This article contends that efforts to expand the justiciability of economic, social, and cultural
(ESC) rights before supranational tribunals may not always be the best way to increase respect
for these rights on the ground. In the Inter-American System, the authors maintain that
human rights lawyers will best advance social justice and ESC rights when they use
supranational litigation as a subsidiary tool to support advocacy efforts led by domestic social
movements, a role that may often entail litigating ESC claims strategically within the
framework of civil and political violations.