Taking Human Dignity, Poverty and Empowerment of Individuals More Seriously: Rejoinder to Alston * Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann ** Full text available: PDF format *** Discussion Forum Alston's Comment on my article1 systematically misrepresents my publications and imputes to me absurd and irresponsible views which I have rejected in more than 200 publications over 30 years (Section 1). Without taking into account my books on national and international constitutional law, and without any attempt to test or falsify my `constitutional approach' and the historical evidence supporting it, Alston's criticism of `methodological shortcomings' seeks refuge in polemics (Section 2). Alston ignores the vast European literature and legal practice in support of `social market economies', and fails to identify and discuss the sources of our different human rights conceptions, i.e., my broader interpretation of human dignity and of personal liberty rights (Section 3). I hope that this short rejoinder will help readers understand that Alston's nightmare of a Don Quixotte attacking the UN system exists only in the author's aggressive fantasies. * Editors Note: The Editors of the EJIL welcomed the request of Professor Petersmann to publish a rejoinder to the comment by Philip Alston and also welcomed his wish to have the rejoinder published in the same issue as the comment. This, however, limited both the time and space available to Profesor Petersmann to prepare his rejoinder. The entire Petersmann-Alston exchange will be posted on the website (www.ejil.org), including the longer version of Professor Petersmann's paper to which he makes reference in his rejoinder. Both authors have been invited, should they wish, to amplify their comments on the website. ** Professor (joint chair) for International and European Law and Policy at the European University Institute and its Robert Schuman Centre in Florence, Italy. In view of the page limitations imposed on both my article and this rejoinder, I refer to the longer responses to my critics in: Petersmann, `Time for Integrating Human Rights into the Law of Worldwide Organizations', Jean Monnet Working Paper 7/2001, Harvard Law School. *** The free viewer (Acrobat Reader) for PDF file is available at the Adobe Systems. 1 Petersmann, `Time for a United Nations "Global Compact" for Integrating Human Rights into the Law of Worldwide Organizations: Lessons from European Integration', 13 EJIL (2002) 621.
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