Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of editors and contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Humanistic Management Network: paving the way towards a life-serving economy
- Introduction
- Part 1 Philosophic-historical grounding of humanism
- Part 2 Towards an integration of humanism and business on a systems level
- 8 Towards a civilized market economy: economic citizenship rights and responsibilities in service of a humane society
- 9 Development as freedom: individual freedom as a social commitment
- 10 On corporate responsibility for human rights
- 11 The value shift: merging social and financial imperatives
- 12 The ugly side of capitalism: what the young generation needs to combat
- Part 3 Humanistic management
- Part 4 The individual as a change agent for a humane business society
- Index
- References
10 - On corporate responsibility for human rights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of editors and contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Humanistic Management Network: paving the way towards a life-serving economy
- Introduction
- Part 1 Philosophic-historical grounding of humanism
- Part 2 Towards an integration of humanism and business on a systems level
- 8 Towards a civilized market economy: economic citizenship rights and responsibilities in service of a humane society
- 9 Development as freedom: individual freedom as a social commitment
- 10 On corporate responsibility for human rights
- 11 The value shift: merging social and financial imperatives
- 12 The ugly side of capitalism: what the young generation needs to combat
- Part 3 Humanistic management
- Part 4 The individual as a change agent for a humane business society
- Index
- References
Summary
The recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Preamble, Universal Declaration of Human RightsAccepting a conceptual challenge
The debate on “business and human rights” has become a central theme on the international corporate responsibility agenda. Two processes in particular have contributed to this: the discourse on the practical consequences of the two UN Global Compact principles that are specific to human rights and the work of a sub-commission of the Human Rights Commission under the chairmanship of American law professor David Weissbrodt. The result of this work, a set of “Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises,” was considered to contain “useful elements and ideas” but was not accepted by the Human Rights Commission as a document with legal standing. One factor that evoked concern and disapproval for some observers was a generally negative undertone regarding the impact of corporate activities on human rights as well as impractical monitoring and verification mechanisms “already in existence or to be created”.
To overcome the deadlock that evolved from incompatible positions of different stakeholders vis à vis the draft norms, on April 20, 2005, the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution on “Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Businesses,” which requested the secretary-general to appoint a “Special Representative on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Businesses.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Humanism in Business , pp. 175 - 203Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
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