Following the endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, all corporations now have a set and direct responsibility to respect fundamental rights and human dignity.
The ICCSR contributes to the emerging Business and Human Rights movement through research and public engagement on global governance dynamics and people’s fundamental rights.
From a business and management perspective, our goal is to define the challenges of corporate responsibility towards human rights.
On the one hand, we contribute to the academic debate on the evolution of CSR theories towards a Business and Human Rights framework. On the other hand, we aim to inform the practitioners’ debate and co-create knowledge on the impacts of business activity on human dignity.
Academic leads
Dr Lara Bianchi
Professor Robert Caruana
Professor Mihaela Keleman
Dr Lee Matthews
Dr Judy Muthuri
Associated publications
Journal articles
Decker Sparkes, J L, Matthews, L, Cardenas, D, Williams, C (2022). Worker-less Social Responsibility: How the proliferation of voluntary labour governance tools in seafood marginalise the workers they claim to protect. Marine Policy, 139
Barrientos, S., Bianchi, L. & Berman, C., (2019). Gender and Governance of Global Value Chains: promoting rights of women workers: Promoting rights of women workers. International Labour Review. 158, 4
Whelan, G. & Muthuri, J.N. (2017). Chinese State-Owned Enterprises and Human Rights: The Importance of National and Intra-Organizational Pressures. Business & Society, 56 (5): 738-781
Chapter in books
Caruana, R. (2018), "The Role of Discourse Analysis in Researching Severe Labour Exploitation", in Researching Forced Labour in the Global Economy Methodological Challenges and Advances, Oxford University Press.
Policy briefings
UoN GCRF grant (£141K) 'I Am My Dignity': Women Voices in Developing A Moral Capability Assessment Tool (MCAT) for Fragile Contexts (PI: Dr Lara Bianchi, CI: Professor Mihaela Kelemen and Professor Robert Caruana, ICCSR, partners: Ateneo de Manila, August 2020-July 2021.
Media contributions
Futher information on the Business School Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Further information on UN Sustainable Development Goals