Abstract In strong definitions, sustainable development has been argued to imply the prevalence of the environmental dimension over the economic one. The prioritization of the environmental (planet) and (arguably also the) social (people) pillar over the economic (profit) one may require a rather radical departure from assumptions of economic growth, including zero-growth or even de-growth, as argued in post-growth or ecological economics. This article asks the “what if” question. What if unorthodox, ecological economics got it right that post-growth or growth agnosticism is the new economic norm? What are the implications for human rights law and for the field of human rights and development? How could poverty alleviation look like in a growth agnostic scenario? The objective of this article is to draw out in an exploratory way some of the implications of strong definitions of sustainable development for human rights law and its relevance for development. At first, this intellectual exercise may look irrelevant or even cynical in the context of Africa, where more than 40% of the population, more than 300 million people, live in poverty. However, I see two major reasons for also debating in an African context the implications of growth agnosticism for human rights law. First, economic growth does not necessarily lead to economic development, let alone human development, and has typically come at a huge environmental cost. Alternative approaches that focus more directly on human well-being and ecological sustainability may help avoid a simple mimicking of the historical development of the global North. Second, ecological economics shifts the attention from growth to redistribution. The latter is a key challenge within Africa and within African countries, as well as from a global perspective. I examine how to factor in the consequences of post-growth or doughnut economics in the conceptual analysis of socio-economic human rights, and in the role of human rights law in development (cooperation), globally and nationally. In particular, I will try and set a research agenda on two issues that require further examination: the redefinition of obligations of international assistance and cooperation in human rights law and the reconceptualization of equality towards redistributive equality in human rights-based development cooperation interventions.

中文翻译：

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增长与可持续发展：对人权法与扶贫的反思

摘要在严格的定义中，可持续发展被认为隐含着环境因素远胜于经济因素。正如所论证的那样，将环境（行星）和（可以说）社会（人）支柱的优先次序置于经济（利润）之上的优先次序可能需要与经济增长的假设（包括零增长甚至消散）的假设相去甚远。后增长或生态经济学。本文提出“如果”的问题。如果是非正统的话，生态经济学说正确的是，后增长或增长不可知论是新的经济规范？对人权法以及人权与发展领域有什么影响？在增长不可知的情况下，如何减轻贫困？本文的目的是以探索性方式得出可持续发展的强有力定义对人权法的影响及其对发展的意义。首先，在非洲背景下，这种智力活动可能看起来无关紧要，甚至有些愤世嫉俗，因为非洲有40％以上的人口（超过3亿人）生活在贫困中。但是，我看到两个主要原因也使人们在非洲背景下辩论了增长不可知论对人权法的影响。首先，经济增长并不一定会导致经济发展，更不用说人类发展了，而且通常要付出巨大的环境代价。更直接关注人类福祉和生态可持续性的替代方法可能有助于避免简单地模仿全球北部的历史发展。其次，生态经济学将注意力从增长转移到再分配。从全球角度来看，后者是非洲内部和非洲国家内部的主要挑战。我研究如何在社会经济人权的概念分析中考虑后增长或甜甜圈经济学的后果，以及在全球和全国范围内如何考虑人权法在发展（合作）中的作用。特别是，我将尝试针对两个需要进一步研究的问题制定研究议程：