Human Rights Responsibilities

of MNCs in the Developing World

• guest speakers
• participants
• funding

Focus Workshop

According to international law, states are the main duty bearers of human rights. However, in many areas, weaker states are not capable of protecting human rights effectively. Here, multinationals are often more powerful; and the argument has been brought forward that they might be able to step in and foster human rights. At the same time, gross human rights violations and instances of complicity are reported in the media every day.

The workshop (June 7-8, 2012), organized by the human rights group within Transatlantic Doctoral Academy on Corporate Responsibility (TADA) discussed these issues and developed a research agenda (see Results and Report)

Results and Report

We now provide the following documents from the workshop:

Proposed Research Agenda	pdf
2-page Summary	pdf
Long Report	pdf
Abstracts, Bios, Programme	pdf
Pictures	zip (88Mb)
Slides and Papers	see below or as zip (8Mb)

Guest Speakers

	Todd Landman Professor of Government | University of Essex Director of the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution slides
	Florian Wettstein Professor of Business Ethics| Universität St. Gallen Co-Director of the Institute for Business Ethics slides
	Maria Prandi Head of the Business and Human Rights at the School for a Culture of Peace | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Global Compact Expert Group on Responsible Business and Investment in High-Risk Areas slides

Participants

Nicole Janz	Cambridge, UK	Organizer
Adriana Orellana	Université de Lausanne	Organizer
Rocio Robinson	St Gallen University	Organizer
Jordi Vives i Gabriel	St Gallen University	Organizer [slides]
Damiano de Felice	LSE	[slides]
Allen Radtke	Essex, UK	[full paper]
Valeria Cavotta	Université de Lausanne	[slides]
Irene Pietropaoli	Middlesex University, UK

Funding

The Transatlantic Doctoral Academy on Corporate Responsibility (TADA) brings together international PhD students who are dealing with questions of corporate responsibility/business ethics. It funds conferences and workshops. TADA is interdisciplinary and open to PhD students of all academic disciplines. The four organizers of this workshop are members of the human rights group within TADA.

We are also thankful for a financial contribution from the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development. The foundation is committed to “development with a human face” and wants to help promote the emergence of a lasting social environment where human rights are guaranteed, basic needs are satisfied and there is maximum possible equality of opportunity and social justice for all.

© 2012 Nicole Janz | Design Template