Hierarchy or Ecosystem? Regulating Human Rights Risks of Multinational Enterprises

Abstract

The paper begin with a reprise of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and the logic behind them. I describe briefly how they have cascaded beyond the realms of governments and businesses, into the legal profession and even into the world of football (or soccer to Americans). Then I elaborate on two important issues raised elsewhere in the book. The first is the criticism by Rodriguez as well as others that the UNGPs don’t do enough to ensure what they call “the empowered participation of civil society.” The second is the role and forms of international law that would reinforce and build on the UNGPs rather than positioning the two in opposition and thereby threatening to repeat past failures yet again.