Global business and human rights governance: the case of corporate social responsibility

This contribution examines the state of the art on how CSR has been conceptualized in relation to global governance, human rights and democracy. It aims to conceptualize CSR as global human rights governance and shed light on how CSR can effect change in terms of the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of global business and human rights governance, as well as the role of business enterprises in it. Whilst drawing upon insights from political science and management scholarship, it will be anchored primarily in legal literature. The main argument hold that new legal conceptual anchors are needed to facilitate the analysis of CSR as global business and human rights governance. Also, CSR has the potential to serve as a democratizing force in the wider global business and human rights governance landscape, yet future research on the substance of CSR norms and their effects on the political role and responsibilities of business enterprises is needed to determine whether this is actually the case. The structure of the chapter is two fold. Part 1 provides insights into: (a) human rights governance from a traditional perspective and its diminishing relevance in tackling governance gaps; (b) the emergence of CSR as new instances of global business and human rights governance, and (c) the role of the legal discourse and the law in appreciating and contributing to global human rights governance through CSR. Part 2 introduces (d) the debate on the democratic legitimacy of CSR, human rights and the emergence of business enterprises as political actors (e) and an agenda for future research, using (f) the ISO26000 as an illustrative case study.

ISBN:978 1 78195 261 0

Publication year:2015

Accessibility:Closed