Privatizing Human Rights: Destroying the Social Contract and Empowering Corporate Actors

This open access book outlines the urgent response needed to address contemporary forms of privatization, which are transforming the foundations of our societies and dramatically undermining human rights. Corporations are being given control over water, healthcare, housing, public transportation, child welfare services, elder care, and more.Across the world, as investors seek new returns and states cope with public finances devastated by tax cuts, unsustainable debt, and the rising costs of the climate crisis, new forms of privatization are being promoted by governments, consulting firms, international financial institutions, and development actors as the answer.Their pitch is based upon a mythology that extols the virtues of an idealized market while ignoring the heavy human rights costs incurred. Building on the latest evidence and in-depth case studies, this book shows how the touted ‘efficiency’ of the private sector is often predicated on increasing fees, reducing services, destro