Human Rights and Responsibilities Under Labor Law

• In Event: 40461 - Section on Sociology of Law Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Theory

Abstract

I approach the issue of how labor law relates to absolute standards, be they in the sense of requiring virtuous intent by the powerful in gauging their effects on the relatively powerless (a teleological standard, commonly identified with religiously-based ethics that aim for human perfectibility), absolute adherence to requisite procedures which relates also to the justification for political legitimacy, whatever form this takes, and combinations of the two. This typically takes the form of legal (often connected to political) doctrines; liberal democracy in particular emphasizes law that serves to enforce the values of fairness and equality, and freedom to put these values into effect, using individual decision-making as much as possible, and enforcing rules against the striving wills of individuals only when absolutely necessary. I also mention the emphasis on economic freedom free from government interference and monitoring identified with the law and economics movement. In my general discussion I start by discussing values governing work, go on to discuss the relation between political legitimacy and law, then proceed to discuss issues relating to labor law, and the relation between neoliberal economics, labor rights, and property rights. I proceed to discuss sociological aspects of democracy at work. I then discuss the issue of workers’ rights as human rights, including liberty and equality as the goal of human rights law. The relation between ethical standards and neoliberal economics is also discussed. In my Conclusion section I produce a general discussion on the human rights approach to labor law and how this relates to the law and economics approach. This includes some discussion of how labor law interacts with the rights governing property, which tend to involve management rights. I conclude that legal reality should be able to coordinate the human rights and the law and economics approaches in their appropriate spheres of influence.

Author

• Jerome Braun