Worth what we decide: a defense of the right to leisure

One of the most routinely philosophically and politically attacked sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is article 24: 'Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.' Defending against these attacks is important. For example, only the USA and Somalia, among UN member states, are not parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). One reason for the USA's status is political opposition to CRC article 31, which maintains 'States parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure...' Our article defends article 24 from well-known criticisms. We maintain rights are social constructs and, as evidence of social construction, we provide a genealogy of article 24. We also address the social psychology of rest/leisure and trends in actual state practice.