How Human Rights Shape Social Citizenship: On Citizenship and the Understanding of Economic and Social Rights (Washington University Global Studies Law Review. Vol.13, No.2)

This Article reconceptualizes citizenship, a notion usually tied to the nation state, as “layered.” Human rights may serve as the international “layer” of citizenship, addressing nationals and non-nationals alike. It took some time, however, for “social” citizenship to emerge as a human rights issue and, hence, for human rights to become an international layer for social citizenship rights granted on the national level. Around 1993, states started to accept a human rights-based obligation toward the poor, requiring social policies to focus on targeted, individual welfare. Nowadays, poverty mitigation is the human rights core of “social” citizenship. Nowadays, poverty mitigation is the human rights core of “social” citizenship.