Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
ISSN
1549-2028
Publisher
University of St. Thomas School of Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
This Article traces the history and evolution of corporate responsibility under international law to contextualize the developing discourse on business and human rights. It explores the role of private industry in contributing to colonial expansion, slavery, and conflict, and examines the advocacy efforts of abolitionists, anti-imperialism activists, and peace movements to craft reforms and create norms to control corporate conduct. First, the Article outlines the challenge that regulating private commercial power presents for a system of public international law premised on the sovereign power of states. Then, using the example of colonial era European charter companies the Article offers a critical evaluation of the limitations of international law for defining the social role of a corporation in society and its broader responsibilities to the public in light of the legacy of empire and exploitation. Finally, the Article will explain how the contemporary movement to recognize a corporate responsibility to respect human rights under international law builds upon these precedents of post-colonial and post-conflict accountability efforts and competing concepts of international legal personality. This paper argues that the scope and nature of corporate human rights responsibilities must be proportionate and informed by an appreciation for the changing role of the place of private industry in international relations over the course of time.
Recommended Citation
Erika George,
Incorporating Rights: Empire, Global Enterprise, and Global Justice
,
in
10
University of St. Thomas Law Journal
917
(2013).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3843
Included in
Business Organizations Law Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, International Law Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons
