In light of the expanding critical academic literature on the social and ecological limits to a growth-based paradigm, this article investigates the ties between economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights) and economic growth in the case law of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). It shows that the CESCR assumes economic growth to generally improve the realisation of ESC rights because it increases States’ financial capacity and leads to employment creation. However, while the Committee deems that growth models should be inclusive, the CESCR never adopts a critical perspective on the possibility or desirability to pursue economic growth indefinitely. Despite recent evidence on the contested possibility to decouple economic activity from resource use, the Committee’s recent ecological turn remains embedded in the growth paradigm. This article argues that the Committee should advocate towards decreasing the dependence of ESC rights on growth, especially when a State has reached a certain level of affluence.
Ce compte rendu a été établi par le groupe de participants français signataires de cet article. Ils souhaitent que ce texte n'apparaisse pas aux lecteurs comme un simple résumé de chaque exposé. Ils ont essayé de montrer les idées nouvelles, de décrire les techniques particulièrement intéressantes et d'exposer les résultats et les inter prétations originales relevées dans les 36 communications qui ont été présentées.
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