The Right to Work

The value of work cannot be underestimated in today's world. Work is valuable

because productive labour generates goods needed for survival, such as food and

housing; goods needed for self-development, such as education and culture; and

other material goods that people wish to have in order to live a fulfilling life. A

job also generally inspires a sense of achievement, self-esteem and the esteem of

others. People develop social relations at work, which can be very important for

them. Work brings both material and non-material benefits.

There is no doubt that work is a crucial good. Do we have a human right to this

good? What is the content of the right? Does it impose a duty on governments to

promote full employment? Does it entail an obligation to protect decent work?

There is also a question about the right-holders. Do migrants have a right to work,

for example? At the same time many people would rather not work. What kind of

right is this, if many people do not want to have it? The chapters of this book

address the uncertainty and controversy that surround the right to work both in

theoretical scholarship and in policymaking. They discuss the philosophical

underpinnings of the right to work, and its development in human rights law at

national level (in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan,

France and the United States) and international level (in the context of the United

Nations, the European Social Charter, the International Labour Organization, theEuropean Convention on Human Rights and other legal orders).