Business and Human Rights

Synonyms

Moral rights; Natural rights

Introduction

Only a few decades ago, the prospect of aligning business and human rights seemed unlikely. Businesses were widely seen as private enterprises whose goal was to make profits, while human rights were standards of international law imposing treaty-based obligations on state signatories.

Yet increasingly the interaction between human rights and business has strengthened. Community expectations for business continue to change, pressing towards a more ethical approach to profit-seeking. At the same time, the powers of businesses – especially large multinational corporations (MNCs) – have been expanding relative to states. Further, due to globalization, MNCs have begun major operations in countries where human rights of employees and local communities are not guaranteed, and can be negatively impacted by business activities (Sampford 2012). These ingredients of capability, proximity, and impact are common devices for attributing moral...