Necessary Evil

How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights

David Kinley

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Hardback

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English

Oxford University Press
15 March 2018

International relations; Human rights; Economics & Business; International economics; Political economy; Economic geography

Finance governs almost every aspect of modern life. Every day, we use the financial system to mortgage our homes, to insure our health, to invest in our futures through education and pension funds, to feed and clothe ourselves, to be paid for our labor, and to help others in need. As the fuel of capitalism, finance has been a major force for human progress for centuries. Yet it has periodically generated disasters too, from the Great Depression to the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis.

In writing Necessary Evil, eminent human rights law scholar David Kinley spent ten years immersed in researching finance's many facets - from how it is raised and what it is spent on, to when it is gambled and who wins and who loses - to produce this unique account of how finance works from a human rights perspective. He argues that while finance has historically facilitated many beneficial trends in human well-being, a sea change has occurred in the past quarter century. Since the end of the Cold War, the finance sector's power has grown by leaps and bounds, to the point where it is now out of control. Oversight of the sector has been weakened by deregulation, as powerful lobbyists have persuaded our leaders that what is good for finance is good for the economy as a whole. Kinley shows how finance has become society's master rather than its servant, and how, as a consequence, human rights concerns are so often ignored, sidelined, or crushed. Using episodes of financial malfeasance from around the globe - from the world's banking capitals to the mines of central Africa and the factories of East Asia - Kinley illustrates how the tools of international finance time and time again fail to advance the human condition. Kinley also suggests financial policies that can help protect and promote human rights and thereby regain the public trust and credibility it has so spectacularly lost over the past decade.

An authoritative account of the extraordinary social consequences of the financial system at the heart of the world's economy, Necessary Evil will be an essential tool for anyone committed to making global capitalism a fairer and more effective vehicle for improving the lives of many, and not just providing for the comfort of a few.

By: David Kinley
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 160mm, Width: 239mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 504g
ISBN: 9780190691127
ISBN 10: 0190691123
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 15 March 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Chapter 1: Strange Bedfellows Chapter 2: Living Together Chapter 3: Flirting with Risk Chapter 4: Private Matters Chapter 5: Public Affairs Chapter 6: Cheating Chapter 7: Counseling and Reconciliation Conclusion

David Kinley is Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney and an expert member of Doughty Street Chambers in London. He is a former Fulbright Senior Scholar and has previously taught at the Sorbonne and Cambridge University. He is the co-author of The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (winner of the American Society of International Law's Best Book Award) and author of Civilizing Globalization.

Reviews for Necessary Evil: How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights

A challenging and engagingly written book. Kinley's analysis is impressively wide-ranging, encompassing private and public finance issues including investment, tax and aid; risk and financial regulation; and human rights-impacting shortcomings in global financial architecture. He sets out a convincing blueprint for rendering the global financial system supportive rather than subversive of human rights. * Aoife Nolan, Professor of International Human Rights Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham * A profound human rights analysis of the financial system that offers a disturbing insight of how finance has often failed to advance the human condition. But Kinley's book goes further by offering much needed suggestions for policies that can actually help make finance work for human rights. * Nicola Jagers, Chair International Human Rights Law, Tilburg Law School, Commissioner at the National Human Rights Institute * This important new book is a powerful and eloquent demonstration of how costly this apparent separation between finance and human rights is to society and of how much we can gain from incorporating human rights considerations into finance. * Danny Bradlow, Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American University * When we get to the point where well-known financial figures refer to the sector as a 'weapon of mass destruction,' a book that explores how we got to this depressing point - and more importantly - where we go from here to repair the 'necessary evil' is most welcome. * Margaret Wachenfeld, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Human Rights and Business * Kinley reminds us that the financial system should work for the benefit of society and not the other way around. * Natalie Bugalski, Co-Founder, Inclusive Development International * David Kinley's latest call to arms represents indispensable reading for all those who care about and are working toward more sustainable finance, business, and global good governance. * Chip Pitts, Lecturer, Stanford and Oxford Universities, Former Chief Legal Officer, Nokia, Inc., and former Chair of Amnesty International USA * [A] provocatively argued book ... thoughtful reading for the humanitarian audience. * Kirkus *