Revisiting interdependence in times and terms of crisis

Abstract

Scholars and lawyers have long debated the meaning of the interdependence of human rights. Revisiting that question in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates both that the substantive enjoyment of many human rights is practically interdependent and that that relationship is neither logically nor functionally necessary, as much of the literature imagines. This article introduces the idea of negative interdependence, a term that highlights how crises can trigger chain reactions of rights violations and deprivations that disproportionately affect oppressed and vulnerable people. It argues that negative interdependence provides a crucial analytical and critical framework for the political project of securing the equal enjoyment of human rights for everyone.