The Concept of ‘Due Diligence’ in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

McCorquodale, Robert; Bonnitcha, Jonathan

doi:10.1093/ejil/chx042

Cited by 117 publications

(43 citation statements)

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“…It means firms can point to policies and procedures that were in place—but not followed by a rogue actor” (p. 90). This excuse mirrors the fear that Bonnitcha and McCorquodale (2017) raise when human rights due diligence is only perceived as a standard of conduct to simply discharge one’s legal obligations.…”

Section: Corporate Due Diligencementioning

confidence: 84%

Business and Human Trafficking: A Social Connection and Political Responsibility Model

2019

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Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative international criminal activities and is widespread across a variety of industries. The response to human trafficking in corporate supply chains has been dominated by analyses of due diligence obligations. Existing scholarship, however, has cast doubt on the effectiveness of corporate due diligence in addressing human trafficking, because human trafficking is the outcome of macro-level social structures that are created by and consist of multiple actors, including business. The outsourcing and sub-contracting model provides incentives throughout the global supply chain to sub-contract further to reduce the cost of labor, which has led to human trafficking remaining a pervasive problem. Business responsibility for human trafficking derives from the fact that business decisions and strategies enable the conditions that allow for human trafficking to occur within their supply chains. To address human trafficking, we propose a social connection and political responsibility model, based on Iris Marion Young’s analysis of social connection and structural injustice, that is holistic, forward-looking, and outcomes-oriented. We differentiate between businesses with a strong connection to human trafficking and businesses with a weak connection, and within this distinction delineate different pathways that firms can take to meet their political responsibilities to address human trafficking. We conclude with implications for future research.

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Section: Corporate Due Diligencementioning

confidence: 84%

Business and Human Trafficking: A Social Connection and Political Responsibility Model

2019

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“…BHR is a field of study "about how business may negatively impact human rights and the various ways in which such violations can be prevented and addressed, including how business can be held accountable" [17] (p. 3). Since the adoption of the UNGPs, numerous studies have focused on their impact and limitations [18][19][20][21], and on the current plans to develop a BHR treaty to ground the UNGPs in international law [22][23][24][25]. BHR also includes an emerging research agenda in management, particularly in the sub-field of social issues in management (SIM) [26,27].…”

Section: Business and Human Rights Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights in Assam Tea Plantations: A Business and Human Rights Approach

Rao

Bernaz

2020

Sustainability

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This paper explores how UK-based companies deal with their responsibility to respect the human rights of Assam (India) tea plantation workers. Through qualitative content analysis of publicly available corporate reports and other documents, it investigates how companies approach and communicate their potential human rights impacts. It highlights the gap between well-documented human rights issues on the ground and corporate reports on these issues. It aims to answer the following research question: in a context where the existence of human rights violations at the end of the supply chain is well-documented, how do companies reconcile their possible connection with those violations and the corporate responsibility to respect human rights under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? This paper reveals the weakness of the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach from the perspective of rights-holders. It supports a business and human rights approach, one that places the protection of human rights at its core.

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“…Yet this economic logic of risk is incompatible with the intention and spirit of international human rights norms: If one takes the position that any severe human rights violation is unacceptable, no matter the economic return, then a different logic should be required to inform human rights due diligence. Due diligence 'is normally understood to refer to a process of investigation conducted by a business to identify and manage commercial risks' (Bonnitcha and McCorquodale, 2017). Building on Fasterling's (2017) critique of human rights as risk management, the chapter connects it to other literatures, and extends the critique to empirical case studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standardization and Risk Governance

Olsen¹,

Juhl²,

Lindøe³

et al. 2019

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This multidisciplinary book conceptualizes, maps, and analyses ongoing standardization processes of risk issues across various sectors, processes, and practices. Standards are not only technical specifications and guidelines to support efficient risk governance, but also contain social, political, economic, and organizational aspects. This book presents a variety of standardization processes and applications of standards that may influence our judgements of risk, the organizing of risk governance, and, accordingly, our behaviour. Standardization and standards can impact risk governance in different ways. The most important lessons drawn from the present volume can be summarized in three areas: (1) how standardization might impact on power relations and interests; (2) how standardization may change flexibility in decision-making, communication, and cooperation; and (3) how standardization could (re)direct attention and risk perception. The volume's aim is to present an analysis of standardization processes and how it affects our thinking about risk, how we organize risk governance, and how standardization may influence risk management. In so doing, it contributes to a more informed discourse regarding the use of standards and standardization in contemporary risk management. Standardization and Risk Governance will be of great interest to students of risk, standardization, global governance, and critical security studies.

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The Concept of ‘Due Diligence’ in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Cited by 117 publications

References 0 publications

Business and Human Trafficking: A Social Connection and Political Responsibility Model

Business and Human Trafficking: A Social Connection and Political Responsibility Model

Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights in Assam Tea Plantations: A Business and Human Rights Approach

Standardization and Risk Governance

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