INTRODUCTION

States are obligated to fulfil, protect and respect basic economic and social human rights and ensure equal enjoyment of these rights for all. Laissez-faire free-market-centred or neoliberal economic theories, models and policies negatively affect or sometimes violate these human rights, particularly those of women, racial and ethnic minorities and other economically marginalized groups. The impact of the neoliberal economic theories, models and policies adopted by national governments often crosses national borders, affecting human rights in other countries. This is considered strong evidence of the extraterritorial implications of national economic policies, models and policies for human rights.

In this chapter, alternative economies are understood as economic relations and activities that challenge, address or replace these negative consequences of economic relations and the actions of laissez-faire free market economics or neoliberalism. Their concepts, theories and models often diverge from those of mainstream neoclassical economics, on which laissez-faire free-market-based or neoliberal economies, such as market equilibrium, rationality and methodological individualism, are founded.

The interest of policy-makers, activists and scholars in alternative economies is growing more than ever, because of the incapability of current economic systems to prevent and address crises such as climate change and the extraordinarily high levels of inequality. Search for viable alternative economies guaranteeing human rights is one of the most urgent tasks, since unexpected challenges such as Covid-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian war have exacerbated the degree of inequality and increased negative social and economic impacts, especially as politicians with a fascist leaning mobilize those who feel injustice in the current economic and social systems to attack democratic institutions and shape economic relations (Watkins & Seidelman 2019).

In this regard, it is key to address the following questions. What are alternative economies viable, egalitarian and ecologically sound enough to address the negative consequences of a laissez-faire free market? What concepts, theories and models underpin these alternative economies? Do these alternative economies have human rights concerns in their concepts, theories models and/or practices? If they do, in what sense are they human-rights-based economies?

Aiming to answer these questions, this chapter reviews diverse economic models and approaches considered alternatives to the current neoliberal laissez-faire market economy. The chapter explains alternative economies’ conceptual and theoretical underpinnings, focusing on their differences from those with a foundation in the laissez-faire market economy.