scholarly journals Human rights, accounting, and the dialectic of equality and inequality

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingru Li ◽  
John McKernan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Potential ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Guiding Principles

Purpose – The United Nations Guiding Principles locate human rights at the centre of the corporate social responsibility agenda and provide a substantial platform for the development of business and human rights policy and practice. The initiative gives opportunity and focus for the rethinking and reconfiguration of corporate accountability for human rights. It also presents a threat: the danger, as we see it, is that the Guiding Principles are interpreted and implemented in an uncritical way, on a “humanitarian” model of imposed expertise. The critical and radical democratic communities have tended to be, perhaps rightly, suspicious of rights talk and sceptical of any suggestion that rights and the discourse of human rights can play a progressive role. The purpose of this paper is to explore these issues from a radical perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses insights taken from Jacques Rancière’s work to argue that there is vital critical potential in human rights. There is an obvious negativity to Rancière’s thought insofar as it conceives of the political as a challenge to the existing social order. The positive dimension to his work, which has its origins in his commitment to and tireless affirmation of the fact of equality, is equally important, if perhaps less obvious. Together the negative and positive moments provide a dynamic conception of human rights and a dialectical view of the relation between human rights and the social order, which enables us to overcome much of the criticism levelled at human rights by certain theorists. Findings – Rancière’s conception of the political puts human rights inscriptions, and the traces of equality they carry, at the heart of progressive politics. The authors close the paper with a discussion of the role that accounting for human rights can play in such a democratic politics, and by urging, on that basis, the critical accounting community to cautiously embrace the opportunity presented by the Guiding Principles. Originality/value – This paper has some novelty in its application of Rancière’s thinking on political theory to the problems of critical accounting and in particular the critical potential of accounting and human rights. The paper makes a theoretical contribution to a critical understanding of the relationship between accounting, human rights, and democracy.

Exploring care home providers’ public commitments to human rights in light of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
The United Nations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore care home providers’ public communications covering their commitments to respecting residents’ the human rights. The discussion considers the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and a domestic legal and regulatory human rights framework. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analysis undertaken in 2017 of 70 websites of England’s largest commercial care home providers. Findings There are strong value-based public commitments in the websites of many English care home providers, which may or may not be interpreted as expressing their commitments to human rights. Research limitations/implications Research was limited to websites, which are public facing and marketing tools of care home providers. This does not provide inferences regarding the practical implementation of value-based statements or human-rights-based procedures or policies. This paper does not make any value judgements regarding either the public communications of care home providers or normative claims regarding human rights and care home service provision. Practical implications There is a need for clarification and debate about the potential role and added value of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the UNGPs’ operating principles within the English residential care sector. Further exploration of the relationship between personalisation/person-centred care and human rights might be useful. Originality/value This paper introduces the UNGPs and corporate responsibility to respect human rights to the debate on human rights, personalised/person-centred care, safeguarding and care homes in England. It adds a new perspective to discussions of the human rights obligations of care home providers.

scholarly journals The past, the present and the future of accounting for human rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken McPhail ◽  
John Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a number of important recent developments in the area of business and human rights and considers the impact of these developments for accounting, assurance and reporting. Following the UN endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the Guiding Principles) in June 2011, initiatives related to their implementation have advanced at a rapid pace. Despite the centrality of accounting, assurance and reporting to some of the key initiates – accounting research has, hitherto, lagged behind this growing momentum. In order to address this lacunae, this paper develops an agenda for future research in the area of accounting and human rights. In doing so, the paper provides an overview of the important contributions advanced by the other papers in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ). Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws together and identifies key issues and themes related to the rapidly evolving research and policy domain of business and human rights and considers the relevance of these issues to accounting research. Findings – The paper highlights the wide-ranging impact the Guiding Principles and other developments in business and human rights have for accounting practice and draws attention to potential areas of research for accounting scholars. In particular, the paper highlights the emergence of business and human rights due diligence requirements, including their management and reporting. Further, the paper draws attention to the development of business and human rights reporting and assurance practice – which, while still in its infancy, has gathered considerable momentum and support. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides important insights into emerging issues and developments in business and human rights that have clear relevance to accounting research and practice. Originality/value – This paper, and the other contributions to this special issue of AAAJ, provide a basis and a research agenda for accounting scholars seeking to undertake research in this significant and emerging field.

scholarly journals Acid Attacks in India: The Case for State and Corporate Accountability for Gender-Based Crimes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sital Kalantry
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Acid Attack ◽  
Indian Government ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Gender Based

Acid attacks occur in many countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Colombia, the United States, India and many other South Asian countries. India has high incidence rates of acid attack violence with 225 attacks against women reported in 2016. Acid violence is gender-based violence and, as such, international treaty obligations require that the Indian government prevent and redress acid attacks. Non-state actors, such as corporations and businesses, also can and should play a role in preventing and addressing gender-based violence, particularly if they are involved in the supply chains that lead to human rights abuses. In 2011, the United Nations released its Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which explain the role that businesses should play in preventing and remedying human rights violations. This Chapter claims that producers of acid and businesses that use acid in their operations also have a responsibility under these Guiding Principles to take measures to prevent acid violence and to assist victims with adequate remedy.

scholarly journals Toward a Strategic Engagement with the Question of the Corporation

2021 ◽  
pp. 313-333
Author(s):  
Michael Bader
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
The Political ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Corporate Rights ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Form

AbstractCorporations, in their quest for the highest profit margin, have violated human rights, labour rights and environmental standards for decades, with little to no accountability. In recent years, the fight for corporate accountability under the banner of “Business and Human Rights” has come to dominate civil society’s engagement with the “question of the corporation.” This chapter aims to critically examine the political objectives underpinning the broad-church project of Business and Human Rights in its world-making aspirations, taking the Legally Binding Instrument currently under discussion at the UN Human Rights Council as a case study. Using a historical narrative approach, this article first situates the evolution of Business and Human Rights within neoliberal globalisation and, against this backdrop, attempts to think through the “dark side” of this particular strand of human rights activism. By bringing critical legal scholarship on the corporation and human rights into closer conversation with Business and Human Rights, the article aims to excavate the latter’s structural flaws, namely that it leaves the asymmetries in the global economy and the imperial corporate form unchallenged. By problematising Business and Human Rights’ presupposition of business as fact and its uncritical embrace of rights as positive change-makers, the article presents an invitation to rethink strategic political objectives vis-à-vis corporate rights abuses.

scholarly journals Canadian Mining Internationally and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 51-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L. Seck
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Home State ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Context ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Corporate Social

SummaryBetween 2005 and 2011, there was much debate, both within Canada and at the United Nations (UN), over what role home states should play in the regulation and adjudication of human rights harms associated with transnational corporate conduct. In Canada, this debate focused upon concerns related to global mining that led to a series of government, opposition and multi-stakeholder reports and proposals. These culminated in 2010 with the appointment of an Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor and the defeat of Bill C-300, An Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries. Meanwhile, at the UN Human Rights Commission/Council, John G. Ruggie was appointed Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights (SRSG). Ruggie’s work led to the 2008Protect, Respect and Remedy: A Framework for Business and Human Rightsand the 2011Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights(the latter designed to “operationalize” the former). While both documents highlight state duties to protect against human rights violations by businesses and the need for access to remedies by victims, the role of home states in this regard was contested. This article compares the developments in Canada between 2005 and 2011 with the work of the SRSG in relation to the home state duty to protect human rights in the transnational corporate context. It also offers reflections on the implications of the inevitability of industry and industry lawyer participation for the development of home state legal obligations.

scholarly journals When Rights Enter the CSR Field: British Firms’ Engagement with Human Rights and the UN Guiding Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvise Favotto ◽  
Kelly Kollman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Market Competitiveness ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Corporate Social

AbstractThe adoption of the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights by the United Nations (UNGPs) in 2011 created a new governance instrument aimed at improving the promotion of human rights by business enterprises. While reaffirming states duties to uphold human rights in law, the UNGPs called on firms to promote the realization of human rights within global markets. The UNGPs thus have sought to embed human rights more firmly within the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to use CSR practices to improve corporate human rights accountability. In this paper, we explore how this incorporation of human rights into the CSR field has affected the business practices and public commitments British firms have made to promote human rights. We analyse the CSR reports published by the 50 largest British firms over a 20-year period starting in the late 1990s and interview senior CSR managers of these firms. We find that these firms have expanded how they articulate their responsibility for human rights over time. These commitments however remain largely focused on improving management practices such as due diligence and remediation procedures. Firms are often both vague and selective about which substantive human rights they engage with in light of their concerns about their market competitiveness and broader legitimacy. These outcomes suggest that, while firms cannot completely resist the normative pressures exerted by the CSR field, they retain significant resources and agency in translating such pressure into concrete practices.

scholarly journals Sustaining organizational culture change in health systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron David Willis ◽  
Jessie Saul ◽  
Helen Bevan ◽  
Mary Ann Scheirer ◽  
Allan Best ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Culture Change ◽  
Contextual Elements ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Guiding Principles

Purpose – The questions addressed by this review are: first, what are the guiding principles underlying efforts to stimulate sustained cultural change; second, what are the mechanisms by which these principles operate; and, finally, what are the contextual factors that influence the likelihood of these principles being effective? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a literature review informed by rapid realist review methodology that examined how interventions interact with contexts and mechanisms to influence the sustainability of cultural change. Reference and expert panelists assisted in refining the research questions, systematically searching published and grey literature, and helping to identify interactions between interventions, mechanisms and contexts. Findings – Six guiding principles were identified: align vision and action; make incremental changes within a comprehensive transformation strategy; foster distributed leadership; promote staff engagement; create collaborative relationships; and continuously assess and learn from change. These principles interact with contextual elements such as local power distributions, pre-existing values and beliefs and readiness to engage. Mechanisms influencing how these principles sustain cultural change include activation of a shared sense of urgency and fostering flexible levels of engagement. Practical implications – The principles identified in this review, along with the contexts and mechanisms that influence their effectiveness, are useful domains for policy and practice leaders to explore when grappling with cultural change. These principles are sufficiently broad to allow local flexibilities in adoption and application. Originality/value – This is the first study to adopt a realist approach for understanding how changes in organizational culture may be sustained. Through doing so, this review highlights the broad principles by which organizational action may be organized within enabling contextual settings.

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