Rights

Theoretical distinctions

Natural and legal rights Claim rights and liberty rights Negative and positive rights Individual and Group rights

Human rights divisions

Three generations Civil and political Economic, social and cultural

Right holders

Animals · Humans Men · Women Fathers · Mothers Children · Youth · Students Minorities · LGBT

Other groups of rights

Authors' · Digital · Labor Linguistic · Reproductive

v • d • e

The division of human rights into three generations was initially proposed in 1979 by the Czech jurist Karel Vasak at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He used the term at least as early as November 1977.¹ Vasak's theories have primarily taken root in European law, as they primarily reflect European values.

His divisions follow the three watchwords of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. The three generations are reflected in some of the rubrics of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Contents 1 First-generation human rights 2 Second-generation human rights 3 Third-generation human rights 4 Criticism 5 Notes 6 See also

First-generation human rights

First-generation human rights (FGHR) deal essentially with liberty and participation in political life. They are fundamentally civil and political in nature, and serve to protect the individual from excesses of the state. First-generation rights include, among other things, freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and voting rights. They were first enshrined at the global level by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

See: Articles 3 to 21 of the Universal Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

When first generation human rights are limited this directly limits second generation rights. Improving first generation rights is the "causal link from first generation human rights to improved socio-economic outcomes".²

Second-generation human rights

Second-generation human rights are related to equality and began to be recognized by governments after World War I. They are fundamentally social, economic, and cultural in nature. They ensure different members of the citizenry equal conditions and treatment. Secondary rights would include a right to be employed, rights to housing and health care, as well as social security and unemployment benefits. Like first-generation rights, they were also covered by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

See: Articles 22 to 27 of the Universal Declaration, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

Third-generation human rights

Third-generation human rights are those rights that go beyond the mere civil and social, as expressed in many progressive documents of international law, including the 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and other pieces of generally aspirational "soft law." Because of the principle of sovereignty and the preponderance of would-be offender nations, these rights have been hard to enact in legally binding documents.

The term "third-generation human rights" remains largely unofficial, and thus houses an extremely broad spectrum of rights, including:

• Group and collective rights
• Right to self-determination
• Right to economic and social development
• Right to a healthy environment
• Right to natural resources
• Right to communicate
• Right to participation in cultural heritage
• Rights to intergenerational equity and sustainability

Criticism

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2008)

Libertarians and others sharing laissez-faire philosophy see second and third generation human rights as an attempt to cloak political goals in the language of rights, thus (a) granting certain political goals inappropriately positive connotations; (b) advancing the power of governments and NGOs while (c) diminishing the legitimate negative rights of individuals who are coerced by state power into funding or otherwise providing certain services (for example, a "right to employment" necessarily means that individuals may be forced to provide employment to others, and/or may be forced to pay additional taxes to governments to monitor and administer programs.)^{citation needed}

19th century philosopher Frederic Bastiat summarized the conflict between these negative and positive rights by saying: Mr. de Lamartine once wrote to me thusly: "Your doctrine is only the half of my program. You have stopped at liberty; I go on to fraternity." I answered him: "The second half of your program will destroy the first."^{citation needed}

Notes

1. ^ Karel Vasak, "Human Rights: A Thirty-Year Struggle: the Sustained Efforts to give Force of law to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", UNESCO Courier 30:11, Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, November 1977.
2. ^ D. Kaufmann • Chapter in Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement • Edited by Philip Alston and Mary Robinson. Human Rights and Governance: The Empirical Challenge http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/EXTWBIGOVANTCOR/0,,contentMDK:20771260~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:1740530,00.html

See also

• Two Concepts of Liberty: a lecture by Isaiah Berlin which distinguished between positive and negative liberty.
• Men's Rights

v • d • e Human rights   Fundamental concepts and philosophies Fiduciary law · Freedoms · Group rights · Natural and legal rights · Negative and positive rights · State sovereignty · Universality · Universal jurisdiction List of Organisations · National institutions v • d • e Legal instruments   Declarations Cairo Declaration of Human Rights · Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples · Universal Declaration of Human Rights · American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man · Paris Principles   International law UN Convention Against Torture · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination · Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Convention on the Rights of the Child · UN Migrant Workers' Convention · International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid · International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance · International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights · International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights   Regional law African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights · European (Conventions on Human Rights · Conventions for the Prevention of Torture · Social Charter) · American Convention on Human Rights · Inter-American Convention (on Forced Disappearance of Persons · to Prevent and Punish Torture · on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women · on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities)   International humanitarian law Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide · Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees · Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees · Geneva Conventions · Hague Conventions · Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court   Concepts that may be considered as human rights Civil and political Freedom from discrimination · Right to life · Right to die · Security of person · Liberty · Freedom of movement · Freedom from slavery · Personhood · Right to bear arms · Equality before the law · Adequate remedy · Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention · Freedom from torture · Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment · Right to a fair trial · Presumption of innocence · Right of asylum · Nationality · Freedom from exile · Privacy · Freedom of thought and conscience · Freedom of religion · Freedom of expression (freedom of information) · Freedom of assembly · Freedom of association · Right to protest · Universal suffrage · Marriage · Family life Economic, social and cultural Labor rights · Fair remuneration · Equal pay for equal work · Trade union membership · Right to social security · Leisure and rest · Right to work · Right to property (and intellectual) · Right to culture · Right to public participation · Right to education · Right to adequate standard of living · Right to development · Right to health · Right to healthcare · Right to water · Right to food Reproductive Family planning · Reproductive health · Abortion · Genital integrity · Freedom from involuntary female genital cutting War and conflict Civilian · Combatant · Freedom from genocide · Prisoner of war Human rights by continent Africa · Asia · Europe · North America · Oceania · South America

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 29 December 2008, at 11:47.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Three generations of human rights".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://pediaview.com/openpedia/Three_generations_of_human_rights

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.