This article intends to further the debate about a possible hierarchy in the implementation of human rights. To this end, it proposes a theory which may serve as a stepping stone towards the achievement of shared and well-defined priorities, taking scarcity as a starting point to analyse the implementation of human rights. The proposed theory builds on the so-called Maslow pyramid which displays a common pattern of behaviour aimed at addressing priorities based on human needs. Scrutinising its methodological principle we develop a theory based on ‘instrumentality’. Although this allows for an informed ranking of human rights, it leaves the substantive importance of human rights untouched

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doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2018.1562917, hdl.handle.net/1765/121453
The International Journal of Human Rights
Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics

Heine, K., & Quintavalla, A. (2019). Priorities and Human Rights. The International Journal of Human Rights, 23(4), 679–697. doi:10.1080/13642987.2018.1562917