| Name | Ethics, Enlightened Self-Interest, and the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: A Critical Look at the Justificatory Foundations of the UN Framework |
| Author(s) | Cragg, Wesley |
| Editor | |
| Year | 2011 |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Web Location | http://secure.pdcnet.org/8525737F005803FF/file/0BE957928BA331468525795000481390/$FILE/beq_2012_0022_0001_0015_0042.pdf |
| Keywords | business, human rights, ethics, UN Framework, globalization |
| Areas of Interest | Corporate Social Responsibility; Globalization; Human Rights |
| Citation | Cragg, Wesley. 2011. "Ethics, Enlightened Self-Interest, and the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: A Critical Look at the Justificatory Foundations of the UN Framework." Business Ethics Quarterly 22(1):9-36. |
| Summary | Central to the United Nations Framework setting out the human rights responsibilities of corporations proposed by John Ruggie is the principle that corporations have a responsibility to respect human rights in their operations whether or not doing so is required by law and whether or not human rights laws are actively enforced. Ruggie proposes that corporations should respect this principle in their strategic management and day-to-day operations for reasons of corporate (enlightened) self-interest. This paper identifies this as a serious weakness and argues that identifying the responsibility to respect human rights as an explicitly ethical obligation to be respected for that reason would provide a much stronger justificatory foundation for respecting the principle seen from a corporate perspective, given that corporations are accountable to their shareholders for their deployment of the firm's financial resources. |
| Abstract / Description | Central to the United Nations Framework setting out the human rights responsibilities of corporations proposed by John Ruggie is the principle that corporations have a responsibility to respect human rights in their operations whether or not doing so is required by law and whether or not human rights laws are actively enforced. Ruggie proposes that corporations should respect this principle in their strategic management and day-to-day operations for reasons of corporate (enlightened) self-interest. This paper identifies this as a serious weakness and argues that identifying the responsibility to respect human rights as an explicitly ethical obligation to be respected for that reason would provide a much stronger justificatory foundation for respecting the principle seen from a corporate perspective, given that corporations are accountable to their shareholders for their deployment of the firm's financial resources.
NOTE: Wes Cragg, Denis Arnold and Peter Muchlinski have edited a special issue of Business Ethics Quarterly focusing on business and human rights: Volume 22, Issue 1. For a limited time, this issue is available for free at: http://secure.pdcnet.org/beq/free. This publication features papers presented and developed at the CBERN-hosted Business and Human Rights Symposium, February 25-28, 2010 at York University. |
| Publisher/Organization | Business Ethics Quarterly |
| Cluster Library | Business and Human Rights |