Human Rights: The Commons and the Collective

By Laura Westra

International law evolved to protect human rights. But what are human rights? Does the term have the same meaning in a world being transformed by climate change and globalized trade? Are existing laws sufficient to ensure humanity's survival? Westra argues that international law privileges individual over collective rights, permitting multinational corporations to overlook the collective and the environment in their quest for wealth. Unless policy makers redefine human rights and reformulate environmental law to protect the preconditions for life itself - water, food, clean air, and biodiversity - humankind faces the complete loss of the ecological commons, one of our most basic human rights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0774821183
• ISBN13: 9780774821186
• Release Date: July 2012
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.9"