Law and Poverty: the Legal System and Poverty Reduction
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About CROP CROP, The Comparative Research Programme on Poverty, is a response from the academic community to the problem of pov erty. The programme was initiated in 1992, and the CROP Secretariat was officially opened in June 1993 by the director- general of UNESCO, Dr Federico Mayor. In recent years, poverty alleviation, reduction or even eradi- cation and abolition of poverty has moved up the international agenda, and the CROP network is providing research-based in- formation to policy-makers and others responsible for poverty reduction. Researchers from more than 100 countries have joined the CROP network, with more than half coming from so-called developing countries and countries in transition. The major aim of CROP is to produce sound and reliable knowledge that can serve as a basis for poverty reduction. This is done by bringing together researchers for workshops, co-ordinat- ing research projects and publications, and offering educational courses for the international community of policy-makers. CROP is multi-disciplinary and works as an independent non-profit organization. For more information you may contact: CROP Secretariat Fosswinckelsgate 7 n-5007 Bergen NORWAY tel: +47-5558-9739, fax: +47-5558-9745 e-mail: [email protected] CROP on the Internet: http://www.crop.org CROP is a programme under the International Social Science Council. CROP Publications Poverty: Research Projects, Institutes, Persons, Tinka Ewoldt-Leicher and Ar- naud F. Marks (eds), Tilburg: Bergen and Amsterdam, 1995, 248 pp. Urban Poverty: Characteristics, Causes and Consequences, David Satterthwaite (ed.), special issue of Environment and Urbanization, Volume 7, No. 1, April 1995, 283 pp. Urban Poverty: From Understanding to Action, David Satterthwaite (ed.), special issue of Environment and Urbanization, Volume 7, No. 2, Oct- ober 1995, 283 pp. Women and Poverty – The Feminization of Poverty, Ingrid Eide (ed.), The Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO and CROP: Oslo and Bergen, 1995 (published in Norwegian only), 56 pp. Poverty: A Global Review. Handbook on International Poverty Research, Else Øyen, S. M. Miller, Syed Abdus Samad (eds), Scandinavian University Press and UNESCO: Oslo and Paris, 1996, 620 pp. Poverty and Participation in Civil Society, Yogesh Atal and Else Øyen (eds), UNESCO and Abhinav Publications: Paris and New Delhi, 1997, 152 pp. Law, Power and Poverty, Asbjørn Kjønstad and John H. Veit Wilson (eds), CROP Publications: Bergen, 1997, 148 pp. Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Mediterranean Area, Karima Korayem and Maria Petmesidou (eds), CROP Publications: Bergen, 1998, 286 pp. Poverty and the Environment, Arild Angelsen and Matti Vainio (eds), CROP Publications: Bergen, 1998, 180 pp. The International Glossary on Poverty, David Gordon and Paul Spicker (eds), CROP International Studies in Poverty Research, Zed Books: London, 1999, 162 pp. Poverty and the Law, Asbjørn Kjønstad and Peter Robson (eds), Hart Pub- lishing: Cambridge, 2001, 199 pp. Poverty Reduction: What Role for the State in Today’s Globalized Economy?, Francis Wilson, Nazneen Kanji and Einar Braathen (eds), CROP International Studies in Poverty Research, Zed Books: London, 2001, 372 pp. The Poverty of Rights: Human Rights and the Eradication of Poverty, Willem van Genugten and Camilo Perez-Bustillo (eds), CROP International Studies in Poverty Research, Zed Books: London, 2001, 209 pp. Best Practices in Poverty Reduction – An Analytical Framework, Else Øyen et al. (eds), CROP International Studies in Poverty Research, Zed Books: London, 2002, 144 pp. lucy williams, asbjørn kjønstad & peter robson | editors Law and Poverty: the Legal System and Poverty Reduction CROP International Studies in Poverty Research Z Zed Books london · new york Law and Poverty: the Legal System and Poverty Reduction was first published by Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, Londonn 1 9jf, uk and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010, usa in 2003. www.zedbooks.co.uk CROP International Studies in Poverty Research Copyright © the individual contributors, 2003 Editorial copyright © CROP, 2003 The rights of the editors and contributors to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. Cover designed by Andrew Corbett Set in Monotype Dante by Ewan Smith, London Printed and bound in the Malta by Gutenberg Ltd Distributed in the usa exclusively by Palgrave, a division of St Martin’s Press, llc, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data: available isbn 1 84277 396 8 cased isbn 1 84277 397 6 limp Contents About the contributors |viii Introduction 1 lucy williams part i | Poverty as Legally Constructed 9 1 The right to development as a basic human right 11 Ahmed Aoued Understanding the scope of development/reconceptualizing the right to development |11 The indivisibility and interdependence of human rights and the RTD |14 The effect of the existing unjust economic order on the implementation of the RTD |17 Foreign debt, structural adjustment policies and their effect on the implementation of the RTD |19 The imbalance in the UN mechanisms designed to ensure the implementation of human rights and to promote the RTD |22 Conclusion |26 2 Cross-border reflections on poverty: lessons from the United States and Mexico 31 Lucy Williams Inequality through a global perspective |32 A brief historical overview of Mexican/US labour interaction |34 Traditional US social welfare for poor single mothers |35 The recent shift in US social welfare policy vis-à-vis low-wage labour and immigrants |36 Interaction between TANF recipients and Mexican immigrants in low-wage labour |39 The political fluidity of the border |41 Conclusion |43 3 Poverty as a violation of human rights: the Pinochet case and the emergence of a new paradigm 54 Camilo Perez-Bustillo The Pinochet case and economic, social and cultural rights |55 The economic characteristics and costs of neo-liberalism in Chile |62 Social genocide and other serious crimes under international law |72 Conclusion |76 part ii | Responsibility for Alleviating Poverty 81 4 The politics of child support 83 Peter Robson Introduction |83 The Child Support Act 1991 |85 5 The state, laws and NGOs in Bangladesh 107 Mokbul Morshed Ahmad NGOs in Bangladesh |107 The state and the law |108 Critical assessment |111 Recommendations |114 Conclusion |117 6 Exclusion and rights 124 Paul Spicker The idea of exclusion |124 Responding to exclusion |128 Rights: civil, economic and social |129 The rights of the excluded |131 The role of the law |134 part iii | The Establishment of Legal Entitlements 137 7 Judicial review, social antagonism and the use of litigation as a tool for combating poverty 139 Antonella Mameli The legal element: the role of the judiciary and of judicial review |140 Social antagonism |146 Conclusions |155 8 Poverty and property – human rights and social security 162 Asbjørn Kjønstad Sources of income |163 The structure of social security |163 Social human rights conventions |165 Civil human rights protections |167 Interpretation of the human rights con- vention |168 Two Norwegian constitutional cases |170 Combination of fundamental legal principles |172 Some final remarks about social security as property |173 9 The effect of legal mechanisms on selective welfare strategies for needy persons: the Greek experience 175 Gabriel Amitsis Social safety-net policies in Greece |176 The legal establishment of social safety-net policies |185 The impact of legal instruments on safety-net claims |192 The use of legal machinery as a means to promote safety-net policies |194 contents | vi part iv | Legal Initiatives to Address Specific Aspects of Poverty 203 10 Gender mainstreaming as an instrument for combating poverty 205 Sue Nott The relationship between gender inequality and poverty |209 Why the laws promoting equality between the sexes do not succeed |211 Gender mainstreaming |214 Poverty proofing |217 Conclusions |219 11 Does alcohol and tobacco legislation help reduce poverty? The evidence from Sri Lanka 223 Kalinga Tudor Silva Multiple linkages between poverty and substance abuse |223 Substance abuse and its relation to poverty in Sri Lanka |226 The legal framework for regulating alcohol and tobacco use |236 The impact of alcohol and tobacco legislation on poverty |239 Possibilities for improving the impact of alcohol and tobacco legislation on the alleviation of poverty |241 Conclusion |243 12 Child labour – a threat to the survival of civilization 247 Amita Agarwal Introduction |248 Children under international law |249 Rights of the child under the Indian constitution and statutes |251 The Indian scenario |254 Suggestions |260 Conclusions |265 13 Labour organization and labour relations law in India: implications for poverty alleviation 269 Debi S. Saini Labour organization as a human right |271 The contextual framework of labour organization |273 State and labour disorganizational process |276 Diluting labour organization through juridification |280 Judicialization of the labour (dis)organizational process |282 Conclusion |286 Index 295 vii | contents About the contributors Amita Agarwal has been teaching political science for twenty years as a senior lecturer (equivalent to associate professor). She is also an honorary professor of human rights. Currently she is working on her post-doctoral research project from the South Asia Studies Center, University