Local autonomy as a human right

The case for interpreting 'local autonomy' as a human right is presented first on legal and moral grounds, then on the empirical basis of the worldwide efforts by local communities to assert policy control within their respective local territories. Three types of cases exemplify such assertions: rural village and riparian communities struggling to retain control of their lands and riverine areas; attempts by local authorities to broaden decentralisation reforms beyond the formal agenda; and the reliance on 'home rule' juridical traditions by local communities within the US to either resist or embrace 'fracking' proposals from external agents to extract deposits of natural gas. Such manifestations of the quest for local policy control strengthen the overall argument favouring the case for interpreting local autonomy as worthy of consideration as a human right.