Business and human rights regulation after the UN Guiding Principles: accountability, governance, effectiveness

Wolfsteller, R. and Li, Y. (2022) Business and human rights regulation after the UN Guiding Principles: accountability, governance, effectiveness. Human Rights Review, 23(1), pp. 1-17. (doi: 10.1007/s12142-022-00656-2)

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Abstract

Since the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) were adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, they have diffused into policy frameworks, laws, and regulations across the globe. This special issue seeks to advance the interdisciplinary field of human rights research by examining key elements of the emerging transnational regime for the regulation of business and human rights. In seven original contributions, scholars from political science, law, accounting, and philosophy critically reflect on the theoretical foundations of the UNGPs, they analyze the effectiveness of implementation mechanisms and current regulatory practice, and they advance proposals for the future development of the business and human rights regime. In this introduction, we prepare the ground for these analyses, proceeding in three steps. Firstly, we argue that the adoption of the UNGPs has triggered a norm cascade which requires a distinctive, empirically oriented research agenda focusing on the scope, governance, and effectiveness of corporate human rights accountability norms and instruments. Secondly, we explain how the articles in this special issue contribute to that research agenda by addressing these themes. Thirdly, we provide an overview of the individual contributions and point out avenues for future research.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Li, Dr Yingru
Authors: Wolfsteller, R., and Li, Y.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
Journal Name:Human Rights Review
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:1524-8879
ISSN (Online):1874-6306
Published Online:14 March 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Human Rights Review 23(1): 1-17
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

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