The right to development. A study of its influence on international development policy under new labour

Abstract

This thesis will examine how the emerging concept of the right to development in international human rights has influenced the policy and practice of New Labour with regards to their international development work. It will focus on some of the main aspects which the right to development incorporates, such as partnerships and participation, and will examine how these principles have been established in the work of DFID. Its aim is to assess whether the changes in recent development policy and practice, under New Labour, have been the result of the creation of a right to development, or whether the corresponding changes in theory and practice can be attributed to other factors. It will explore the existing literature on the right to development, the historical changes in British development policy, the incorporation of participatory and partnership methods into the work of DFID, and the relationship between security and the right to development. The thesis will conclude with an assessment of the extent to which the changes in policy and practice under New Labour can be attributed to the emerging concept of aright to development, and its corresponding codification in the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, and offer suggestions of the effect that these findings may have on the concept.