstances that prevailed during the work carried out.

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TRABAJAR EN TIEMPOS DE COVID. FRICCIONES DE LO ESENCIAL EN LA PRODUCCIÓN ALIMENTARIA. EL CASO DE LOS FRUTOS ROJOS EN LA PROVINCIA DE HUELVA.

Revista Andaluza de Antropología ◽

10.12795/raa.2020.19.04 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 671-86

Author(s):

Soledad Castillero Quesada

Keyword(s):

Food Industry ◽

Growing Season ◽

Food Sector ◽

State Of Emergency ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

The Government ◽

Ethnographic Methodology ◽

First Time ◽

Depth Interviews

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 is generating a state of emergency in which, for the first time, a series of professions and professionals are considered key workers. This is the case of the food sector and the different people and spaces it encompasses. In Andalusia, the declaration of lockdown coincided with one of the agricultural campaigns that best illustrates the functioning of the agri-food industry today: berry growing season. This article shows how the classification of this work as essential by the Government during the first period of lockdown did not translate into appropriate improvements in the socio-labor conditions of workers in this sector. Following a qualitative ethnographic methodology based on in-depth interviews with agricultural workers, the article analyzes the contrasts that emerged between the classification of this activity as essential and the real circumstances that prevailed during the work carried out.

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Eritrea: The Everyday Politics of Mass Militarization

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1814 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Riggan

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Military Service ◽

Military Training ◽

Civil Liberties ◽

Public Support ◽

Nation Building ◽

National Service ◽

Service Program ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

The Military

Eritrea has a long history as a heavily militarized nation, dating back to its 30-year war for independence from Ethiopia. Militarization is a core component of Eritrean nationalism and state formation, which is arguably forged out of war but is also implicated in Eritrea’s problematic human rights record. Following Eritrea’s 1991 independence, the country was poised to democratize and liberalize. At that time, the country also began an intensive process of nation-building of which militarization was a central part. In 1995, Eritrea introduced the national service program. Eritrea’s national/military service, which requires 6 months of military training and 12 months of free military or civil service for all Eritreans (male and female), initially enjoyed widespread public support although there were always concerns about harsh living and labor conditions. In 1998, a border war with Ethiopia broke out. At this time, those who had military training in national service were recalled. Although fighting ended in 2000, the border war deepened Eritrea’s adherence to militarization as a key strategy of national defense, nation-building, and development. A condition of no-peace, no-war followed the border war. The long period of no-war, no-peace with Ethiopia allowed Eritrea’s president, Isaias Afewerki, to consolidate his power, deepen authoritarian rule, and extend the national service program indefinitely. The indefinite extension of national service meant that conscripts were not demobilized and new recruits into national service could not be assured that they would ever be released. Due to the indefinite extension of military service, harsh conditions in the military, and extreme punishments for those who try to escape the military, Eritrea’s national/military service requirement is at the center of concern about human rights and civil liberties in Eritrea. Militarization has since become fused with state control and punishment, leading to human rights and civil liberties violations and the mass flight of close to half a million Eritreans over the past decades. Despite the announcement in summer of 2018 that Eritrea and Ethiopia had finally agreed to peace, no one has been released from the military and Eritreans continue to flood out of the country to avoid national service conditions which have been equated with slavery.

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Book Review: Labor Conditions and Problems: Human Rights and International Labour Standards

ILR Review ◽

10.1177/001979396101400317 ◽

1961 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 480-481

Author(s):

Alfred P. Fernbach

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

Labour Standards ◽

International Labour Standards

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SUPRESSÃO DA DIGNIDADE HUMANA ATRAVÉS DA ESCRAVIDÃO CONTEMPORÂNEA

Percurso ◽

10.21902/revpercurso.2316-7521.v2i29.3494 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (29) ◽

pp. 172

Author(s):

Chritiane Rabelo BRITTO ◽

Maria Hortência Cardoso LIMA

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Human Dignity ◽

Labor Conditions ◽

Modern Slavery

RESUMO O presente artigo demonstra a existência de pessoas em condições de escravidão moderna, que se submetem às regras do mercado, quando são submetidas às condições laborativas impostas pelo empregador em desrespeito às mínimas garantias constitucionais. Objetiva-se demonstrar que esse fenômeno causa grave desconsideração à dignidade da pessoa humana, ocasionando a inefetividade dos direitos humanos fundamentais, razão pela qual essa temática não pode permanecer silenciada. O desenvolvimento deste trabalho foi construído com o método teóricobibliográfico, inclusive com a pesquisa documental. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Direitos Humanos; Inefetividade dos Direitos Humanos; Crise dos Direitos Humanos; Dignidade Humana; Trabalho Escravo Contemporâneo. ABSTRACTThis article demonstrates people in conditions of modern slavery, who submit to the market’s rules, when they are submitted to the labor conditions imposed by the employer in disregard of the minimum constitutional guarantees. The objective is to demonstrate that this phenomenon causes serious disregard for the human person’s dignity, causing the ineffectiveness of the fundamental human rights, so that, this theme can not remain silent. The development of this work was built with the theoretical-bibliographic method, including documentary research. KEYWORDS: Human Rights; Human Rights’ Ineffectiveness; Human Rights’ Crises; Human Dignity; Contemporary Slavery Labor.

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