Empirical Research in Business and Human Rights

Abstract

Past research on business and human rights has mainly focused on defining the human rights responsibilities of corporations and assessing how the assumption of these responsibilities by business actors could impact on global governance structures. In this respect, political scientists and jurists have initiated a fertile inter-disciplinary debate. Business and human rights, however, is a rapidly evolving area where new human rights violations, responsibilities and dilemmas arise regularly, involving different kinds of sectors, countries and governance frameworks. The complexity of the on-going challenges not only requires an inter-disciplinary approach but also a more strong connection between theory and empirical realities. This panel aims specifically at strengthening the connections between empirical research and theoretical approaches. In particular, the panel addresses questions including, but not limited to: How can we develop quantitative and qualitative measurements of human rights abuses by business actors? What does past experience with voluntary initiatives teach us about the feasibility of the business and human rights project? Why do some companies adopt human rights policies and others do not? Why are some initiatives successful and others unsuccessful? How do we measure success or failure of business and human rights initiatives?

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