Summary of content

Article 1 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. Article 22 declares that ‘Everyone… has the right to social security and is entitled to realisation … of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for dignity and the free development of personality.’ These principles are further articulated in the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (2012), the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1976), and the Covenant on Social, Economic and Social Rights (1976). To be more than abstract ethical principles or legal ideals, human rights must be underpinned by measures which make them substantive and effective. In recognition of this, the first of the UN Sustainable Development Goals commits to eradicating poverty. Many national governments have made similar commitments and declarations, such as the Charter enacted to implement the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, which describes social security both as a human right in itself and an essential underpinning to other rights.
It is clear that some measure of security and sufficient income are essential components of effective human rights. This module apples a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective to examine the theory and practice of the relationship between poverty and human rights. This involves both understanding poverty from a human rights perspective, and exploring how poverty and related deprivations impact upon the substantive realisation of human rights.
Central to these analyses is the concept of citizenship, meaning full membership of and effective participation in society. Citizenship is a relational position and an ethical concept. It refers to a legal condition as well a political, economic and social status. Examining citizenship raises questions of what the respective duties and rights of social institutions and citizens are or ought to be, and how and why these have varied at different times and in different societies. T.H. Marshall’s classic account of citizenship described it as a condition ‘at war’ with inequality. Poverty has been described as a condition of ‘partial citizenship’ closely related to social exclusion. Understanding the relationship between poverty and human rights therefore requires examining the contested meaning of citizenship, the relative effectiveness of different mechanisms and institutions designed to secure it, and differences in treatment and outcomes experienced by marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
This module examines the factors which impact upon effective citizenship rights - causing them to expand or contract. It assesses the relative effectiveness of the different systems, institutions and policies introduced to support human rights, and challenges students to ask what should be done to make citizenship more effective and practically realised. This requires a multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspective. It also involves considering the insights of those involved in shaping and making policy to deliver human rights in Scotland and the testimony of those with direct experience of poverty and exclusion.
However, human rights cannot be fully understood from a national perspective. Therefore, the module analyses the present condition of citizenship from a global and comparative perspective, drawing upon international Social Policy analysis, Political Economy, Development Studies, History and Political Theory. By these means, the module explores and critically examines the relationship between rights and reality and between charters and capabilities.

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