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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2021
This article outlines one form Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) can take under international human rights law. It builds on the conviction that social enterprises, and WISEs more specifically, are compatible with the foundations and principles human rights are built on. However, there is a lack of engagement with social enterprises generally, in international human rights law. Building on the characteristics of WISEs and substantive equality theories, it is suggested that they can be conceptualized under the heading of affirmative measures. It is expected that this conceptualization can provide a starting point for increasing the visibility of the sector, while simultaneously ensuring its compliance with human rights standards, most notably under the human right to work. The article further points out WISEs and social enterprises’ potential more generally, illustrating how businesses can position themselves as active agents contributing to the realization of human rights.
Conflicts of interest: The author declares none.
Centre for Disability Law and Policy, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland.
Sarah Hofmayer is a PhD candidate and Irish Research Council scholarship holder at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. Her thesis is a comparative study of how social enterprises can further inclusive employment, as set out by the CRPD. She holds a law degree from the University of Vienna and an LL.M. in Disability Law and Policy from NUI Galway. This research and publication has not received any funding but was, however, carried out as part of Sarah Hofmayer’s PhD under an Irish Research Council and Hardiman scholarship. [email protected]
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82 The CRPD for instance entails the principle of equality, underlying the substantive rights, in its Article 3 and the right to equality in Article 5.
83 Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNGA Res 217 A(III), (adopted 10 December 1948), art 1.
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93 Ibid.
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95 Ibid.
96 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, (adopted 21 December 1965, entered into force on 4 January 1969), article 2.1.e).
97 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, A/RES/45/158 (adopted 18 December 1990, entered into force 1 July 2003), art 45.2.
98 See for instance Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, General Comment Number 3 on Women and Girls with Disabilities, CRPD/C/GC/3 (25 November 2016).
99 Jeremy Sarkin and Mark Koenig, ‘Developing the Right to Work: Intersecting and Dialoguing Human Rights and Economic Policy’ (2011) 33:1 Human Rights Quarterly 1.
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102 Ibid.
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107 Article 6 ICESCR.
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116 Ibid, for an overview of the different approaches.
117 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ‘General Comment No 6 on Equality and Non-Discrimination’ CRPD/C/GC/6 (26 April 2018).
118 It was passed in 2006, like the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
119 GC/6, note 117.
120 Catherine A MacKinnon, ‘Substantive Equality Revisited: A Reply to Sandra Fredman’ (2016) 14:3 International Journal of Constitutional Law 739.
121 Ibid.
122 Fredman, note 7.
123 Sandra Fredman, ‘Providing Equality: Substantive. Equality and the Positive Duty to Provide’ (2005) 21:2 South African Journal on Human Rights 163.
124 Theresia Degener, ‘Disability in a Human Rights Context’ (2016) 5 Laws 35.
125 See Article 3 CRPD.
126 Fredman, note 7, 723.
127 Fredman, note 123.
128 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ‘General Recommendation No 32: The Meaning and Scope of Special Measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’ (August 2009) CERD/C/GC/32, para 12.
129 Degener, note 124.
130 CERD/C/GC/32, note 128.
131 Ibid, para 19.
132 GC/6, note 117.
133 Fredman, note 123.
134 Colm O’Cinneide, ‘Positive Action’, ERA (2014), http://www.era-comm.eu/oldoku/SNLLaw/04_Positive_action/2014_April_Cinneide_Paper_EN.pdf (accessed 6 February 2020).
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139 Raskin, note 135, 15.
140 McCrudden, note 137.
141 Young, Rowena, ‘For What It Is Worth: Social Value and the Future of Social Entrepreneurship’ in Nicholls, Alex (ed.), Social Entrepreneurship: New Models of Sustainable Social Change (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) 56 Google Scholar.
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143 John Holloway, Crack Capitalism (Chicago: Pluto Press, 2010).
144 It has to be added at this point that what is considered transformative in this context does not necessarily constitute transformative change for everyone. This term, just like ‘affirmative’, is loaded with meanings and context specific. Nancy Fraser for instance distinguishes between affirmative measures (corrective measures, not entailing system change) and transformative measures (addressing the underlying system), which does not mirror the human rights terminology entirely (Nancy Fraser, Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World (Colombia: Colombia University Press, 2008). It has to be noted that many WISEs are not in a position to redress the underlying structures consistently and while aware of them, work on a small scale, creating what Holloway (note 143) calls a ‘crack’ in the system, counting on a snowball effect creating further opportunities. Improving the situation for those excluded from opportunities, in line with Fraser’s affirmative dimension, does not mean they are not aware of the wider societal issues, as the author of this article has repeatedly observed during field work.
145 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 5: Persons with Disabilities (9 December 1994) E/1995/22, para 12.
146 Ibid, para 11.
147 For a critical stance on the potential of corporations to address questions of power and privilege, thereby undermining their own foundations, also in the context of social enterprises, see Anand Giridharadas, Winners Take All (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2018) 13–34.
148 Defourny and Nyssens, note 1.
149 Davister et al, note 32.
150 In the Irish context see for instance Mary O’Shaugnessy and Patricia O’Hara, ‘Social Enterprise in Ireland – Why Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) Dominate the Discourse’ (2016) 7:4 Nonprofit Policy Forum 461.
151 Ibid.
152 CERD/C/GC/32, note 127, para 36.
153 Arbeitsmarktservice (AMS), ‘Bundesrichtlinie für die Förderung Sozialökonomischer Betriebe (SÖB)’, BGS/AMF/0722/9950/2017, AMF/12-2017 (1 July 2018).
154 Davister et al, note 32.
155 For a detailed discussion of sheltered workshops, the prevalent version of this type, under human rights law, see Charlotte May-Simera, ‘Reconsidering Sheltered Workshops in the Light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)’ (2018) 7:6 Laws.
156 Cornelius et al, note 11.
157 Muhammad Yunus, ‘Social Business Entrepreneurs are the Solution’ in Nicholls, note 141, 43.
158 See for instance Littlewood and Holt, note 80.
159 For an overview see for instance Borzaga, Carlo and Defourny, Jacques, The Emergence of Social Enterprise (London; New York: Routledge, 2004)Google Scholar.