RT Article
T1 Beyond consensus: Contesting the human rights to water and sanitation at the United Nations
JF Human rights review
VO 23
IS 3
SP 361
OP 383
A1 Baer, Madeline
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1815212063
AB Resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly provide clarification of economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights, and most of these resolutions pass by consensus. Yet these resolutions are more contentious than they appear. This article analyzes a case study of contestation over resolutions on two ESC rights: water and sanitation. Drawing from theories of norms contestation, this article analyzes how the USA, UK, and Canada challenged the creation of the rights to water and sanitation as rights and as norms. An analysis of all resolutions, archival research, and interview data reveals that while challengers failed to stop water and sanitation from becoming legal human rights, they successfully delayed the process and weakened the normative aspect of the rights. The findings show that while powerful actors may not be opposed to ESC rights in theory, they worked to keep these rights weak and aspirational.
K1 Norm contestation
K1 UNGA
K1 Human Rights Council
K1 Water and sanitation
K1 and cultural rights
K1 Social
K1 Economic
DO 10.1007/s12142-022-00655-3