HKS Authors

See citation below for complete author information.

Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy

Abstract

The human rights to water and sanitation have come up for a fair amount of discussion in the last 15 years, especially among lawyers, social scientists, and human rights activists. Relatively little foundational normative work has been done in support of such human rights. The present paper provides philosophical foundations for human rights to water and sanitation, resorting especially to ideas of humanity's common ownership of the earth.

Citation

Risse, Mathias. "The Human Right to Water and Common Ownership of the Earth." HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP13-003, February 2013.