Boston University Libraries OpenBU
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    •   OpenBU
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   OpenBU
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item

    Global poverty alleviation as a duty not to harm

    Thumbnail
    License
    Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
    Date Issued
    2018
    Author(s)
    Mukherji, Anandita
    Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare by Email
    Export Citation
    Download to BibTex
    Download to EndNote/RefMan (RIS)
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Permanent Link
    https://hdl.handle.net/2144/33204
    Abstract
    Do global financial institutions and the governments of developed nations owe anything to the global poor? I argue that they do. In my view, the global poor are owed a form of assistance because of the unjust harms imposed upon them. The negative rights of the global poor, which are the rights involving freedom from unjust interference, are consistently violated by the global economic order (GEO). I demonstrate that the causal chain that connects global poverty directly with the policies of institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization reveals that the negative rights of the global poor are being violated. These violations occur through the effects of trade policies, unjustified sovereignty, and loan conditions, which serve to trap the poor in inescapable cycles of poverty. I argue that rather than relying on controversial accounts of the positive rights of the poor, and the appeals to charity that follow from them, we can ground the obligation to alleviate global poverty in negative rights, which are more minimal and widely accepted. My argument establishes that poverty poses a problem even if one does not see inequality as a problem in itself. I argue in support of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach to poverty, which discusses the effects of poverty as a deprivation of a person’s abilities to do and be what she has reason to value. This approach identifies what is really at the heart of the problem with poverty: a deprivation of the ability to act in ways that allow the expression of basic freedoms, rather than merely a lack of resources or income. The negative rights approach to grounding an obligation to alleviate global poverty has traditionally been based on a conception of wrongdoing as a deprivation of basic needs. However, I contend that wrongdoing should be seen as a deprivation of fundamental capabilities instead. Using capability deprivations as a baseline for wrongdoing presents us with the theoretical resources required to create a foundation for an ecumenical theory of global justice, and the framework within which to demonstrate that the GEO has an obligation to help alleviate global poverty.
    Rights
    Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
    Collections
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations [7811]


    Boston University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Help
     

     

    Browse

    All of OpenBUCommunities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    Deposit Materials

    LoginNon-BU Registration

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Boston University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Help