From the right to work to freedom from work: introduction to the human economy

Nicolas Bueno

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: It may appear to be paradoxical to celebrate work as a human right in an economic system in which for many work is associated with activities that are rather repetitive or stressful, sometimes meaningless, and seldom freely chosen. After presenting the content and historical origins of the human right to work, as defined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, this article argues that the right to work cannot be universally fulfilled in the contemporary state-centred global economy. Moving beyond economic discussions placing too much attention on how to provide enough but sometimes unfulfilling work, the article examines the human potential to reduce the need to work. It outlines the theoretical and definitional foundations of the ‘human economy’, where human potential and creativity are rewarded in order to make the transition from the right to work to the freedom from work. The human economy is a potentialist approach in which the right to be free to choose work plays an increasing role

Keywords: right to work; human capital; post-capitalism; capabilities; basic income; freedom from work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 N0 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-hpe
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 1, December, 2017, 33(4), pp. 463-488. ISSN: 0952-617X

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/86421/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:86421

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().