human rights in the united states Thisbookbringstolightemergingevidenceofashifttowardafullerengagement withinternationalhumanrightsnormsandtheirapplicationtodomesticpolicy dilemmasintheUnitedStates.Thevolumeoffersarichhistory,spanningclose tothreecenturies,ofthemarginalizationofhumanrightsdiscourseintheUnited States.ContributorsanalyzeparticularcasesofU.S.humanrightsadvocacyaimed ataddressingpersistentinequalitieswithintheUnitedStates,includingadvocacy fortherightsofpersonswithdisabilities;indigenouspeoples;lone-mother-headed families;incarceratedpersons;lesbian,gay,bisexual,andtransgenderedpeople; and those displaced by natural disasters, most notably Hurricane Katrina. This bookalsoexploreskeyarenasinwhichlegalscholars,policypractitioners,and grassrootsactivistsarechallengingmultipledividesbetween“public”and“pri- vate” spheres (e.g., in connection with children’s rights and domestic violence) andbetween“public”and“private”sectors(e.g.,inrelationtohealthcareand businessandhumanrights). ShareenHertelisAssociateProfessorofPoliticalScienceattheUniversityofCon- necticut,jointlyappointedwiththeHumanRightsInstituteattheUniversity.She istheauthorofUnexpectedPower:ConflictandChangeAmongTransnational Activists(2006)andcoeditorwithLanseP.MinklerofEconomicRights:Concep- tual,MeasurementandPolicyIssues(2007).Shehaspublishedin,amongothers, PoliticalScienceQuarterly,Polity,InternationalStudiesReview,GlobalGover- nance,HumanRightsReview,andJournalofLatinAmericanStudies.Hertelhas servedasaconsultanttofoundations,nongovernmentalorganizations(NGOs), andUnitedNationsagenciesintheUnitedStates,LatinAmerica,andSouthAsia. KathrynLibalisAssistantProfessorofCommunityOrganizationintheSchoolof SocialWorkattheUniversityofConnecticut.Shehaswrittenonchildwelfare, children’s rights, and state formation in Turkey. Libal is currently writing on international NGO advocacy for Iraqi forced migrants and the failures of the U.S.welfarestatetofulfilltheeconomichumanrightsofchildren.Herresearch has been published in Human Rights Review, International Journal of Social Welfare, Violence against Women, Journal for Middle East Women’s Studies, and edited volumes on human rights, social welfare, international social work, andanthropology. In memory of Peggy And for Scott Human Rights in the United States beyond exceptionalism Edited by Shareen Hertel University of Connecticut Kathryn Libal University of Connecticut cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107400870 (cid:2)C ShareenHertelandKathrynLibal2011 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2011 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata HumanrightsintheUnitedStates:beyondexceptionalism/[editedby]ShareenHertel, KathrynLibal. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-00846-5(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-40087-0(paperback) 1.Humanrights–UnitedStates. I.Hertel,Shareen. II.Libal,Kathryn,1968– III.Title. jc599.u5h754 2011 323.0973–dc22 2010048058 isbn978-1-107-00846-5Hardback isbn978-1-107-40087-0Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Contributors pageix Acknowledgments xvii Foreword:AreAmericansHuman?ReflectionsontheFuture ofProgressivePoliticsintheUnitedStates xix DorothyQ.Thomas 1. ParadoxesandPossibilities:DomesticHumanRights PolicyinContext 1 KathrynLibalandShareenHertel section i. structuring debates, institutionalizing rights 2. TheYellowSweatshirt:HumanDignityandEconomic HumanRightsinAdvancedIndustrialDemocracies 25 RhodaE.Howard-Hassmann 3. TheU.S.WelfareState:ABattlegroundforHumanRights 46 MimiAbramovitz 4. DrawingLinesintheSand:BuildingEconomicandSocial RightsNormsintheUnitedStates 68 CathyAlbisa 5. StateandLocalCommissionsasSitesforDomestic HumanRightsImplementation 89 RisaE.Kaufman v vi Contents section ii. challenging public/private divides 6. TheCuriousResistancetoSeeingDomesticViolenceasa HumanRightsViolationintheUnitedStates 113 SallyEngleMerryandJessicaShimmin 7. AttheCrossroads:Children’sRightsandthe U.S.Government 132 JonathanTodres 8. EntrenchedInequity:HealthCareintheUnitedStates 153 JeanConnollyCarmalt,SarahZaidi,andAliciaElyYamin 9. BusinessandHumanRights:ANewApproachto AdvancingEnvironmentalJusticeinthe UnitedStates 175 JoanneBauer section iii. from the margins to the center: making harms visible through human rights framing 10. TheLawandPoliticsofU.S.ParticipationintheUN ConventionontheRightsofPersonswithDisabilities 199 MichaelAshleySteinandJanetE.Lord 11. TheAnomalyofCitizenshipforIndigenousRights 217 BethanyR.Berger 12. HumanRightsViolationsasObstaclestoEscaping Poverty:TheCaseofLone-Mother-HeadedFamilies 234 KenNeubeck 13. TheHumanRightsofChildreninConflictwiththeLaw: LessonsfortheU.S.HumanRightsMovement 255 MieLewis 14. LGBTRightsasHumanRightsintheUnitedStates: OpportunitiesLost 274 JulieMertus 15. NoShelter:DisasterPoliticsinLouisianaandtheStruggle forHumanRights 291 DavidaFingerandRachelE.Luft Contents vii Appendix 1: UniversalDeclarationofHumanRights 313 Appendix 2: InternationalCovenantonEconomic,Social andCulturalRights 320 Appendix 3: InternationalCovenantonCivilandPolitical Rights 332 Index 355 Contributors Mimi Abramovitz, DSW, is the Bertha Capen Reynolds Professor of Social Policy at Hunter College School of Social Work and The Grad- uate Center, City University of New York. An activist and scholar, she hasauthoredmanyinfluentialbooksonwomen,poverty,andsocialwel- farepolicy.TheseincludeRegulatingtheLivesofWomen:SocialWelfare PolicyfromColonialTimestothePresent(1999);TaxesAreaWomen’s Issue:ReframingtheDebate(TheFeministPressatCUNY2006);Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the US (2000; named an “Outstanding Book” by the Myers Center for Human Rights); and The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy (Oxford University Press 2010). AbramovitziscurrentlywritingabooktitledGenderedObligations:The HistoryofActivismAmongBlackandWhiteLow-IncomeWomeninthe USsince1900. Cathy Albisa is a constitutional and human rights lawyer with a back- groundintherighttohealth.Albisaalsohassignificantexperiencework- inginpartnershipwithcommunityorganizersontheuseofhumanrights standards to strengthen advocacy in the United States. She cofounded, withShardaSekaranandLizSullivan,theNationalEconomicandSocial RightsInitiative(NESRI)tobuildlegitimacyforhumanrightsingeneral, andeconomicandsocialrightsinparticular,intheUnitedStates.Albisa (with Martha Davis and Cindy Soohoo) is an editor of the Bringing Human Rights Home series (Pennsylvania 2008) and has published on botheconomic and socialrights,as wellas reproductive rights issues,in theUnitedStates.AlbisahastaughtatColumbiaLawSchoolandCornell Law School and currently teaches at the CUNY School of Law. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Constitutional Rights and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Social ix