Economic and Social Rights in Scandinavian Diplomacy at the United Nations, 1970-2000

The project examines the role of socio-economic human rights in the multilateral diplomacy of the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, and Denmark) at the United Nations from 1970 to 2000. Through a transnational approach to multi-national archival research, the project seeks to understand why the Scandinavian countries increased their support for poverty reduction and the promotion of socio-economic rights at a time when egalitarian politics were on the decline elsewhere in the West. Specifically, the project asks to what extent and why did the Scandinavian countries invoke human rights in debates on the New International Economic Order and the Right to Development.