LAW, INFRASTRUCTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS by MICHAEL B. LIKOSKY
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2007.00408_3.x |
| Author | Steven Vaughan |
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
LAW, INFRASTRUCTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS by MICHAEL B.
LIKOSKY
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 230 pp., £45.00 (hbk),
£19.99 (pbk))
There is, sadly, something ideologically schizophrenic about Law, Infra-
structure and Human Rights. Likosky writes that the book seeks to under-
stand the relationship between human rights and transnational privatized
infrastructure projects (or public-private partnerships, `PPPs'). However, the
text is too complex to be used as a basic introduction to the field and yet is
lacking in sufficient depth for any reader with detailed knowledge of either
infrastructure projects or human rights issues. Likosky uses the phrase
`human rights' without explanation and without reference. Although chapter
3isentitled `Human Rights Risks', there is no substantive definition of these
risks and pithy comments such as, `. . . human rights gain their meaning from
social practice' are of little benefit as regards integrating social, environ-
mental, and governance issues into real-life infrastructure projects. Likosky,
rightly, argues that, `Human rights principles have little meaning if they do
not produce concrete results'. They also, surely, have little meaning if the
lexicon from which they are born is not adequately delineated. When he
writes of `human rights risks', is Likosky including pollution prevention and
abatement risks in addition to concepts of community health and safety and
the displacement of indigenous peoples? Are cultural heritage, biodiversity
conservation, and resource management equally as relevant as labour,
working conditions, and land acquisition? For there to be a convergence of
norms in this area (the aim of Likosky's conceptual United Nations Human
Rights Unit and the final conclusion of Law, Infrastructure and Human
Rights), infrastructure sponsor companies, financial institutions, NGOs, host
governments, and other stakeholders need to be clear on exactly what they
are talking about in the context of `human rights' or they suffer the risk of
lasting harm being caused by problems in translation or vocabulary.
The book charts the myriad forms of PPP, the responses (legal and supra-
legal) by human rights strategists, NGOs, and other stakeholders to human
rights related infrastructure risks and how project companies, financial
institutions, and governments respond to and mitigate such risks. Likosky
moves on to the role of PPPs in the reconstruction of post-war Iraq, a story of
insurgency and counter-insurgency where the United States has sought to
subcontract certain aspects of the infrastructure works to Iraqi companies to
avert attacks on mainly United States based project contractors. In chapter 5,
Likosky turns to the wider concept of `infrastructure as battlefield' and the
notion of economic infrastructure terrorism. Among other examples, the
September 11 World Trade Centre attacks, the bombing of Spanish commuter
trains and United Kingdom tube/bus networks highlight an increasing
terrorist focus on critical national infrastructures. The author argues that
terrorist attacks have, in fact, led to increasing numbers of PPPs as
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ß2007 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2007 Cardiff University Law School
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