Hilal Elver’s published several books, book chapters, and multiple articles, listed below. You can also find a full list of her commentary in blog posts and op-eds here.
Featured Publications
Human Rights Based Approach to Sustainable Agricultural Policies and Food Security
BOOK CHAPTER | International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018 (pp.347-372)
In 2017, food insecurity and malnutrition increased worldwide. This increase in global hunger poses a significant threat to the realization of the universal right to food, and is at odds with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by 2030. While the major reason for such an increase is protracted conflicts in various countries, climate change and extreme weather events, intensive industrial agriculture, failure of poverty eradication, and rural-urban development are contributing factors. Most of the time, these situations trigger each other and create severe food crises that could even reach alarming levels of starvation and famine. The importance of responding to root causes of food insecurity and providing long-term policies that focus on protecting vital productive resources while respecting and protecting human rights, especially the right to food and right to access to land and natural resources in the face of climate change, is more urgent than ever to avoid disasters.
Secular Constitutionalism and Muslim Women’s Rights: The Turkish Headscarf Controversy and Its Impact on the European Court of Human Rights
BOOK CHAPTER | Religion and Equality Law (pp.289-308)
In recent years, there have been major public debates in several European countries about the acceptability of Muslim females wearing a headscarf or hijab. Excluding religiously devoted Muslim women from education and public services in some countries raises serious human rights violations in societies that would otherwise qualify as liberal democracies. In this chapter I explore the recent Turkish headscarf controversy that led Turkey to political turmoil to show its complex implications on domestic and transnational legal order. The Turkish headscarf controversy is one of the earlier and deeply complex cases. Furthermore, the Turkish reliance on secularism to justify denying women who wear headscarves into public spaces became a model legal argument for European courts. Turkey is a unique example from the perspective of secularism and religiosity because despite its “strictly secular” governmental structure, the overwhelming majority of its population adheres to what I call “societal Islam.”
The Headscarf Controversy: Secularism and Freedom of Religion
BOOK | Oxford University Press 2012
This book deals with an ongoing controversy of the Muslim women’s headscarf from the legal and sociological perspective in democratic countries. It depicts headscarf controversy and argues with the interaction of religion/secularism, law/politics, multiculturalism, and gender politics. In recent years, there have been major public policy debates, court decisions and laws about the acceptability of Islamic practices, specifically women and girls wearing a headscarf or “hijab”. These has produced concerns in the West and to some extend Muslim secular countries, about how to accept, accommodate, and tolerate the Muslim women’s forms of religious observance. It is an interdisciplinary study that compares the legal, sociological and political debates on this issue particularly in Turkey and in various European countries (such as France and Germany), and parallel practices and patterns in the United States. At first glance, the main preoccupation of all these countries is to strike the proper balance between liberal constitutional principles and the accommodation of Islamic practices. Beyond this, there are unacknowledged desires and political ambitions that skilfully manipulated policy pertaining to headscarf issue. This book calls attention to these hidden preoccupations and explores the exclusion of pious Muslim women from the public sphere in the name of human rights, women’s rights, equality, secularism, democracy, and liberalism. The book relies on comparative law method, and by so doing highlights some aspects of the headscarf debate that are ignored if scholarship is directed only at a single country.
New constitutionalism and the environment: A quest for global law
BOOK CHAPTER | New Constitutionalism and World Order 2014
In this chapter I interrogate the relationship between the legal and institutional frameworks of economic globalization associated with the concept of ‘new constitutionalism’ (e.g. the liberalization of trade and capital movements) and their impact on ecological principles. There is a constant tension between new constitutionalism of disciplinary neo-liberalism and the ethical, normative principles of environmental law. My analysis implies the necessity for a new global environmental law to protect our common future, to overcome major environmental and human crises. This new legal order must be based on cosmopolitan ethical principles, respect for human rights, justice and equity; it should supervene over the national interests and sovereignty concerns of individual states in order to protect the global commons; and finally it should follow transparent, democratic, participatory institutional frameworks. In this proposed order, previously excluded groups that are victims of adverse effects of climate change and other environmental degradation must be included in decision-making mechanisms. Global environmental law should provide an ethical foundation and permit action on behalf of the whole of humanity rather than powerful, hegemonic states, international organizations and the interests of multinational corporations. International environmental law in the 1970s brought innovative principles, such as the precautionary principle, the concept of common but differentiated responsibility, of intergenerational justice, of limited sovereignty and of sustainable development, and in so doing, extended the horizons of traditional international law. However, by internalizing these principles, states are experiencing competing regulatory options. These options involve the protection of the environment, but they also require the safeguarding of free enterprise principles. Such principles aim to protect the free movement of international capital and investment, to remove protectionism, and, to a greater or lesser extent, to limit social and environmental services that were previously the responsibility of state or local governments. These principles provide easy access to resources for foreign capital and limit governmental powers, shifting regulation to the private sector and promoting pro-market reforms.
Secular constitutionalism and Muslim women’s rights: The Turkish headscarf controversy and its impact on the European court of human rights
BOOK CHAPTER | Feminist Constitutionalism Global Perspectives (pp.413-432)
In recent years, there have been major public debates in several European countries about the acceptability of Muslim females wearing a headscarf or hijab. Excluding religiously devoted Muslim women from education and public services in some countries raises serious human rights violations in societies that would otherwise qualify as liberal democracies. In this chapter I explore the recent Turkish headscarf controversy that led Turkey to political turmoil to show its complex implications on domestic and transnational legal order. The Turkish headscarf controversy is one of the earlier and deeply complex cases. Furthermore, the Turkish reliance on secularism to justify denying women who wear headscarves into public spaces became a model legal argument for European courts. Turkey is a unique example from the perspective of secularism and religiosity because despite its “strictly secular” governmental structure, the overwhelming majority of its population adheres to what I call “societal Islam.” The headscarf controversy also situated freedom of religion in context of gender claims and Islamic culture. Articulating the specific problem in relation to Muslim women raises complex arguments about the supposed incompatibility between women’s rights and Islam. Especially after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, stereotyping of Islamic societies became widespread and fear of political Islam created a real concern in mainstream American and European public opinion. The general public has engaged in racial profiling, which has produced incidents of violence, including attacks on women wearing headscarves. This eventually gave rise to racialization of Muslims by way of construction of the “Muslim women’s outlook.” Judicial cases provide an undeniable argument that emerging Islamophobia in the West and elsewhere negatively affects Muslim women’s daily life, education, and participation in the workplace. There are a range of policy outcomes and various degrees of tolerance and/or discrimination against Muslim women because of uneven domestic political matters, cultural differences, and constitutional orders of various countries.
The emerging global freshwater crisis and the privatization of global leadership
BOOK CHAPTER | Global Crises and the Crisis of Global Leadership (pp.107-124)
This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to and the multifaceted laws and policy perspectives governing the use of global freshwater. Its focus is also on the global leadership strategies and struggles concerning access to a vital resource for human survival. This struggle involves global market forces and civil society movements. It concerns issues of environmental justice and human security. On the one hand, neoliberal free market principles and new constitutional forms of international economic and trade law have led to the treatment of vital resources such as water as saleable ‘commodities’. On the other hand, numerous civil society organizations and human rights lawyers argue that access to drinking water should be a fundamental human right. This chapter argues for an approach to water governance that treats water as a fundamental human right rather than simply as a commodity that is best governed by private corporations and market forces. Introduction: freshwater scarcity This chapter explores some of the legal, political and economic structures and processes that are shaping leadership strategies for addressing the emerging global freshwater crisis. It discusses international water laws, control over the market for freshwater supply and the various political forces shaping global water policies. It addresses these questions not simply from the viewpoint of the efficient allocation of water as a commodity but, more fundamentally, as a question of access to water from a human rights perspective. This clash of perspectives will shape the future governance of global freshwater supply in coming years.
Turkey’s Rivers of Dispute
ARTICLE | Middle East Report 40(254):14-18
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Hilal Elver focuses on a report prepared for the center-right Washington think-tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, forecast that water, not oil, would be the dominant source of conflict in the Middle East by the year 2000. There is a false perception that Turkey is water-rich by world standards. Turkey has about 1,600 cubic meters of consumable water per person per year. Countries classified as water-rich have 8,000-10,000 cubic meters per capita per year on the global scale. Public investment in GAP has fallen steadily since the 1990s, in part because it is politically charged within Turkey. The global water giants and their associated think tanks have only grown more powerful as climate change, population increase and the resulting water scarcity have made water a more lucrative commodity. Turkey agreed to increase the flow of the Euphrates as a gesture of good will in July 2009.
Does the war against Iraq constitute a “crime of aggression”? A ruling of the House of Lords (Turkish)
ARTICLE | Uluslararası İlişkiler / International Relations Vol. 4, No. 14 (pp.85-119)
This article analyzes a decision of House of Lords (February, 2006), the United Kingdom’s highest court, concerned with anti-war demonstrations objecting on the basis of international law to British participation in the Iraq war. This “civil disobedience” case alleged that the accused had unlawfully caused damage at military bases in England, as well as unlawfully trespassing on government property. The defendants asked the Law Lords to decide whether they should be allowed a necessity defense acknowledging the commission of a lesser crime as necessary to prevent the government of the United Kingdom (UK) from committing what they regarded as a far greater crime, a “crime of aggression.” The House of Lords decided that the crime of aggression is an international crime that is part of customary international law, but they refused to assess the legality of the decision by the UK government to launch the war, or to decide whether the war constituted a “crime against peace or war of aggression.” The Law Lords concluded that such questions were not for the courts to determine unless directed to do so by an act of Parliament.
The emerging global freshwater crisis and the privatization of global leadership
BOOK CHAPTER | Global Crises and the Crisis of Global Leadership (pp.107-124)
This chapter deals with a key component of global crisis: the nature of, access to and the multifaceted laws and policy perspectives governing the use of global freshwater. Its focus is also on the global leadership strategies and struggles concerning access to a vital resource for human survival. This struggle involves global market forces and civil society movements. It concerns issues of environmental justice and human security. On the one hand, neoliberal free market principles and new constitutional forms of international economic and trade law have led to the treatment of vital resources such as water as saleable ‘commodities’. On the other hand, numerous civil society organizations and human rights lawyers argue that access to drinking water should be a fundamental human right. This chapter argues for an approach to water governance that treats water as a fundamental human right rather than simply as a commodity that is best governed by private corporations and market forces. Introduction: freshwater scarcity This chapter explores some of the legal, political and economic structures and processes that are shaping leadership strategies for addressing the emerging global freshwater crisis. It discusses international water laws, control over the market for freshwater supply and the various political forces shaping global water policies. It addresses these questions not simply from the viewpoint of the efficient allocation of water as a commodity but, more fundamentally, as a question of access to water from a human rights perspective. This clash of perspectives will shape the future governance of global freshwater supply in coming years.
International environmental law, water and the future
ARTICLE | Third World Quarterly 27(5):885-901
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Other Writings (& Interviews)
Academic Articles
“Fome Zero: How Brazil’s success story became a model for achieving the right to food” in Graziano da Silva, J. (Coord.). 2019. From Fome Zero to Zero Hunger: A global perspective. Rome, FAO.
“Urban Resilience and Right to Adequate Food & Nutrition” September, 2016 Torino;
“How to Interpret Right to Adequate Food?” September 2016, Milan Center for Food Law and Policy,
“The Challenges and Developments of Right to Food in 21stCentury: Reflections of the UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food,” in Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs (2016);
“Embedding nutrition in a human rights agenda”
“Post Paris Challenges and Concerns,” co-authored by Hilal Elver & Richard Falk.(Cosa davvero e successo a parigi durante la conferenza sul clima atmosferico -Climate Change); in Etica Economia, February 14, 2016;
“Questioning Water Policy: Israel and Palestine” POMEAS Policy Paper, July 2, 2104, Istanbul Policy Center, Sabanci University
“Double standard in Law: “Prevention of Violence Against Women Act and Discrimination” Conference Proceeding, University of Istanbul, Faculty of Law, September 2012;
“Racializing Islam before and after 9/11,” Journal of Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, University of Iowa Law School, V. 21, Nr.1, 2012;
“Global Law” (in collaboration with Richard Falk) Entry for Encyclopedia of Global Studies, Sage Publication, 2012
“Toward Equality in a Highly Unequal World: The Fate of the Least Developed Countries, ” in Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, V. 10, Nr. 4, 2012;
“Turkey Rivers of Dispute”, in Running Dry, Middle East Report, Vol 40., Spring 2010
“The European Union Enlargement Policy: Turkey versus Eastern European Countries”, (2009), in Memoriam to Haluk Konuralp, Bilkent University, Turkey.
“Warfare and Wearfare in Turkey,” April 2008, in MER Online(journalistic article).
“Right to Access to Water: A Human Rights Perspective,” in International Human Rights: Critical Perspective, Vol II, (2008).
“From Nuremberg to London: Is War in Iraq Constitute a Crimes against Peace?” (Turkish), Journal of International Relations, Special Issue on War and International Law, V.4, Nr.14, Summer 2007, Ankara, Turkey.
“Turkish Legal History: Transplantation of Law from West to the East,” in Rethinking Classics, Vol II, Bilim ve Sanat Vakfi, Istanbul, 2007.
“International Environmental law, Water and the Future” Third World Quarterly, (2006).
“Palestinian/Israeli Water Conflict and Implementation of International Water Law Principles,” in Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Spring 2005, Volume 28, Nr.3, pp. 421-447.
“Communal Rights and Solidarity Between Generations: An Islamic Perspective,” in Future Generations Journal, 1998, No.26, Malta.
“Country Report on the Environment: Turkey from 1994 to 1997,” in the Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Oxford University Press, 1998.
“Women Issues in Turkey,” in the Journal of Mediterranean Environmental Rights, 1996, V.2, Malta.
“With Future Generation Perspective Religion, Nature and Technology in the Mediterranean, in Our Responsibilities Towards Future Generations: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives,” Conference Proceeding, Malta 1994.
“Court Decisions Related to the Environment” (Turkish), in The Environment, Ankara, 1993.
“Environment and Sustainable Development Principles” (Turkish), in Conference Proceedings on Sustainable Development, Turkish Environment Foundation, Ankara, 1992.
“Marine Pollution and Compensation in Case of Sea Accidents” (Turkish), in the Journal of the University of Ankara School of Law, 1989.
“In Memoriam: Prof. Dr, Kudret Ayiter,” (German), in the Journal of the University of Ankara School of Law, 1988.
“Liability and Responsibility Systems in Classical Roman Law” (Turkish), in the Journal of University of Ankara, School of Law, 1986.
Books
The Headscarf Controversy: Secularism and Freedom of Religion (New York: the Oxford University Press, 2012)
Peaceful Uses of International Rivers: The Case of the Euphrates and Tigris River Basin, (New York: Transnational Publishers, 2002)
Trade, Environment & Universities, (Turkish), (Ankara: Turkish Chamber of Trade 1992).
Reimagining Climate Change, co-editor with Paul Wapner, Routledge (2016)
International Human Rights: Critical Perspective, Five Volumes, co-editor with Richard Falk and Lisa Hajjar (U.K.:Routledge, 2008)
Turkish Environmental Law and Legislation, (Turkish) (Ankara: Turkiye Cevre Vakfi Yayini, 1993)
Chapters
“Human Rights Based Approach on Sustainable Agricultural Policies and Food Security” in International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018, Ginzky, H., Dooley, E., Heuser, I.L., Kasimbazi, E., Markus, T., Qin, T. (Eds.)
“Climate Change and Human Security in developing Countries” (Forthcoming book) UNU Project on 2030 Future of the World
“Overcoming Food Insecurities in an Era of Climate Change”, in Reimagining Climate Change, eds, Wapner & Elver, Routledge Forthcoming 2016
“Den Bauern Land geben und die Menchen ernahren,” ( in German) in Zwishen Fairtarde und Profit, eds: Fausta Borsani & Thomas Grobly, Stampfli Verlag, 2015
“New Constitutionalism and the Environment: A Quest for Global Law” in New Constitutionalism, (eds.)Stephen Gill and Claire Cutler, Cambridge University Press (2014)
“ In a Modernity Process Woman, Family and Violence” in Family and Violence, Foundation of Turkish Journalists, Istanbul 2013
“Secular Constitutionalism and Muslim Women’s Rights: the Turkish headscarf controversy and its impact on the European Court of Human Rights,” in Feminist Constitutionalism: Global Perspectives,eds.: Beverly Baines, Daphne Barak-Erez, Tsvi Kahana, (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
“The Emerging Global Freshwater Crises and the Privatization of Global Leadership” in Global Crises and the Crisis of Global Leadership, ed. By Stephen Gill, (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
“International Environmental Law, Water and the Future,” in International Law and the Third World: Reshaping Justice, Eds.: Balakrsihnan Rajagopal & Richard Falk, (U.K.: Routledge, 2008)
“Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights: Evaluating the Decision of European Human Rights Court of 2005,” (Turkish) in Turkiye’nin Ortulu Gercegi, Hazar Foundation Press, Istanbul, Turkey (2007)
“Gender Equality from a Constitutional Perspective: The Case of Turkey”, in The Gender of Constitutional Jurisprudence, Eds.: Beverly Baines and Ruth Rubio-Marin, (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
“Hydro-politics in the Middle East,” in The International Relations of the Middle East, Ed.: Tareq Y. Ismael, Asghate Pub. (2000)
“Comparing Global Perspectives: The 1982 UNCLOS and 1992 UNCED” (Co-author with Richard Falk) in Order for the Oceans at the Turn of the Century, eds.: D.Vidas and W. Ostreng, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Kluwer: The Netherlands (1999)
“Religions, Nature and Technology in the Mediterranean,” in Caring for Future Generations: Jewish, Christian and Islamic Perspectives, eds.: Emmanuel Agius and Lionel Chircop, Adamantine Press: England, (1998)
“Emerging Transboundary Water Conflict in the Middle East?” in Water Scarcity, The Environment, Sustainable Development and Equity: South Perspectives, Center for the Global South, American University, Washington DC. Conference Proceeding on Water Politics, 1998
Editorials and Opinions
Is food security a greater danger than the virus? (‘Virüsten büyük tehlike gıda güvenliği mi?’), 24 April 2020, in Fikir Turu.
Scottish Food Coalition Letter to the First Minister – June 2019, 21 June 2019, Scottish Food Coalition, Hilal Elver, co-signatory
Scientific integrity: The next battleground for human rights co-authored with Melissa Shapiro, 29 March 2019, in The Hill
“Global warming, climate policy, and the right to food” (‘Erderwärmung, Klimapolitik und das Recht auf Nahrung”) FIAN Series “70 years of human rights” 19 November 2018
“An alternative to the agricultural industry” co-authored with Smita Narula and Marc Edelmann, 19 November 2018, in Frankfurter Rundschau
“We cannot end hunger by 2030 without human rights,” co-authored with Soledad García Muñoz, Nadia Aït Zaï, 18 October 2018, in Devex.
“When agricultural workers go hungry,” co-authored with Melissa Shapiro, 18 October 2018, in Project Syndicate.
“A Call to Protect Food Systems from Genetic Extinction Technology: The Global Food and Agriculture Movement Says ‘No’ to Release of Gene Drives” 16 October 2018, Hilal Elver, co-signatory
“How to end Hunger”, co-authored with Jomo Kwame Sundaram, 8 July 2016, in Project Syndicate.
“Biofuels are Synonymous with high, volatile food prices”, Hilal Elver & Olivier De Schutter, 23 February 2015, in Euractiv
“Why are there still so many hungry people in the world?”, 19 February 2015, in The Guardian
“The World cannot afford more Limas”, 20 December 2014, in Al Jazeera America,
“Why are people with disabilities being denied their right to food?”, With Rachel Tardi , 3 December 2014, in The Guardian
“What comes after Ebola: Hunger”, Nov. 28, 2014, Al Jazeera English
“Turkey’s first ladies and the headscarf controversy”, Sep. 20, 2014, in Al Jazeera English
“More talk, little action from climate change diplomacy”, April 28, 2014. in Al Jazeera English
“Climate Change and the Food Security Dimension”, April 25, 2014, in Al Jazeera America
“Celebrating Water Cooperation: Red Sea to Dead Sea”, Jan. 24, 2014, in Al Jazeera English
“Healing wounds: seeking closure for the Armenian Genocide”, in collaboration with Richard Falk, Today’s Zaman and Al Jazeera, Jan. 9, 2012
“10 years after Islamophobia in the West”, Today’s Zaman, Sep. 11, 2011
“UN Istanbul Summit: Development, Poverty and Justice” (Turkish) Radikal, May 11, 2011
“Somalia tragedy, extremists and Climate Change”, Today’s Zaman, Aug. 23, 2011
“Reluctant Partners: Turkey and the European Union”, in MERIP, Summer 2005
“The World Commission on Dams Challenges the Ilusu Dam”, Hurriyet Daily News, Mar. 16, 2001
Interviews
“L’Italia inserisca il diritto all’alimentazione sana nella sua Constituzione” Terra Nuova, Italy, April 2020.
“Story in Focus, Interview with Hilal Elver, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food” (Famine, Conflict and the Crime of Starvation), Starvation Accountability Project, Global Rights Compliance, 30 April 2019
“Why Food Insecurity Is a Global Farmworker Issue” Civil Eats, Lisa Held, 21 December 2018
A Chat with Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Slow Food, 23 August 2018
Hilal Elver on Right to Food – 7th International Forum on Food and Nutrition, 1 December 2016 (Video – English & Italian)
UN Special Rapporteur Hilal Elver Discusses Global Food and Human Rights Issues – Rose Hayden-Smith, Link TV, 17 August 2016 (Article – English)
#Gender, the right to #food and future priorities: a interview with Hilal Elver, the UN’s 3rd Rapporteur on the Right to Food – Geoff Tansey, August 2016 (Audio – English)
Interview with Hilal Elver: U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food – Food Tank, June 2016 (Article – English)
Interview with Hilal Elver on the Problem of Global Nutrition – Família Cristã , August 2015 (Video – English & Portuguese)
Interview with Hilal Elver – Secours Catholique Caritas France, 26 May 2015 (Video – English & French)
İklim Değişikliği (Climate Change) – Dünya Gündemi, TRT Türk (World Agenda, TRT Turk), 17 April 2015 (Video – Turkish)
The Right to Food: An Interview With Hilal Elver – Leslee Goodman, The MOON Magazine, November 2014 (Article – English)
10 Years of the Right to Food Guidelines – Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 3 July 2014 (Video – English)