In Employment and Human Rights: The International Dimension, Richard Lewis Siegel discusses the historical evolution of the right to employment as well as regional and global efforts to achieve full employment. In the first section of the book, he examines a wealth of material, from English radical pamphlets of the seventeenth century to the recent debates at the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, placing intellectual history in the broadest possible economic, political, and social contexts.

In the second section, Siegel examines global and regional efforts in the present century intended to further the implementation of the right to employment. He traces the development of international cooperation and examines the reasons for the limited accomplishments, including a lack of consensus about the effectiveness of public policies; the politicization and strongly ideological nature of the international debates; and the turf and policy struggles within and among the highly influential intergovernmental organizations and national governments.