Are rights-based approaches to social justice (really) the right way?

Rightification and the question of social injustice

Authors

  • Eva-Maria Svensson
  • Håkan Gustafsson Department of Law, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36368/njolas.v7i02.396

Keywords:

rights-based approaches, social (in)justice, rightification, Nordic model, legal rights, equality

Abstract

Do extended legal rights for individuals optimize resistance to inequalities and promote social justice? Rights-based approaches have gained ground globally, also in the Nordic countries noting a shift from political programmes on general welfare to individual legal rights and anti-discrimination provisions. The shift has taken place in a time when ambitions to create equal opportunities in society debilitates. The trend, captured with the concept ‘rightification’, relates to a general Neo-liberal transformation. In a Nordic context, this transformation brings with it ambiguous out-comes: it leads to an individualisation of rights, a fragmentation of rights and to a disciplinary function of rights. Social needs are ‘framed’ as rights, individual rights replace political programmes and solutions. We argue that the traditional Nordic model, a perspective that understands individuals in social context and that context as inherently constituted by relations of power, (still) offers additional value to the rights-based approach.

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Published

2025-01-29

How to Cite

Svensson, E.-M. and Gustafsson, H. (2025) “Are rights-based approaches to social justice (really) the right way? : Rightification and the question of social injustice”, Nordic Journal on Law and Society, 7(02). doi: 10.36368/njolas.v7i02.396.