Business and Human Rights in a Changing World Order: Beyond the Ethics of Disembedded Liberalism

David Jason Karp

Business and Human Rights Journal, 2023, vol. 8, issue 2, 135-150

Abstract: The UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) and their concept of human rights due diligence (HRDD) cannot succeed in their current form, because they reify neoliberalism’s public/private divide. This article establishes this argument across historical, theoretical, and normative dimensions, and charts a new way forward. The UNGPs’ separation of the ‘state duty to protect’ from the ‘corporate responsibility to respect’ reflects a contestable conception of companies as private actors: free to act/transact in any way that is not harmful. This is a problem because harm is often invisible, even when taking an active due-diligence approach. To resolve this, HRDD practices must also be based on the positive value of equality. However, businesses are more than mere agents; they also coordinate production and enable social connections. These structural features reveal a ‘missing fourth pillar’ of the UNGPs: a collective political responsibility to challenge and change our current world order.

Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:buhurj:v:8:y:2023:i:2:p:135-150_2

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