From Human Welfare to Human Rights: Considering Socioeconomic Rights through the 1947-48 UNESCO Human Rights Survey (chapter in Steven Jensen and Charles Walton, eds., “Rewriting the History of Socioeconomic Rights” )

Abstract

This chapter examines the status of socioeconomic rights (SER) by considering how SER were understood within wider debates over competing visions for the postwar order during a critical period of postconflict transition. What I will argue is that SER must be located on one side of an important normative divide: that which separates rights-based approaches to systemic social and economic problems from much more heterogenous non-rights based approaches. As we will see, SER share with civil and political rights one key commonality: they both make individual entitlements to minimum standards of treatment and provision the foundation for social, political, and legal life.

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From!Human!Welfare!to!Human!Rights:!Considering!Socioeconomic!
Rights!through!the!1947-48!UNESCO!Human!Rights!Survey!
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Mark!Goodale!
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Though!the!standard!by!which!casuists!frequently!determine!what!is!right!or!wrong!in!
human!conduct,!be!its!tendency!to!the!welfare!or!disorder!of!society,!it!does!not!follow!
that!a!regard!to!the!welfare!of!society!should!be!the!sole!virtuous!motive!of!action,!but!
only!that,!in!any!competition,!it!ought!to!cast!the!balance!against!all!other!motives.!
!!!!!Adam!Smith,!The$Theory$of$Moral$Sentiments!
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! This!chapter!examines!the!status!of!socioeconomic!rights!(SER)!by!
considering!how!SER!were!understood!within!wider!debates!over!competing!
visions!for!the!postwar!order!during!a!critical!period!of!postconflict!transition.!
What!I!will!argue!is!that!SER!must!be!located!on!one!side!of!an!important!
normative!divide:!that!which!separates!rights-based!approaches!to!systemic!
social!and!economic!problems!from!much!more!heterogenous!non-rights!based!
approaches.!As!we!will!see,!SER!share!with!civil!and!political!rights!one!key!
commonality:!they!both!make!individual!entitlements!to!minimum!standards!of!
treatment!and!provision!the!foundation!for!social,!political,!and!legal!life.!!
! During!the!period!that!is!the!focus!of!this!chapter—1947!and!1948!until!
the!adoption!of!the!Universal!Declaration!of!Human!Rights!in!December—the!
proposal!to!make!rights!the!anchor!of!the!emerging!international!system!was!
viewed!with!tremendous!skepticism!by!many!intellectuals!and!political!leaders,!
especially!those!who!identified!with!various!points!on!the!traditional!leftist!
spectrum.!By!examining!perspectives!on!human!rights!more!generally!as!
revealed!by!an!important!survey!conducted!by!UNESCO!during!these!early!

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postwar!months,!what!becomes!clear!is!that!it!was!precisely!on!the!question!of!
what!later!became!known!as!SER!that!resistance!to!an!international!human!
rights!declaration!was!framed.!This!is!a!historical!point!that!has!not!been!
sufficiently!appreciated.!When!we!narrow!the!lens!to!this!short—yet!critical—
period!of!time,!what!we!find!is!that!the!so-called!civil!and!political!rights!that!
were!on!the!table!(rights!to!life,!security!of!person,!freedom!from!slavery!and!
torture,!etc.)!were!largely!uncontroversial,!perhaps!for!obvious!reasons.!!
! Rather,!it!was!SER!that!was!the!linchpin!for!critical!opposition.!The!main!
complaint!was!that—as!both!a!normative!category!and!basis!for!policy-making—
SER!represented!a!historically!anachronistic!mechanism!for!addressing!endemic!
social!and!economic!vulnerabilities.!Moreover,!SER!were!anachronistic!not!
merely!because!they!represented!an!eighteenth!century!solution!to!eighteenth!
century!(and!older)!problems;!they!were!centuries!out!of!date,!according!to!
critics,!because!they!did!nothing!to!address!the!moral!deficiencies!of!an!
underlying!economic!system!with!which!they!were!fully!compatible.!As!we!will!
see,!for!those!who!had!already!thrown!their!lot!in!with!some!version!of!Marxism!
or!the!more!radical!socialisms!of!the!time,!the!problem!with!SER!was!that!they!
did!not!challenge!the!contradictions!of!capitalism!that!these!critics!believed!were!
the!basis!for!global!conflict—past,!present,!and!future.!And!as!we!will!also!see!in!
the!chapter’s!conclusion,!recent!research!in!the!new!human!rights!history!shows!
how!prescient!these!dissonant!voices!were!in!1947!and!1948!in!light!of!
contemporary!debates!over!the!relationship!between!human!rights!and!global!
inequality.!!
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The$UNESCO$Human$Rights$Survey$in$the$Interstructural$Transition$

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! In!his!classic!study!of!rites$de$passage,!the!anthropologist!Victor!Turner!
(1967)!argued!that!periods!of!transition!in!human!society!are!marked!by!the!
passage!from!one!“structure!of!positions”!to!another.!He!called!these!periods!
moments!of!“liminality,”!temporary!“interstructural”!eras!that!were!
paradoxically!characterized!by!both!transformation!and!the!reaffirmation!of!
what!came!before.!Periods!of!liminality!opened!up!time-limited!days!and!months!
that!Turned!described!as!“betwixt!and!between”:!that!is,!moments!in!history!that!
had!become!detached!from!“all!the!recognized!fixed!points!in![the]!space-time!of!
structural!classification”!(1967:!97).!What!is!important!for!my!purposes!here!is!
that!the!months!between!the!end!of!the!Second!World!War!and!the!adoption!of!
the!UDHR!in!December!1948!showed!many!of!the!characteristics!of!liminality!
within!the!wider!history!of!human!rights:!uncertainty!as!new!institutions!were!
being!created;!ambiguity!in!roles!and!responsibilities;!the!need!to!conceive!of!
both!concepts!and!categories!at!the!same!time;!the!emergence!of!new!leaders!
and!key!protagonists;!the!existence!of!a!certain!millenarianism;!and!the!peculiar!
fact!that!those!involved!in!the!project!of!human!rights!were!“alternately!forced!
and!encouraged!to!think!about!their!society,!their!cosmos,!and!the!powers!that!
generate[d]!and!sustain[ed]!them”!(1967:!105).!!
! Understanding!the!months!and!years!before!the!adoption!of!the!UDHR!as!
a!period!of!liminality!has!two!advantages:!first,!it!emphasizes!the!essential!and!
often!contradictory!mix!of!ambiguity,!confusion,!and!creative!possibility!within!
what!I!have!called!elsewhere!(Goodale!2017)!!the!“unsettled!firmament”!of!the!
emerging!international!system;!and!second,!it!avoids!the!all-too-common!
tendency!within!the!wider!historiography!of!human!rights!to!engage!in!post!hoc!

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historicizing!by!reading!the!events!leading!up!to!the!adoption!of!the!UDHR!
through!the!lens!of!much!later!developments.!!
! On!the!contrary,!what!makes!this!period!particularly!interesting!is!
precisely!the!fact!that!the!shape!of!things!to!come!either!could!hardly!be!
imagined,!or,!when!it!was,!it!was!imagined!in!often!widely!divergent!ways.!Thus,!
to!consider!this!period!without$the!benefit!of!hindsight!is!to!gain!a!fresh!
appreciation!for!how!questions!of!inequality,!law,!the!relationship!between!
individual!and!the!state,!and!many!others,!were!understood!at!the!time!in!light!of!
the!recent!catastrophe!of!world!war!and!longer!developments!in!political!
economy!and!political!and!social!theory.!Seen!from!this!perspective,!the!eventual!
appearance!of!SER!in!the!UDHR!is!revealed!as!a!particularly!incongruous!effort—
one!borne!out!of!political!compromise!in!a!geopolitical!context!of!explicit!and!
implicit!tensions—to!square!a!circle,!an!effort!whose!normative!and!political!
afterlives!gives!some!indication!of!its!troubled!beginnings.!!
! In!order!to!examine!these!beginnings,!we!turn!not!to!the!much!more!well-
known!and!analyzed!processes!that!led!to!the!adoption!of!the!UDHR!through!the!
Commission!on!Human!Rights!(CHR)!under!the!chairmanship!of!Eleanor!
Roosevelt!(see!Glendon!2001;!Lauren!1998;!Morsink!1999),!but!to!another!
process!that!took!place!during!the!same!period.!This!parallel!process!arguably!
provides!a!richer!picture!of!the!diversity!of!opinions!about!what!was!still!a!vague!
proposal!to!draft!an!“international!bill!of!rights”!than!the!state-centric!and!
bureaucratic!processes!that!unfolded!through!the!CHR!and!its!smaller!Drafting!
Committee.!Even!so,!if!there!is!one!dominant!current!to!be!found!among!this!
diversity!it!is!incredulity!among!leading!leftist!intellectuals,!politicians,!
theologians,!and!artists!that!the!nascent!UN!system!was!posing!questions!that!

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they!believed!had!long!ago!been!answered—!theoretically!by!Marx!and!Engels!
and!politically!by!the!world-historical!transformation!of!the!Russian!Revolution!
and!its!ramifying!aftermath.!!
!This!parallel!process!was!a!survey!conducted!by!UNESCO!under!the!
direction!of!two!quite!different!but!equally!fascinating!people:!UNESCO’s!first!
Director-General,!Julian!Huxley,!and!the!first!head!of!UNESCO’s!philosophy!
section,!the!young!Jacques!Havet.!At!the!first!UNESCO!General!Conference!in!
December!1946,!the!Mexican!delegation!had!made!a!proposal!(seconded!by!the!
British)!for!UNESCO!to!play!a!leading!role!over!the!coming!year!(UNESCO’s!first)!
in!the!investigations!that!would!underpin!the!drafting!of!a!bill!of!human!rights.!
Although!the!UN!Social!and!Economic!Council!had!created!an!international!
commission,!also!in!1946,!to!draft!a!bill!of!human!rights!sometime!in!the!future,!
the!actually!functioning!of!this!committee!was!not!elaborated!in!detail,!nor!was!
the!extent!to!which!other!entities!within!the!broader!UN!system!would!play!a!
role!(on!UNESCO!as!a!political!institution,!see!Sewell!1975).!!
! More!important,!during!these!early!liminal!postwar!months!and!years,!the!
vision!for!UNESCO!in!the!new!world!order!was!bold,!expansive,!and!ultimately!
controversial.!Huxley!had!developed!this!vision!at!length!in!his!1946!ideological!
blueprint!for!the!organization,!in!which!he!argued!that!UNESCO!should!guide!the!
international!community!in!developing!a!“universal!philosophy”!that!would!
unite!disparate!cultural,!political,!economic,!and!religious!traditions!(Huxley!
1946).!At!the!same!time,!Huxley!harbored!serious!doubts!about!the!status!of!
other!parts!of!the!UN!system,!especially!those!clearly!dominated!by!the!United!
States!with!its!singular!economic!strength!in!the!early!postwar!period.!Thus!
when!the!UNESCO!General!Conference!charged!Huxley!and!the!philosophy!

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section!with!the!task!of!elucidating!the!philosophical!principles!upon!which!a!
future!declaration!of!human!rights!should!be!based,!he!embraced!the!mission!as!
the!first!and!most!important!project!through!which!UNESCO!would!realize!its!
broad!global!ambitions.!!
! The!fine-grained!details!of!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!can!only!be!
summarized!here!(but!see!Goodale!2017,!2018a,!2018b).!There!were!two!phases!
to!UNESCO’s!intervention!that!are!most!pertinent.!First,!Huxley!and!Havet!spent!
about!one!month!in!early!spring!1947!attempting!to!organize!a!small!conference!
of!philosophers!in!Paris!in!the!form!of!an!intense!multi-day!workshop!on!the!
question!of!the!philosophical!bases!of!human!rights.!This!first!phase,!although!it!
was!relatively!quickly!abandoned,!is!important!to!emphasize!because!the!
question!of!diversity!was!never!part!of!the!original!plan.!Instead,!it!was!believed!
that!a!group!of!leading!philosophers,!likely!heavily!French,!would!be!perfectly!
capable!of!articulating!principles!of!human!rights!that!could!command!universal!
assent.
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! However,!largely!for!reasons!of!time—since!UNESCO!had!begun!to!
receive!word!that!the!UN!CHR!was!moving!forward!in!its!efforts!in!a!way!that!
would!potentially!command!the!field—Huxley!and!Havet!decided!to!make!a!
radical!change!to!the!process.!In!early!March!1947,!Huxley!and!Havet!began!
sending!out!an!invitation!to!participate!in!a!survey!on!human!rights!along!with!
an!aide-mémoire!that!included!an!abbreviated!history!of!human!rights!
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!The!archival!research!that!forms!the!background!to!this!chapter!was!conducted!in!the!following!
archives:!the!UNESCO!archives!in!Paris,!the!Julian!Huxley!archives!at!Rice!University,!and!the!
Richard!McKeon!archives!at!the!University!of!Chicago.!Archival!materials!included!all!of!the!
correspondence,!interoffice!memoranda,!and!assorted!miscellany!largely!found!in!the!following:!
UNESCO!Archives,!AG!8!Secretariat!Records,!Central!Registry!Collection,!file!Human!Rights!–!
Enquiry,!Public!Opinion!342.7!(100):!301.153!A!151.!

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declarations!and!a!list!of!potential!rights!for!respondents!to!consider.!These!
documents!were!circulated!to!an!impressive!list!of!people!and!institutions,!
especially!given!the!fact!that!Huxley!was!deeply!connected!with!many!political!
leaders,!scientists,!and!artists!in!the!largely!British!colonial!world.!Havet,!by!
contrast,!who!had!been!an!acolyte!of!Jean-Paul!Sartre!and!a!graduate!of!the!
prestigious!École$normale$supérieure!before!the!war,!largely!restricted!his!
invitations!to!elite!French!philosophical!circles.!In!the!end,!between!150!and!180!
sets!of!documents!were!received!and!about!60!responses!were!eventually!sent!to!
UNESCO!headquarters!in!Paris,!either!directly!or!through!a!variety!of!
intermediaries.!As!is!well-known!among!human!rights!scholars,!the!respondents!
included!such!people!as!Gandhi,!Aldous!Huxley,!Benedetto!Croce,!Harold!Laski,!
and!E.!H.!Carr,!among!other!notables.!What!has!not!been!well-known,!until!
recently,!is!that!the!eventual!list!of!respondents!to!the!UNESCO!survey!included!
fascinating!contributions!by!the!composer!Arnold!Schoenberg!and!the!writers!W.!
H.!Auden!and!T.!S.!Eliot!(whose!response!took!the!form!of!a!letter!refusing!to!
formally!write!an!essay).!!
! The!manner!in!which!the!responses!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!
were!understood!both!at!the!time!and!many!decades!later!is!also!a!question!that!
goes!beyond!the!scope!of!this!chapter!(but!see!Goodale!2018a).!However,!what!
concerns!me!here!is!something!more!specific:!the!extent!to!which!certain!
patterns!are!revealed!in!the!responses!that!provide!a!window!into!how!
“socioeconomic!rights”—even!if!not!understood!in!these!terms—were!perceived!
during!this!period.!In!fact,!among!the!responses!that!were!critical!of!a!particular!
conception!of!human!rights—the!conception!associated!with!the!great!rights!
declarations!of!the!late-eighteenth!and!early!nineteenth!centuries—the!largest!

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grouping!was!framed!by!specific!anti-liberal,!anti-bourgeois,!and!anti-capitalist!
challenges!rooted!in!communist,!socialist,!and!social!democratic!traditions.!This!
is!not!to!say!that!opposition!to!the!idea!of!a!new!human!rights!declaration!as!the!
foundation!for!the!postwar!world!was!restricted!to!those!on!the!various!
branches!of!the!traditional!left.!For!example,!Morris!L.!Ernst,!the!high-profile!and!
pugnacious!American!civil!rights!lawyer!and!cofounder!of!the!American!Civil!
Liberties!Union!(ACLU),!complained!to!a!member!of!the!UNESCO!survey!
committee!(Richard!P.!McKeon)!that!it!“seems!to!me!that!we!are!finished!with!
the!era!of!passing!general!resolutions!in!regard!to!liberty!and!freedom”!(quoted!
in!Goodale!2018b:!298).!But!it!was!from!those!on!the!traditional!left!as!it!existed!
at!mid-century!that!the!fullest!and!most!critical!assessments!were!made!of!the!
relationship!between!human!rights!and!social!and!economic!questions.!!
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From$“Economic$Democracy”$to$the$“Animating$Humanism”$of$Marxism$
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! Although!I!will!focus!here!on!four!distinct!responses!to!the!UNESCO!
human!rights!survey,!something!must!be!said!more!generally!about!another!
underlying!factor!that!linked!many!of!the!responses!from!the!traditional!left.
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What!one!encounters!time!and!again!across!a!diverse!range!of!interventions!is!
the!idea!that!as!a!solution!to!underlying!social!and!economic!problems,!the!
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!Although!the!full!archival!record!of!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!has!recently!been!
published!for!the!first!time!(Goodale!2018b),!UNESCO!did!publish!a!selection!of!31!of!the!
responses!in!a!1949!volume!(UNESCO!1949).!The!foreword!to!the!1949!selection!(most!likely!
written!by!Jacques!Havet,!although!it!is!uncredited)!explains!the!rationale!for!the!collection:!“The!
primary!consideration!was!to!secure!a!representative!sample!of!the!whole!range!of!expressed!
opinions.!In!particular!it!was!though!desirable!to!given!an!audience!to!the!views!of!certain!
thinkers!whose!outlook,!although!stimulating,!does!not!coincide!with!the!conclusions!which!
UNESCO!final!drew!from!its!consultations”!(quoted!in!Goodale!2018b!at!66).!!

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historic!rights!declarations!were!grounded!in!a!fundamental!error.!This!was!the!
mistake!of!placing!the!individual!rights-bearer!at!the!center!of!a!normative!
system!instead!of!society.!This!critique!interconnects!scholars!and!political!
leaders!who!had!been!long-conditioned—in!many!cases!through!Marxism!or!
socialism!more!generally—to!conceive!of!the!individual!only!in!relation!to!a!
wider!set!of!social!and!economic!imperatives!of!which!rights!to!provision!might!
or!might!not!figure.!For!these!respondents,!“human!rights”!should!only!be!
understood!and!codified!as!a!follow-on!to!a!more!basic!way!of!conceptualizing!
the!proper!development!of!social!and!economic!relations.!!
! In!other!words,!the!classic!liberal!account!of!human!rights!in!which!what!
Isaiah!Berlin!(1969)!called!“negative!liberties”!were!given!priority!was,!on!this!
view,!an!historically!unfortunate!inversion!that!had!led!to!a!distorted!
understanding!of!social!and!economic!questions!and!the!proper!role!of!society!
and!eventually!the!state!in!responding!to!them.!In!considering!the!proposal!for!
an!international!declaration!of!human!rights,!therefore,!it!was!essential!that!the!
document!eventually!drafted!by!UNESCO!and!the!UN!not!reinforce!this!historical!
distortion.!Moreover,!among!leftist!critics!of!human!rights!at!the!time,!the!
distinction!between!civil!and!political!and!social!and!economic!rights!was!often!
not!finely!drawn.!It!was!rather!that!social!and!economic!questions!were!central!
to!the!kinds!of!historical!materialist!and!socialist!positions!through!which!critics!
considered!human!rights.!The!opposition!to!human!rights,!therefore,!was!much!
more!likely!to!concern!social!and!economic!questions!even!if!the!critique!was!
fundamentally!about!the!rights-based!approach!as!such.!!
! Nevertheless,!here!I!want!to!analyze!in!more!depth!four!particular!
responses!that!underscore!four!different!ways!in!which!“socioeconomic!rights”!

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were!understood!during!the!short!period!in!which!both!UNESCO!undertook!its!
survey!and!the!UN!drafted!what!became!the!UDHR.!All!four!responses!were!
submitted!by!those!who!were!associated!with!the!traditional!left,!which!again,!
must!be!understood!in!the!context!of!prewar!and!early!postwar!political!and!
historical!dynamics.!Among!these,!two!are!most!critical.!First,!it!must!be!
remembered!that!by!the!late-1940s,!the!European!left!in!particular—but!not!
only—was!at!the!end!of!what!Victor!Serge!(1939)!had!called!the!“midnight!in!the!
century”:!the!long,!dark!period!in!which!the!German!Community!Party!(KPD)!had!
been!decimated!through!the!rise!of!Nazism;!Soviet!communism!and!Nazism!had!
found!common!cause!through!the!monstrous!Molotov-Ribbentrop!Pact;!the!
Spanish!Republicans!had!suffered!a!disastrous!defeat!against!the!fascist!forces!of!
Generalísimo!Franco;!and!the!Moscow!Show!Trials!and!murder!of!Trotsky!in!
Mexico!City!showed!the!extent!to!which!Stalinism!had!become!associated!with!
internal!repression!and!state!violence.!And!second,!the!fact!that!the!Soviet!Union!
had!emerged!victorious!after!the!Second!World!War!had!deepened!the!rift!on!the!
transatlantic!left!between!leftists!who!were!willing!to!overlook!the!excesses!of!
the!great!communist!power!and!those!who!saw!Stalinism!as!an!unforgivable!and!
historic!betrayal.!!
! These!tensions!help!explain!the!different!ways!in!which!leftist!thinkers!
and!social!and!political!leaders!responded!to!the!proposal!by!the!emergent!
international!community—of!which!the!Soviet!Union!was!not!a!full!partner
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contribute!to!the!development!of!a!human!rights!declaration.!Within!the!UNESCO!
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!For!example,!the!Soviet!Union!did!not!join!UNESCO!until!1954.!Its!opposition!was!driven!by!
several!factors,!one!of!which!was!the!fact!that!Huxley’s!vision!for!UNESCO!as!a!kind!of!super-
agency!of!the!UN!tasked!with!developing!a!universal!philosophy!inspired!by!scientific!humanism!
was!in!direct!conflict!with!the!Marxist!doctrine!that!it!alone!represented!the!highest!and!final!
synthesis!in!philosophical!and!historical!development!(see!Armstrong!1954).!!

!
11!
human!rights!survey,!the!various!responses!from!leftist!traditions!reflect!distinct!
orientations!to!social!and!economic!questions.!For!purposes!of!comparison,!I!will!
distinguish!between!the!following:!the!philosophical,!the!historical!materialist,!
the!social!welfarist,!and!the!moral.!!
! In!his!response!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!Hyman!Levy!argued!
that!an!international!human!rights!declaration!would!violate!certain!key!
philosophical!principles!of!Marxism.!At!the!time,!Levy!was!both!a!mathematician!
and!philosopher!of!science!and!Dean!of!the!Royal!College!of!Science!at!Imperial!
College!London.!Levy,!originally!from!Scotland,!had!joined!the!British!Communist!
Party!in!1931,!although!most!of!his!professional!activities!were!centered!on!his!
work!in!theoretical!mathematics.!Eleven!years!after!his!contribution!to!the!
UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!Levy!would!be!expelled!from!the!Party!for!
criticizing!the!treatment!of!Jewish!intellectuals!in!the!Soviet!Union.!!
! Levy’s!critique!of!the!proposed!UN!human!rights!declaration!emphasized!
first!the!Marxist!injunction!against!philosophical!and!utopian!abstraction,!
whether!in!the!form!of!philosophical!tenets!or!political!principles.!As!he!put!it,!
Marxism!was!opposed!to!“expressing!abstract!ethical!principles!in!a!political!and!
social!vacuum;!that!is,!without!it!being!directly!linked!up!with!a!social!dynamic!
plan!to!implement!them”!(quoted!in!Goodale!2018b:!169).!Therefore,!“it!is!a!
mistake!to!try!and!set!out!a!system!of!human!rights!as!such.”!Instead,!the!
discussion!should!begin!with!the!social!and!economic!realities!as!they!exist!in!
practice:!“It!is!necessary!to!go!one!step!back!and!ask!what!are!the!physical!and!
material!conditions!that!may!make!the!emergence!of!these!rights!in!practice!a!
real!possibility.”!!

!
12!
! Although!Levy’s!Marxist!analysis!did!not!rule!out!the!eventual!ratification!
of!some!declaration!authorized!by!the!UN,!he!was!skeptical!of!the!idea!that!a!
statement!of!rights!could!ever!reach!an!acceptable!level!of!material!detail!and!
practical!application.!As!he!put!it,!“I!think!it!might!be!possible!to!set!out!a!
statement!not!of!the!Rights$of$Man,!but!of!the!Needs$of$Man,!both!personal!and!
social,!with!particular!stress!on!the!material!aspects!of!the!problem.!It!could!then!
be!followed!by!a!statement!that!once!these!needs!are!in!being!they!would!drag!in!
their!train!ethical!ideas!and!ethical!practice!that!would!make!it!possible!to!set!
out!in!due!course!a!statement!of!the!Rights!of!Man”!(169;!emphases!in!original).!!
! The!response!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!by!the!Indo-Swedish!
journalist!and!political!organizer!R.!Palme!Dutt!was!among!those!that!expressed!
the!most!doctrinal!communist!position!at!greatest!length!on!the!relationship!
between!human!rights!and!social!and!economic!questions.!Dutt,!who!had!been!
born!and!raised!in!Britain!and!educated!within!the!elite!Oxbridge!system,!was!
one!of!the!founders!of!the!British!Communist!Party!and!one!of!its!leading!
ideologues!throughout!much!of!the!twentieth!century.!In!1947,!when!he!
participated!in!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!Dutt’s!status!in!the!Party!had!
diminished!somewhat!because!he!had!been!the!strongest!proponent!of!the!
Stalinist!opposition!to!war!with!Germany!until!the!Molotov-Ribbentrop!Pact!was!
violated!by!Germany’s!invasion!of!the!Soviet!Union!in!1941.!Dutt!remained!
Britain’s!leading!supporter!of!Stalinism!until!his!death!in!1974,!despite!a!string!
of!developments!that!eventually!fractured!the!Party,!including!the!Soviet!
invasion!of!Hungary!and!the!ideological!disillusionment!following!Khrushchev’s!
denunciation!of!Stalin!in!1956!and!the!later!Soviet!invasion!and!suppression!of!
the!Prague!Spring!in!1968.!!

!
13!
! Dutt!begins!his!response!to!the!UNESCO!survey!by!placing!the!project!to!
draft!a!human!rights!declaration!in!a!wide!historical!context!as!understood!
through!historical!materialism.!As!he!points!out,!many!efforts!over!the!epochs!to!
respond!to!pressing!problems!had!failed!to!fully!appreciate!the!extent!and!depth!
of!the!crisis!at!hand:!
!
Just!as!the!ancient!Greek!conception!of!democracy!ignored!the!slave!majority!of!the!
population!on!whose!subjection!and!labours!it!reposed,!the!eighteenth!and!early!
nineteenth!century!conceptions!of!liberty!and!human!rights,!concentrating!on!the!fight!
against!the!old!forms!of!monarchical!and!feudal!oppression,!did!not!yet!clearly!see!the!
new!forms!of!class!domination!which!were!arising!and!paid!less!attention!to!the!
problems!of!economic!and!social!inequality!and!domination,!the!relations!of!private!
property!and!freedom,!and!commercial!expansion!and!domination!of!weaker!and!less!
developed!nations!(quoted!in!Goodale!2018b:!172).!!
!
He!then!carries!the!analysis!into!the!contemporary!period:!
!
In!the!second!half!of!the!nineteenth!century,!and!especially!in!the!twentieth!century,!
with!the!development!of!capitalist!concentration!and!imperialism,!and!with!the!advance!
of!the!working!class!movement!and!of!the!national!liberation!movements!in!the!colonial!
countries,!these!problems!have!come!increasingly!to!the!forefront!and!have!found!their!
formulation,!and!the!programme!and!policies!put!forward!for!their!solution,!in!the!
theory!and!practice!of!socialism!or!communism,!carrying!forward!and!extending!in!new!
forms!the!liberating!aims!of!the!earlier!English,!American!and!French!Revolutions!(172).!!
!

!
14!
! Nevertheless,!Dutt!recognizes!that!the!historical!materialist!account!of!
social!and!economic!development,!in!which!the!doctrines!of!socialism!and!
communism!had!managed!to!finally!identify!the!true!cause!of!conflict—
antagonism!over!the!means!of!production!divided!into!exploiting!and!exploited!
classes—was!not!accepted!by!many!of!the!great!powers!at!the!center!of!the!
emerging!international!system.!Indeed,!he!argues!that!the!eventual!shape!and!
content!of!a!human!rights!declaration!will!be!a!reflection!of!how!this!struggle!
between!radically!different!historical!and!philosophical!visions!is!resolved.!!
!
The!new!conceptions!of!human!freedom!associated!with!socialism!or!communism!are!
not!yet!universally!accepted!in!the!countries!of!the!United!Nations.!They!are!ardently!
contested!by!the!adherents!of!the!older!individualistic!doctrines!associated!with!private!
property.!There!is!a!sharp!conflict!and!controversy!between!opposing!social!and!
political!conceptions,!which!in!fact!reflects!the!conflict!of!classes.!This!conflict!in!the!
realm!of!ideas!and!social!and!political!institutions!expresses!itself!also!in!the!attitude!to!
particular!questions!of!human!rights.!What!the!property-owner!may!feel!to!be!tyranny,!
the!worker!may!feel!to!be!the!essential!conditions!for!his!liberation!(172-173).!!
!
! Dutt’s!response!then!turns!to!a!long!discussion!of!what!he!describes!as!
“economic!and!social!rights.”!In!fact,!it!is!notable!that!the!few!respondents!to!the!
UNESCO!survey!to!actually!use!the!phrase!were!those!writing!from!perspectives!
on!the!communist,!socialist,!or!social!democratic!left.
4
!He!begins!this!section!with!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
4
!Although!the!distinction!between!civil!and!political!human!rights!and!social!and!economic!
human!rights!was!not!one!that!would!become!widely!accepted!until!well!after!the!UDHR!had!
been!adopted!in!1948,!there!was!certainly!a!regional!dimension!to!the!way!importance!was!given!
to!one!or!both!categories.!For!example,!as!Steven!L.!B.!Jensen!(2016)!has!argued,!human!rights!
activism!and!conceptual!development!in!the!first!decades!after!1948!focused!heavily!on!social!
and!economic!rights!within!a!wider!process!of!decolonization.!!

!
15!
the!interesting!observation!that!civil!and!political!human!rights!depend!for!their!
fulfillment!on!the!“basic!and!primary!economic!and!social!rights,”!which!
themselves!are!dependent!upon!underlying!“material!conditions.”!However,!
because!these!material!conditions!vary!so!widely!from!country!to!country!and!
region!to!region,!so!too!will!the!list!of!rights!that!must!be!derived!from!them.!In!
this!way,!Dutt!seems!to!be!applying!the!classic!Marxist!distinction!between!base!
and!superstructure!to!the!consideration!of!human!rights,!in!which!what!is!most!
fundamental—in!this!case,!material!conditions—must!take!precedence!in!both!
theory!and!practice!over!what!is!subordinate.!In!Dutt’s!analysis,!civil!and!
political!rights!are!subordinate—or!“superstructural”—to!economic!and!social!
rights,!both!of!which!are!subordinate!to!material!conditions,!which!are!seen!to!
form!the!base!of!society!in!good!Marxist!fashion.!!
!Dutt!then!moves!on!to!an!explanation!for!why!civil!and!political!rights!are!
both!historically!tenuous!and!yet!still!determined!by!the!material!conditions!that!
constitute!the!base!of!society!in!any!one!period.!!
!
The!older!types!of!democratic!theory!were!concerned!almost!exclusively!with!the!formal!
abstract!political!rights!of!democratic!government,!and!of!the!relations!of!the!individual!
and!the!state,!and!only!to!a!very!limited!extent!with!economic!and!social!rights!.!.!.!This!
corresponded!to!the!historical!development!of!democratic!theory!as!first!arising!as!the!
expression!of!a!propertied!class!which!was!politically!disenfranchised!or!debarred!from!
participation!in!government,!but!materially!secure,!and!which!consequently!in!the!field!
of!economic!rights!was!mainly!concerned!to!ensure!the!protection!of!the!rights!of!
private!property!and!of!the!sanctity!of!contracts,!the!limitation!of!taxation!and!the!
removal!of!restrictions!on!trade!and!commerce!(174).!!
!

!
16!
! In!applying!this!perspective!on!the!relationship!between!the!material!
conditions!of!society!and!human!rights!to!the!historic!human!rights!declarations,!
Dutt!quickly!dismisses!the!American!Declaration!of!Independence!as!a!
retrograde!document!that!was!almost!exclusively!concerned!with!rights!
protections!for!the!propertied!classes.!“Life,!liberty!and!the!pursuit!of!
happiness,”!in!Dutt’s!analysis,!was!the!classic!bourgeois!formula!that!would!
become!over!the!decades!and!then!centuries!the!grounds!on!which!the!
“materially!secure”!would!“condemn[!]!all!social!organization!and!state!
intervention!in!the!economic!sphere!as!a!‘totalitarian’!invasion!of!individual!
rights”!(174).!!
! When!Dutt!turns!to!a!consideration!of!the!various!rights!declarations!and!
constitutions!during!the!time!of!the!French!Revolution,!however,!the!historical!
picture!is!quite!different.!The!much!more!well-known!1789!Declaration!of!the!
Rights!of!the!Man!and!of!the!Citizen!was!similar!to!the!1789!American!
Declaration—both!of!which!Thomas!Jefferson!had!a!hand!in!drafting!to!different!
degrees—in!that!the!1789!French!Declaration!likewise!codified!the!right!to!
private!property!as!a!human!right,!“inviolable!and!sacred.”!But!it!was!with!the!
later!1793!Declaration,!which!was!never!implemented,!that!the!beginning!of!
something!new!in!the!history!of!human!rights!declarations!appears.!First,!the!
human!right!to!property!is!defined!as!a!right!that!is!bound!up!with!labor!instead!
of!being!a!right!to!things!in!themselves.!In!addition,!the!right!to!enjoy!the!fruits!of!
labor!is!not!an!absolute!right,!but!rather!one!limited!by!the!exigencies!of!“public!
necessity”!(a!critical!limitation!akin!to!the!US!doctrine!of!eminent!domain).!And!
finally,!the!1793!Declaration!introduces!a!long!list!of!economic!and!social!rights,!
including!the!rights!to!work,!education,!and!public!maintenance.!As!Dutt!puts!it,!

!
17!
“here!we!see!the!beginning!of!a!more!radical!conception!of!social!and!economic!
rights”!(175).!What!Dutt!does!not!mention!in!his!response!is!what!is!arguably!
most!radical!about!the!1793!Declaration:!the!fact!that!it!makes!equality!the!first!
and!most!important!human!right!and!“common!welfare”!the!first!and!most!
important!responsibility!of!society,!something!to!which!I!will!return!below.!!
! !Yet!like!a!number!of!other!respondents!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!
survey,!Dutt!argues!that!it!is!to!the!1936!Soviet!Constitution!that!we!must!turn!in!
order!to!know!how!human!rights!might!properly!be!linked!to!underlying!
material!conditions!within!a!rights!declaration.!The!1936!Soviet!Constitution!has!
been!given!relatively!little!importance!in!the!history!of!human!rights,!whether!on!
the!question!of!economic!and!social!rights!or!otherwise,!in!large!part!because!of!
the!role!it!played!in!legitimating!the!total!control!of!the!Communist!Party!under!
Stalin’s!iron!hand,!which!was!given!the!responsibility!for!rooting!out!and!
destroying!what!the!document!describes!as!“enemies!of!the!people,”!something!it!
did!with!murderous!efficiency.!!
! Chapter!Ten!of!the!1936!constitution!is!the!section!devoted!to!
“fundamental!rights!and!duties!of!citizens”!and!it!begins!with!the!first!and!most!
important!fundamental!right!in!the!Soviet!Union:!the!right!to!full!employment,!
with!remuneration!being!linked!to!the!“quantity!and!quality”!of!the!work,!which!
represents!something!of!a!shift!from!the!Marxist!principle!of!“from!each!
according!to!his!ability,!to!each!according!to!his!needs”!(from!the!“Critique!of!the!
Gotha!Program”),!since!needs!are!not!the!same!thing!as!productive!ability.!
Although!Dutt!discuses!the!other!social!and!economic!rights!in!the!1936!
constitution,!it!is!the!right!to!full!employment!that!represents!the!most!
significant!contrast!between!a!communist!or!socialist!declaration!of!rights!and!

!
18!
one!based!in!the!classic!eighteenth!century!liberal—especially!American—
tradition.!Indeed,!Dutt!argues!that!the!full!provision!of!social!and!economic!
rights!can!only!be!guaranteed!through!a!“socialist!organization!of!society.”!In!this!
sense,!he!identified!a!key!factor!that!would!makes!its!importance!known!only!
decades!later:!the!fact!that!the!underlying!national,!regional,!and,!ultimately,!
global!political!economy!largely!determines!the!extent!to!which!minimum!
standards!for!social!and!economic!conditions!can!be!met.!!
! In!his!response!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!which!he!entitled!
“economic!and!social!rights!of!man,”!Maurice!Dobb!argued!for!a!wide-scale!and!
synthetic!approach!to!the!question.!Dobb!was!a!leading!Marxist!economist!and!
longtime!professor!at!Cambridge!University,!where!he!trained!generations!of!
students!including!Eric!Hobsbawm!and!Amartya!Sen.!One!of!Dobb’s!students!at!
Cambridge!was!Kim!Philby,!who!later!became!a!high-profile!Soviet!double-agent!
while!working!for!British!intelligence.!In!1947,!Dobb!was!the!most!influential!
interpreter!of!Marxist!and,!specifically,!Soviet!economic!principles,!which!he!
promoted!vigorously!in!Britain!outside!of!his!academic!work,!including!through!
classes!given!to!members!of!the!British!Communist!Party,!of!which!he!was!a!
member.!!
! For!Dobb,!economic!and!social!rights!can!only!be!understood!within!a!
broader!system!of!social!welfare,!in!the!sense!of!its!original!meaning!as!
something!like!“social!well-being.”!As!we!saw!above!in!reference!to!the!1793!
French!Declaration,!welfare!described!the!ideal!prevailing!economic!and!social!
conditions!that!would!make!the!guarantee!of!equality!possible.!This!was!also!the!
way!welfare-as-social!well-being!was!understood!by!its!critics,!as!the!quotation!
from!Adam!Smith!that!begins!this!chapter!reveals.!It!was!only!much!later,!during!

!
19!
the!twentieth!century,!when!welfare!became!restricted!and!associated!with!state!
programs!to!provide!assistance!in!times!of!unemployment!or!illness.!!
! What!Dobb!has!in!mind!is!a!broadly!integrated!social!and!economic!
system!in!which!full!employment!serves!as!the!basic!foundation.!!
!
Foremost!among!the!requirements!of!any!new!society!must!be!the!attainment!of!full!
employment.!This!is!nowadays!a!commonplace.!But!it!has!not!always!been!so;!and!there!
are!even!some!today!who!resist!its!attainment,!or!if!they!accept!the!end!will!not!accept!
the!means.!Until!recently!unemployment!was!considered!to!be!either!an!inevitable!
accompaniment!of!a!so-called!‘free!society!or!even!a!desirable!reserve!without!which!a!
capitalist!economy!would!lack!a!vital!instrument!of!flexibility!and!of!discipline!(quoted!
in!Goodale!2018b:!176).!!
!
Yet!as!with!Dutt,!Dobb!argues!that!the!consideration!of!economic!and!social!
rights—beginning!with!the!most!important!right,!to!full!employment—cannot!
take!place!in!a!political!economic!vacuum.!Again,!as!with!most!of!the!
respondents!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!who!came!from!a!socialist,!
communist,!or!social!democratic!orientation,!Dobb!rejects!the!idea!that!economic!
and!social!rights!can!be!detached!from!what!he!calls!the!“historically-relative!
character!of!social!and!economic!problems.”!It!is!these!problems,!centered!on!
conflicts!over!relations!of!production!in!any!one!historical!period,!that!will!
determine!the!shape!that!social!entitlements!and!obligations!can!and!should!
take.!!
! Most!important,!for!Dobb,!is!the!fact!that!the!full!range!of!economic!and!
social!rights!being!contemplated!by!UNESCO!and!eventually!the!CHR!would!be!

!
20!
doomed!to!remain!either!theoretical,!or!be!rendered!practically!meaningless,!
within!capitalist!economic!systems.!As!Dobb!argues,!this!is!because!there!is!a!
fundamental!contradiction!between!the!kind!of!state!planning!and!social!
redistribution!necessary!for!the!realization!of!welfare!in!its!original!sense!and!an!
economic!system!that!is!dependent!on!the!exploitation!of!labor,!which!by!
definition!requires!pervasive!social!and!economic!inequality.!!
!
It!can!reasonably!be!held!that!ownership!of!the!means!of!production!(including!land)!by!
private!individuals!on!such!a!scale!as!to!imply!that!independent!access!to!these!means!of!
production!is!barred!for!a!substantial!section!of!the!community!represents!an!
infringement!of!the!economic!rights!of!man!in!any!full!sense!of!the!term.!Where!
ownership!of!land!and!productive!equipment!is!concentrated!in!the!hands!of!a!class,!the!
remainder!of!the!community!is!deprived!of!the!possibility!of!livelihood!except!as!hired!
servants!to!the!former:!a!situation!which!involves!a!substantial!inequality!of!rights!de$
facto,!and!in!an!important!sense!involves!a!deprivation!of!freedom!for!the!class!of!non-
owners.!Such!an!interpretation!of!human!rights!is,!of!course,!incapable!of!being!
reconciled!with!Capitalism!as!an!economic!system!(177).!!
!
! And!finally,!Luc!Somerhausen’s!response!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!
survey!emphasized!the!moral!implications!of!social!and!economic!rights:!that!is,!
the!way!in!which!social!and!economic!questions!are!resolved!by!any!one!society!
reflects!a!particular!moral!orientation!that!expresses!itself!differently!through!
different!underlying!social!and!economic!systems.!Somerhausen!was!one!of!the!
members!of!the!UNESCO!experts!committee!that!analyzed!the!responses!to!the!
survey!in!late-June!1947,!a!subset!of!which!were!published!by!UNESCO!in!1949.!
Yet!as!with!so!many!of!the!other!responses!that!were!published!in!that!volume,!

!
21!
the!actual!contact!of!Somerhausen’s!was!never!really!considered!or!sufficiently!
analyzed,!including!in!the!report!that!was!sent!to!the!UN!CHR!by!UNESCO!in!
August!1947!and!especially!in!the!many!later!studies!of!the!UNESCO!survey!by!
human!rights!historians!beginning!in!the!late-1990s,!for!whom!the!Marxist!
foundation!of!many!of!the!responses!would!have!been!ideologically!and!
historically!inconvenient.!!
! Somerhausen!was!a!Belgian!communist!and!journalist!and!longtime!
analyst!for!the!Belgian!Senate.!During!the!Second!World!War,!Somerhausen!had!
been!held!as!a!prisoner!in!the!German!concentration!camp!of!Esterwegen!as!part!
of!the!infamous!Nacht$und$Nebel!directive,!in!which!political!opponents!were!
captured!and!disappeared!without!a!trace!into!the!“night!and!fog”!as!both!a!
warning!to!others!and!as!a!form!of!social!terrorism.!In!1946,!a!year!before!the!
UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!Somerhausen!had!published!a!well-received!study!
of!Marx!in!which!Somerhausen!argued!that!the!essence!of!Marxism!must!be!
understood!as!a!form!of!“animating!humanism”!that!targets!the!exploitative!
relations!of!production!within!capitalism!as!an!affront!to!human!dignity.!
Somerhausen’s!response!to!the!UNESCO!survey!builds!on!several!of!the!key!
points!from!his!1946!book.!!
! In!considering!the!question!of!economic!and!social!rights,!Somerhausen!
argues,!one!must!begin!with!the!Marxist!theory!of!alienation.!This!is!the!
proposition!that!the!worker!within!a!capitalist!system!ultimately!becomes!
estranged,!or!alienated,!from!his!or!her!true!essence,!which!is!the!capacity!to!
determine!consequential!actions,!social!relations,!and!outcomes.!The!worker!
must!sell!labor!within!a!closed!political!economic!system!in!order!to!earn!the!
chance!to!produce!something!over!which!the!worker!will!have!no!control.!In!

!
22!
addition,!because!capitalist!production!is!also!a!social!process,!it!results!in!a!class!
of!workers!who!are!also!alienated!from!each!other,!the!opposite!of!how!workers!
would!relate!to!each!other!in!a!socialist!political!economy!or,!indeed,!in!the!
“ancient!society”!that!was!the!basis!for!Engels’s!1884!foray!into!ethnology!(The$
Origin$of$the$Family,$Private$Property,$and$the$State).!!!
! For!Somerhausen,!any!consideration!of!economic!and!social!rights!would!
be!irrelevant!if!such!rights!were!applied!to!people!forced!to!live!“in!a!society!
based!on!the!profit!motive,”!which!put!“man!at!odds!with!the!community”!and!
“turned!in!on!himself,!solely!preoccupied!with!this!personal!interests!and!
obedient!to!his!private!whims.”!For!this!reason,!Somerhausen!is!generally!
skeptical!of!the!value!of!rights!declarations:!“it!must!be!admitted!that!in!
contemporary!society!the!strongest!links!between!men!are!not!the!rights!and!
duties!to!which!appeal!is!commonly!made,!but!material!requirements”!(quoted!
in!Goodale!2018b:!166).!And!again:!“To!put!it!another!way,!it!may!be!said!that!
traditional!human!rights!will!not!become!a!reality!until!they!have!been!
completed!by!a!social!organization!which!will!make!it!possible!for!man!to!protect!
himself!against!exploitation.”!
! However,!in!his!own!times,!Somerhausen!did!see!evidence!of!some!
progress!along!these!lines,!specifically!the!1946!French!Constitution!that!formed!
the!basis!for!the!Fourth!Republic,!which!assured!a!minimum!level!of!provision!by!
right!to!both!the!individual!and!the!family;!guaranteed!the!right!to!employment;!
and,!most!importantly,!made!“all!property!and!all!enterprises!that!have!or!that!
may!acquire!the!character!of!a!public!service!.!.!.!the!property!of!society.”!
! Somerhausen!then!concludes!his!response!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!
survey!with!a!fascinating!discussion!of!the!conditions!in!which!what!he!describes!

!
23!
as!the!“progress!of!economic!democracy”!would!require!“limits![on]!certain!
rights.”!As!he!explains:!
!
Under!pretense!that!the!further!we!advance!along!the!path!to!economic!democracy,!the!
more!inconceivable!becomes!the!idea!of!industrial!conflict,!many!people!in!the!West!
have!come!.!.!.!to!recommend!the!ideological!conceptions!which!they!disapprove!of!in!the!
U.S.S.R.,!where!one!notes!that!the!new!social!conditions!have!completely!overthrown!the!
old!concept!of!human!rights!(187).!!
!
! After!arguing!that!such!a!limitation!on!rights!will!lead!to!the!
“establishment!of!relative!scales!of!human!rights!varying!with!the!social!
legislation!or!economic!evolution!(or!revolution)!achieved,”!Somerhausen!then!
addresses!what!is!for!him!the!most!critical!point!in!considering!a!declaration!of!
human!rights!in!light!of!his!commitment!to!socialist!political!economy:!the!
question!of!private!property!as!the!basis!for!class!conflict.!In!Somerhausen’s!
view,!it!would!be!a!wasted!effort!for!the!UN!to!adopt!an!international!bill!of!
human!rights!that!preserves,!and!indeed!codifies,!a!human!right!to!private!
property!since!bourgeois!property!ownership!had!been!proven!theoretically!by!
Marx!and!politically!through!the!example!of!the!Soviet!Union!to!be!incompatible!
with!“economic!democracy.”!Therefore,!the!single!greatest!challenge,!according!
to!Somerhausen,!in!any!project!to!draft!a!new!rights!declaration,!was!to!
“ascertain!the!norm!on!which!can!be!based!the!proclamation!of!rights!implying!a!
direct!curtailment!of!the!right!to!own!property.”!!
!
!

!
24!
Conclusion:$From$Human$Welfare$to$Human$Rights$
!
! In!this!concluding!section,!I!want!to!consider!at!some!length!what!these!
various!responses!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!in!1947!and!1948!have!to!
say!more!generally!about!the!past,!present,!and!future!of!SER,!in!particular!in!
relation!to!recent!work!in!the!critical!history!of!human!rights!that!has!debated!
the!limitations!of!SER!in!relation!to!enduring!socioeconomic!problems!such!as!
global!inequality.!What!we!will!see!is!that!the!underlying!concerns!of!leftist!
intellectual!and!political!leaders!in!the!short!period!before!the!UDHR!was!
adopted!were!never!really!reflected!in!the!later!development!of!the!international!
human!rights!system.!On!the!contrary,!the!problems!foreseen!by!some!with!the!
effort!to!reconcile!a!progressive!blueprint!for!a!new!world!order!with!the!
contradictions!of!global!capitalism!proved!to!insurmountable,!something!that!led!
ultimately!to!systemic!crisis!and!disenchantment.!!
! First,!a!reexamination!of!the!responses!to!the!UNESCO!survey!that!were!
explicitly!framed!by!communist,!socialist,!and!social!democratic!perspectives!
shows!how!much!the!question!of!SER—that!is,!the!question!of!a!legal!entitlement!
to!certain!social!and!economic!provisions—could!only!be!considered!within!a!
much!broader!vision!of!historical!change!and!social!justice.!For!the!more!
doctrinaire!among!the!leftist!respondents,!this!was!not!a!matter!of!choice,!since!
historical!materialism!was!considered!a!scientific!theory!equal!in!significance!to!
the!theory!of!gravity!or!evolution!by!natural!selection.!In!other!words,!Marx!and!
Engels!had!demonstrated!that!historical!change!proceeds!through!a!series!of!
conflicts!between!classes!and!that!justice,!properly!understood,!could!only!be!
achieved!once!this!dialectical!process!was!finally!interrupted—by!the!overthrow!

!
25!
of!the!capitalist!class,!the!withering!away!of!the!state,!and!the!establishment!of!
social!and!economic!communism!as!the!sole!mode!of!global!production,!within!
which!each!receives!what!they!need!and!produces!what!they!can.!For!those!
respondents!who!hewed!less!closely!to!the!historical!materialist!line,!the!
question!of!historical!development!was!more!open;!nevertheless,!SER!could!not!
be!considered!independently!from!a!wider!theory!of!historical!change!and!justice!
within!which!SER!might,!or!might!not,!play!a!role.!!
! Second,!across!the!diverse!responses!to!the!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!
from!the!left!there!is!a!palpable!sense!of!frustration!and!indignation.!From!the!
perspective!of!communist,!socialist,!and!social!democratic!respondents,!the!
frustration!came!from!the!fact!that!they!believed!that!important!questions!of!
social!and!economic!organization—of!which!SER!might!or!might!not!figure—had!
been!definitively!resolved!earlier!in!the!twentieth!century!by!the!Russian!
Revolution!and!the!political!expansion!of!its!underlying!ideology!(despite!the!
permutations).!Again,!for!those!who!were!most!closely!associated!with!formal!
communist!regimes—including!one!from!the!Soviet!Union!(Tchechko)!and!
another!from!Poland!(Hessen,!though!he!was!originally!from!Russia)—the!two!
world!wars!were!the!result!of!the!contradictions!of!capitalism!taken!to!their!
most!destructive.!!
! Indeed,!this!was!why!many!communists!in!the!West!initially!supported!
the!Molotov-Ribbentrop!Pact,!since!they!believed!that!the!coming!of!war!was!a!
necessary!moment!in!the!eventual!demise!of!capitalism!and!imperialism!(its!
“highest!stage,”!as!Lenin!described!it),!a!war!that!for!this!reason!did!not!concern!
the!countries!in!the!more!advanced!stages!of!communist!development.!In!this!
sense,!the!eventual!Soviet!resistance!against!the!Nazis!after!the!Pact!had!been!

!
26!
broken!was!necessary!only!as!a!form!of!collective!self-defense!that!was!
peripheral!to!a!conflict!that!was,!at!its!base,!between!the!Fords!and!Krupps!of!the!
world.!And!among!the!UNESCO!survey!respondents!this!frustration!could!also!
take!the!form!of!indignation,!since!the!proposal!to!draft!a!(bourgeois)!bill!of!
human!rights!seemed!to!ignore!or!deny!(or,!worse,!reject)!the!historical!lessons!
of!the!Russian!Revolution!and!its!aftermath.!!
! Third,!despite!the!extent!of!growing!discord!among!Western!leftists!in!
1947!and!1948!over!what!was!even!then!a!complicated!Stalinist!legacy,!there!
was!nevertheless!a!certain!optimism!in!the!early!postwar!period!that!came!from!
the!sense!that!history!was!moving!to!its!inevitable!conclusion,!one!that!was!
destined!to!bring!a!range!of!revolutionary!improvements!to!the!human!
condition:!the!end!of!class!conflict;!the!end!of!colonialism!(seen!as!an!extension!
of!capitalism);!the!return!of!social!relations!to!their!natural!state!(that!is,!the!end!
of!alienation);!and!a!great!global!economic!leveling!brought!on!by!a!pervasive!
public!ownership!of!the!means!of!production.!From!the!perspective!of!this!wider!
frame!of!midcentury!postwar!historical!optimism,!the!proposal!to!draft!an!
international!declaration!of!human!rights!was!viewed!as!a!distraction!that!could!
hardly!change!the!course!of!events.!!
! It!was,!therefore,!a!profound!historical!irony!that!the!end!of!the!Cold!War!
many!decades!later!would!accelerate!forces!that!would!extinguish!whatever!was!
left!of!this!earlier!leftist!optimism!and!replace!it!with!a!parallel!sense!of!giddy!
historical!inevitability—around!human!rights.!And!yet!the!uncertain!currents!of!
history!continue!in!their!course.!If!Kofi!Annan!could!declare!with!confidence!that!
by!2000!that!the!world!had!entered!the!“age!of!human!rights,”!this!was!certainly!
no!longer!true!as!early!as!2003,!when!images!of!American!soldiers!torturing!and!

!
27!
sexually!humiliating!Iraqi!prisoners!showed!the!world!just!how!much!the!logic!of!
the!national!security!state!had!come!to!replace!what!turned!out!to!be!a!short-
lived!if!pervasive!global!logic!of!human!rights.!!
! And!finally,!the!reconsideration!of!responses!to!the!1947-48!UNESCO!
human!rights!survey!shaped!by!communist,!socialist,!or!social!democratic!
orientations!shows!the!extent!to!which!the!question!of!SER!was!taken!to!be!as!
much!a!moral!as!a!socioeconomic!problem.!More!precisely,!the!question!of!
general!social!and!economic!organization!was!seen!to!reflect!a!more!basic!level!
at!which!relations!to!means!of!production!were!closely!bound!up!with!moral!
value.!This!is!not!to!say!that!respondents!upended!the!Marxist!distinction!
between!base!and!superstructure;!on!the!contrary,!as!with!Somerhausen’s!
response,!they!applied!it!to!the!question!of!human!rights!in!a!way!that!had!clear!
implications.!Only!those!versions!of!human!rights—including!SER—that!
overcame!the!problem!of!alienation!within!capitalism!should!have!a!place!in!the!
new!world!that!was!emerging.!This!implied,!for!most!of!the!traditional!leftist!
respondents,!only!a!version!of!human!rights!compatible!with!the!overthrow!of!
capitalism!and!its!replacement!with!what!Dutt!called!the!“socialist!organization!
of!society.”!For!at!least!some!of!the!respondents,!the!1936!Soviet!Constitution,!
specifically!its!bill!of!rights!and!duties!in!Chapter!Ten,!was!a!model!for!such!a!
postcapitalist!declaration.
5
!!
! Thus,!although!the!communist,!socialist,!and!social!democratic!responses!
to!the!question!of!SER,!and!human!rights!more!generally,!within!the!UNESCO!
human!rights!survey!revealed!a!much!deeper!and!wider!reserve!of!opposition!to!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
5
!For!an!important!study!of!“unequivocal!ambivalence”!over!the!relationship!between!the!social!
and!SER!within$the!center!of!the!liberal!postwar!order,!see!Roberts!2015.!!

!
28!
the!idea!of!a!human!rights!declaration!anachronistically!modeled!on!late-
eighteenth!century!lines,!the!extent!and!significance!of!this!opposition!were!
largely!elided!both!in!the!course!of!the!UNESCO!process!itself!and!much!later,!
when!the!survey!was!rediscovered!and!put!to!ideological!use!in!the!midst!of!
debates!over!the!legitimacy!of!human!rights!that!began!in!the!late-1990s.!Indeed,!
in!this!context!it!is!worth!noting!that!a!bloc!of!either!outright!opposition!or!
milder!forms!of!skepticism!toward!human!rights,!grounded!almost!exclusively!in!
social!and!economic!concerns,!was!present!even!on!the!small!experts!committee!
convened!by!UNESCO!to!evaluate!the!response!to!the!survey.!!
! This!diverse!bloc!included!Somerhausen,!E.!H.!Carr,!and!the!French!
nuclear!physicist!Pierre!Auger.!This!leftist!perspective!on!human!rights!was!not!
reflected!in!the!eventual!UNESCO!report!that!was!sent!to!the!CHR,!which!was!
written!by!the!committee’s!rapporteur,!the!American!philosopher!Richard!
McKeon.!On!the!contrary,!the!report’s!contents!express!quite!closely!his!own!
position!on!human!rights,!which!emphasized!the!importance!of!civil!and!political!
liberties,!although!McKeon!had!urged!UNESCO!to!examine!dissenting!positions!
(not!necessarily!from!the!traditional!left)!in!a!future!study!(a!recommendation!
that!was!never!adopted).!!
! !So!if!the!problematic!UNESCO!human!rights!survey!can!be!used!at!all!as!a!
barometer!of!opinion!on!the!question!of!SER!in!the!short!period!after!the!war!but!
before!the!UDHR!was!adopted!in!December!1948,!it!is!not!exactly!as!a!gauge!that!
was!pointing!randomly!in!many!different!directions.!In!fact,!what!it!shows!is!that!
a!wide!swath!of!what!might!be!called!“progressive”!thinking!on!the!question!was!
deeply!shaped!by!various!forms!of!traditional!leftist!doctrine,!which—despite!its!
obvious!internal!diversity—offered!fairly!clear!answers!to!questions!about!social!

!
29!
and!economic!organization!and!the!trajectory!of!the!postwar!world.!The!place!of!
SER!and!human!rights!more!generally!among!these!answers!was!ambiguous!at!
best.!The!crux!of!the!matter!was!the!fact!that!the!proposal!to!draft!an!
international!(later!“universal”)!bill!of!human!rights!said!nothing!about!the!great!
underlying!conflict!between!capitalist!and!socialist!political!economies.!Indeed,!
to!the!extent!to!which!the!US!appeared!to!be!dominating!the!process!from!its!
side!of!the!Atlantic!as!a!continuation!of!its!more!general!postwar!dominance,!
leftist!commentators!could!be!forgiven!for!viewing!the!human!rights!project!as!a!
sop!to!capitalist!(especially!US)!economic!interests.!!
! All!of!this!sheds!new!light!on!recent!critiques!that!argue!that!human!
rights!were!never!intended!to!create!the!conditions!in!which!global!justice!would!
be!closely!linked!with!material!equality,!or!what!Somerhausen!described!in!his!
response!as!“economic!democracy”!(see,!e.g.,!Goodale!2018c,!Moyn!2018;!but!see!
Sikkink!2017).!If!there!is!any!truth!in!these!claims,!the!reconsideration!of!the!
UNESCO!human!rights!survey!suggests!that!the!incapacity!of!international!
human!rights!to!respond!to!economic!inequality!was!hardwired!into!the!system!
from!the!very!beginning!and,!moreover,!was!anticipated!by!a!diverse!group!of!
actors!for!the!specific!reasons!analyzed!in!this!chapter.!
! But!if!SER!exist!in!structural!tension!with!the!enduring!problem!of!
economic!inequality,!what!is!the!alternative?!Moyn!argues!that!the!compatibility!
of!human!rights!with!global!economic!inequality!merely!underscores!the!
“melancholy!truth!of!our!failure!to!invent!other!ideals!and!movements!to!
confront!it”!(Moyn!2018:!xii).!Yet!for!an!important!subset!of!the!respondents!to!
the!1947-1948!UNESCO!human!rights!survey,!these!ideals!and!movements!were!
already!well-established!by!mid-century.!!

!
30!
! Although!the!state!violence!and!doctrinal!perversions!of!various!actually!
existing!communist!regimes—including!the!Soviet!Union!both!during!and!after!
Stalin,!Cambodia!under!Pol!Pot,!China!in!the!midst!of!the!Cultural!Revolution,!
and!the!list!goes!on—destroyed!state!communism!as!a!viable!alternative,!the!
underlying!Marxist!critique!of!capitalism!from!which!this!woeful!legacy!began!
remains!as!acute!as!ever,!as!Thomas!Piketty!(2014)!has!memorably!reminded!us.!
Thus,!in!considering!both!the!history!of!SER!and!its!future,!it!is!perhaps!less!a!
question!of!invention!and!more!one!of!remembering,!of!conceptual!and!ethical!
recovery,!of!viewing!this!liminal!postwar!period!with!what!I!have!called!
(Goodale!2018b)!a!“period!eye”!to!see!it!for!what!it!was!before!the!“neoliberal!
maelstrom”!(Moyn!2018)!threatened!to!engulf!its!lessons!forever.!!
!
! !

!
31!
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