Overview · Why Rights Matter

In our daily lives, the language of rights is everywhere. As citizens of a democratic country we assert political and civil rights — the right to vote, the right to form parties, the right to contest elections. But people today are also pressing for newer claims — the right to information, the right to clean air, the right to safe drinking water. Rights are claimed not only in the public sphere but also in our social and personal relationships. Moreover, rights may be claimed not only for adult human beings but also for children, unborn foetuses and even animals. The notion of rights is thus invoked in a great variety of ways. In this part we will explore three guiding questions: What do we mean when we speak of rights? What is the basis on which rights are claimed? What purpose do rights serve and why are they so important?

5.1 What Are Rights?

A right is essentially an entitlement or a justified claim^?. It denotes what we are entitled to as citizens, as individuals and as human beings. A right is something that we consider to be due to us — something the rest of society must recognise as a legitimate claim that ought to be upheld. This does not mean, however, that everything I regard as necessary or desirable is a right. I may want to wear the clothes of my own choice rather than the prescribed school uniform. I may want to stay out late at night. But neither of these wishes makes them rights. There is a clear distinction between what I want and what can properly be designated as a right.

5.1.1 The Two Grounds on Which Rights Are Claimed

Rights are primarily claims that I, along with others, see as necessary for leading a life of respect and dignity. One ground on which rights are claimed is precisely this: they represent conditions that we collectively recognise as a source of self-respect and dignity. The right to a livelihood, for example, is considered necessary for leading a life of dignity. Being gainfully employed gives a person economic independence — and that independence is central to one's dignity. Having our basic needs met gives us the freedom to pursue our talents and interests. Or take the right to express ourselves freely: this gives us the opportunity to be creative and original, whether in writing, dance, music or any other activity. Freedom of expression is also vital for democratic government, since it allows for the open exchange of beliefs and opinions. Rights such as the right to a livelihood or freedom of expression would be important for all human beings who live in society — and so they are described as universal in nature.

The second ground on which rights have been claimed is that they are necessary for our well-being. They help individuals to develop their talents and skills. The right to education, for instance, helps us develop our capacity to reason, gives us useful skills, and enables us to make informed choices in life. It is in this sense too that education is designated a universal right.

5.1.2 What Cannot Be Claimed as a Right

By the same reasoning, however, if an activity is injurious to our health and well-being, it cannot be claimed as a right. Since medical research has shown that prohibited drugs are injurious to one's health, and since they affect our relations with others, we cannot insist that we have a right to inhale or inject drugs or to smoke tobacco. In the case of smoking, the harm extends to the people who happen to be around the smoker. Drugs may not only injure our health but may also alter our behaviour patterns and make us a danger to others. In terms of our definition, therefore, smoking or taking banned drugs cannot be claimed as a right.

5.2 Where Do Rights Come From?

5.2.1 The Theory of Natural Rights — Locke, Hobbes and the 17th–18th Century

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, political theorists argued that rights are given to us by nature or by God. The rights of human beings, they said, were derived from natural law. This meant that rights were not conferred by any ruler or any society — instead, we are born with them. As such, these rights are described as inalienable: no one can take them away. The thinkers of this period identified three fundamental natural rights: the right to life, liberty and property. All other rights, they argued, were derived from these three basic rights.

The idea that we are born with certain rights is a very powerful notion. It implies that no state, no government, no organisation should take away what has been given by the law of nature. Historically, this conception of natural rights has been used widely to oppose the exercise of arbitrary power by states and governments, and to safeguard individual freedom. The English, American and French revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries drew their language directly from this stream of thought.

5.2.2 From Natural Rights to Human Rights

In recent years, the term human rights is being used more often than the older term natural rights. Why? Because the idea of a natural law — a set of norms laid down for us by nature or by God — appears unacceptable today to many people. Rights are increasingly seen as guarantees that human beings themselves seek or arrive at, in order to lead a minimally good life. They are, in short, claims grounded in our shared humanity rather than in metaphysics.

The assumption behind human rights is that all persons are entitled to certain things simply because they are human beings. As a human being, each person is unique and equally valuable. This means that all persons are equal and that no one is born to serve others. Each of us possesses an intrinsic value — and we therefore must have equal opportunities to be free and to realise our full potential. This conception of a free and equal self is increasingly being used to challenge existing inequalities based on race, caste, religion and gender.

5.2.3 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Following this historic act, the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicise the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions". The UDHR builds upon the Kantian understanding of dignity. It attempts to recognise those claims that the world community collectively sees as being important for leading a life of dignity and self-respect.

5.2.4 Struggles, Slavery and Movements

The notion of universal human rights has been used by oppressed people all over the world to challenge laws which segregate them and deny them equal opportunities. In fact, it is through the struggles of groups that have felt excluded that the interpretation of existing rights has sometimes been altered. Slavery, for instance, has been abolished — but other struggles have only had limited success. Even today there are communities still struggling to define humanity in a way that includes them. The list of human rights has therefore steadily expanded over the years as societies face new threats and challenges. Today we are very conscious, for example, of the need to protect the natural environment, and this has generated demands for rights to clean air, clean water, sustainable development. A new awareness of the special vulnerabilities of women, children and the sick in times of war or natural crisis has likewise produced demands for the right to livelihood and the rights of children.

Such claims express a sense of moral outrage about infringements of people's dignity. They also act as a rallying call to extend rights to all human beings. We should not understate the extent and power of such claims — they often command wide public support. The pop star Bob Geldof's appeal to western governments to end poverty in Africa, and the global response it received, illustrates the moral force that human-rights claims can carry. Organisations such as Amnesty International, founded in 1961, have spent decades campaigning against torture, unfair trials and the imprisonment of people for their beliefs — translating the abstract language of the UDHR into pressure on real governments.

5.3 Legal Rights and the State

While claims for human rights appeal to our moral self, the success of those claims depends on a number of factors — and the most important is the support of governments and the law. That is why so much importance is placed on the legal recognition of rights. A claim that is not backed by law remains a moral demand; a claim recognised by law becomes an enforceable right.

5.3.1 The Bill of Rights and Constitutional Recognition

A Bill of Rights is enshrined in the constitutions of many countries. Constitutions represent the highest law of the land, and so the constitutional recognition of certain rights gives them a primary importance. In our country we call them Fundamental Rights. Other laws and policies are supposed to respect the rights granted in the Constitution. The rights mentioned in the Constitution are those considered to be of basic importance. In some cases, these may be supplemented by claims that gain importance because of the particular history and customs of a country. In India, for instance, we have a provision to ban untouchability — a clause that draws attention to a traditional social practice that the framers chose specifically to outlaw.

5.3.2 Legal Recognition Is Important — But It Is Not the Basis

So important is the legal and constitutional recognition of our claims that several theorists define rights simply as claims that are recognised by the state. The legal endorsement certainly gives our rights a special status in society. But, as the chapter carefully notes, legal recognition is not the basis on which rights are claimed. Rights have steadily been expanded and reinterpreted to include previously excluded groups, and to reflect our contemporary understanding of what it means to lead a life of dignity and respect. Moral claim and legal recognition are partners — but the moral claim comes first.

5.3.3 Rights Place Obligations on the State

In most cases the claimed rights are directed towards the state. That is, through these rights people make demands upon the state. When I assert my right to education, I call upon the state to make provisions for my basic education. Society may also accept the importance of education and contribute to it on its own — different groups may open schools and fund scholarships so that children of all classes can benefit. But the primary responsibility rests upon the state: it is the state that must initiate the necessary steps to ensure that my right to education is fulfilled.

Thus rights place an obligation upon the state to act in certain ways. Each right indicates what the state must do as well as what it must not do. My right to life, for instance, obliges the state to make laws that protect me from injury by others — and calls upon the state to punish those who hurt or harm me. If a society feels that the right to life means a right to a good quality of life, it expects the state to pursue policies that provide a clean environment along with other conditions necessary for a healthy life.

Rights not only indicate what the state must do — they also suggest what the state must refrain from doing. My right to liberty as a person, for instance, suggests that the state cannot simply arrest me at its own will. If it wishes to put me behind bars, it must defend that action; it must give reasons for curtailing my liberty before a judicial court. This is why the police are required to produce an arrest warrant before taking me away. My rights thus place certain constraints upon state actions.

5.4 Kinds of Rights

Most democracies today begin by drawing up a charter of political rights. But over time, these have been supplemented by civil liberties, economic rights and even cultural rights. The list of rights that democracies recognise has steadily expanded — and the debate about which new claims qualify as rights continues today.

5.4.1 Political Rights

Political rights give citizens the right to equality before the law and the right to participate in the political process. They include such rights as the right to vote and elect representatives, the right to contest elections, and the right to form political parties or to join them. Political rights ensure that ordinary citizens can shape the decisions that affect their lives — through ballots, parties and movements.

5.4.2 Civil Liberties

Political rights are supplemented by civil liberties. The latter refers to such rights as the right to a free and fair trial, the right to express one's views freely, and the right to protest and express dissent. Collectively, civil liberties and political rights form the basis of a democratic system of government. As we noted earlier, rights aim to protect the well-being of the individual. Political rights contribute to that well-being by making the government accountable to the people, by giving greater importance to the concerns of the individual over those of the rulers, and by ensuring that all persons have an opportunity to influence the decisions of the government.

5.4.3 Economic Rights — The Debate over Expansion

However — and here lies a crucial point of the chapter — the rights of political participation can only be exercised fully when our basic needs of food, shelter, clothing and health are met. For a person living on the pavements and struggling to meet these basic needs, political rights by themselves have little value. Voting in an election while being hungry is a form of freedom, but a thin one. Such persons require certain facilities — an adequate wage to meet their basic needs and reasonable conditions of work. Hence democratic societies are increasingly beginning to recognise these obligations and to provide economic rights.

In some countries, citizens — particularly those with low incomes — receive housing and medical facilities from the state; in others, unemployed persons receive a certain minimum wage so that they can meet their basic needs. In India, the government has introduced a rural employment guarantee scheme (along with other measures) to help the poor. The chapter recognises these as a category of rights that have widened the older list, even though their precise scope remains contested.

5.4.4 Cultural Rights

Today, in addition to political and economic rights, more and more democracies are recognising the cultural claims of their citizens. The right to have primary education in one's mother tongue, the right to establish institutions for teaching one's language and culture, are today recognised as being necessary for leading a good life. The list of rights has thus steadily increased in democracies. While some rights — primarily the right to life, liberty, equal treatment and the right to political participation — are seen as basic rights that must receive priority, other conditions necessary for a decent life are increasingly being recognised as justified claims or rights.

5.4.5 The Debate — Should All Cultural Claims Be Recognised?

The expansion of rights has not been uncontested. Recognising cultural claims raises real questions: when is a community's claim a legitimate cultural right, and when does it interfere with the equal rights of others? Should the right to culture mean that no one should be allowed to make films that offend the religious or cultural beliefs of others? The answer is not obvious. We must balance cultural rights with civil liberties — particularly with the freedom of expression — and weigh how restrictions in one area affect freedoms in another.