Human aspirations or human rights? Development, universal human rights and the importance of social capabilities and state capacities

The purpose of this paper is to engender new thinking regarding the intersection between universal human rights and development, and associated programmes. This leads to three subsidiary objectives: demonstrating the mutually reinforcing relationship between human rights and development; considering the practical divide between having and exercising a right; understanding the impact of non-state actors; and emphasising the ways in which state capacity and social capabilities need to be enhanced to both transform the consideration of human rights into a meaningful development catalyst and treat development as a significant contributor to human rights endeavours.

The paper begins by exploring the historical and contemporary understanding of the relationship between development and human rights – arguing for the increasing recognition of their mutually reinforcing relationship. The second section analyses the controversy regarding the existence of genuine “universal” human rights; followed by considering whether human rights are mere aspirations or genuine rights – exposing the difficulty of monitoring, evaluating, and enforcing adherence to human rights mandates, particularly given the growth of non-state actors, such as multinational corporations (MNCs)/transnational corporations (TNCs). The paper closes with a call to strengthen social capabilities and state capacities to consolidate the union between development and human rights.

Credence is broadly given to the moral argument for including human rights within a development framework. However, the economic argument remains largely neglected and certainly under-emphasized. Human rights and development should not be viewed or pursued as separate ends in themselves – competing objectives for separate organisations or programmes – but as mutually reinforcing. Both drive the same goal: the inclusive, equitable and qualitative development of human well-being. Further, to transform human rights into meaningful development catalysts one needs to be able to “exercise” the given rights – which in turn calls for strengthening social capabilities and state capacities.

Unlike some previous works, this paper does not prescribe a particular remedy. Rather, accepting the intangibility of human rights and the associated large degree of subjectivity, it provokes the reader to move beyond the strictures of conventional theories and frameworks. For example, the difference between “having” and “exercising” a right – a stark feature of actual practice has frequently been omitted from theoretical discussion. Likewise, the role of non-state actors, such as MNCs and TNCs, and the way in which their power can impede or support development goals and human rights is a relatively new point of discussion demanding further exploration.