Freedom from Want
 290 pp., 6 x 9 Hardcover ISBN: 9781589010550 (1589010558) 290 pp., 6 x 9 Paperback ISBN: 9781589010567 (1589010566) June 2005 LC: 2004025023 Advancing Human Rights series EXPLORE THIS TITLE DescriptionTable of Contents PDF of Book Reviews |
Freedom from Want
The Human Right to Adequate Food
There is, literally, a world of difference between the statements "Everyone should have adequate food," and "Everyone has the right to adequate food." In George Kent's view, the lofty rhetoric of the first statement will not be fulfilled until we take the second statement seriously. Kent sees hunger as a deeply political problem. Too many people do not have adequate control over local resources and cannot create the circumstances that would allow them to do meaningful, productive work and provide for themselves. The human right to an adequate livelihood, including the human right to adequate food, needs to be implemented worldwide in a systematic way.
Freedom from Want makes it clear that feeding people will not solve the problem of hunger, for feeding programs can only be a short-term treatment of a symptom, not a cure. The real solution lies in empowering the poor. Governments, in particular, must ensure that their people face enabling conditions that allow citizens to provide for themselves. In a wider sense, Kent brings an understanding of human rights as a universal system, applicable to all nations on a global scale. If, as Kent argues, everyone has a human right to adequate food, it follows that those who can empower the poor have a duty to see that right implemented, and the obligation to be held morally and legally accountable, for seeing that that right is realized for everyone, everywhere. George Kent is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawai'i, and author of The Politics of Children's Survival and Children in the International Political Economy. Sumner B. Twiss, John Kelsay, and Terry Coonan, Series Editors
Reviews
"As a legal claim, the 'human right to adequate food' may seem thin gruel, but George Kent enriches the concept with data-based policy analysis, compelling ethical arguments, and a full review of concerned international, national, and nongovernmental organizations. He persuasively makes the case for accountability where the face of famine, malnutrition, and starvation confront the hands of those who hold political power at every level in our new global economy."—Richard Pierre Claude, founding editor of Human Rights Quarterly and professor emeritus, University of Maryland "George Kent's book makes it clear that an individual's right to adequate food is a legal human right, grounded in law and public justice."—Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures Foreword by Jean Ziegler Acknowledgments Introduction: Taking Rights Seriously Part I. Foundations Chapter 1. Food and Nutrition Malnutrition Causes of Malnutrition Growth Measurement Numbers of Malnourished People Malnutrition and Mortality Comparative Morality Food and Nutrition Security Varieties of Government Action Chapter 2. The International Human Rights System Historical Foundations International Humanitarian Law The International Bill of Human Rights Children's Rights Regional Human Rights Agreements Human Rights Agencies United Nations Charter Bodies United Nations Treaty Bodies Civil Society Organizations Informal Civil Society Chapter 3. Adequate Food is a Human Right Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Food in International Human Rights Law Food in International Humanitarian Law Global Declarations and Commitments General Comment 12 The Special Rapporteur The Voluntary Guidelines Part II. Human Rights Systems Chapter 4. Human Rights, Governance, and Law Human Rights and Governance Studying Human Rights in National Governance The Role of National Law Universal Human Rights and the Role of International Law Chapter 5. Rights/Entitlements Definition Moral versus Legal Rights Soft versus Hard Rights Rights as Goals Rights Imply Entitlements Determining Local Entitlements Having versus Realizing Rights Chapter 6. Obligations and Commitments Moral Responsibilities When Do Governments Do Human Rights Work? Levels of Government Obligation Economic Rights The Obligation of Good Governance Obligations of Nonstate Actors Questionable Charity Chapter 7. Accountability Mechanisms Varieties of Accountability Justiciability Remedies for Rights Holders National and Local Human Rights Agencies Accountability through Public Action Chapter 8. India The Supreme Court Case Starvation is Not the Problem The Missing Piece in India's Rights System The Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project Chapter 9. Brazil Chapter 10. The United States Chapter 11. Feeding Infants Breast-Feeding Rights Infants' Human Right to Adequate Food Principles Women's Right to Breast-Feed versus Infants' Right to be Breast-Fed Chapter 12. Feeding Infants of HIV-Positive Mothers Official Guidance on HIV/AIDS and Infant Feeding Issues A Court Case Informed Choice Principles Chapter 13. Water The Household Water Problem Water Rights are Different General Comment 15 Chapter 14. Trade Issues The Human Right to Adequate Food in Relation to Trade Reconciling Different Frameworks Food Sovereignty Chapter 15. Refugees Issues in Refugee Nutrition Explanations and Justifications for Uneven Services The Human Right to Adequate Food The Adequacy Question Specifying the Obligations Limiting the Obligations The Work Ahead Chapter 16. International Humanitarian Assistance Issues Rights to Assistance The Provider's Motivation Implementation Chapter 17. Global Human Rights Global Rights and Global Obligations Global Accountability Strategic Planning Sources References Index |
