The relationship between business and human rights has emerged in the last two decades as one of the most pressing issues in the field of business ethics. Do corporations have human rights responsibilities? If so, what is the nature of those responsibilities and do they differ in any significant way from those of governments? Is it reasonable or realistic to expect corporations to respect human rights in environments where governments, particularly in the developing and underdeveloped world, need economic development and have a limited capacity and/or interest in enforcing human rights standards and laws? The contributors to this groundbreaking volume take up these questions, examining them from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Topics discussed include the debates leading to the creation of the ISO 26000 standard and the United Nations human rights framework for business entities, as well as the nature and limits of the human rights responsibilities of business, the roles and responsibilities of international trade bodies like the World Trade Organization in protecting human rights, and the implications of the current debate for international trade agreements and trade with China. The contributors also explore the effectiveness of voluntary human rights standards in the textile and clothing trade, mining, advertising and the pharmaceutical industries.

Scholars and students in management, philosophy, political science, sociology and law will find this volume a great resource, as will activists, managers and policy makers.

Contents:
Preface
PART I: TOWARD A THEOZY OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS RESPONSIBILITIES OF CORPORATIONS
1. Business and Human Rights: A Principle and Value-based Analysis
2. Corporate Social Responsibility: Beyond the Business Case to Human Rights
3. The Limits of Corporate Human Rights Obligations and the Rights of For-profit Corporations
4. Silence as Complicity: Elements of a Corporate Duty to Speak Out Against the Violation of Human Rights
5. The Case for Leverage-based Corporate Human Rights Responsibility
PART II: BUSINESS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
6. Human Rights and International Trade: Normative Underpinnings
7. Coordinating Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility
8. Challenges to Secure Human Rights through Voluntary Standards in the Textile and Clothing Industry
9. Mining, Human Rights and the Socially Responsible Investment Industry: Considering Community Opposition to Shareholder Resolutions and Implications of Collaboration
10. To Ban or Not to Ban: Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Human Rights Analysis
PART III: POSTSCRIPT
11. Business and Human Rights: Reflections and Observations