The rise of globalization and the persistence of global poverty are straining the territorial paradigm of human rights. This book asks if states possess extraterritorial obligations under existing international human rights law to respect and ensure economic, social and cultural rights and how far those duties extend. Taking a departure point in theory and practice, the book is the first of its kind to analyze the principal cross-cutting legal issues at stake: the legal status of obligations, jurisdiction, causation, division of responsibility, and remedies and accountability. The book focuses specifically on the role of states but also addresses their duties to regulate powerful nonstate actors. The authors demonstrate that many key issues have been resolved or clarified in international law while others remain controversial or await the development of further practice, particularly the scope of jurisdiction and the quantitative dimension of extraterritorial obligations to fulfil.

"In this globalized and increasingly interdependent world, some of most serious violations result from actions or omissions attributable to actors other than the State on the territory of which the victims are found. This is required reading for anyone interested in how human rights can remain relevant in this new context." --Olivier De Schutter, Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and at the College of Europe (Natolin), United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

Malcolm Langford is a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, and is the Director of the Centre's Socio-Economic Rights Programme. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley. Wouter Vandenhole is a Professor of Human Rights Law, holds the UNICEF Chair in Children's Rights at the Faculty of Law of the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and is the Co-Director of the Law and Development Research Group. Martin Scheinin is a Professor of Public International Law at the European University Institute. He was a Member of the UN Human Rights Committee (1997–2004) and the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (2005–11). Willem van Genugten is a Professor of International Law at Tilburg University (The Netherlands) and Dean of The Hague Institute for Global Justice. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota and Extraordinary Professor of International Law at the North-West University, South Africa.