1 - Human Rights in the Corporate Context

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of key developments in the business and human rights landscape, more recent global efforts, and challenges that remain. The first half of this introductory chapter discusses the landmark policy efforts over the past forty years. Given the widespread development of voluntary or “soft law” initiatives, the second half of this chapter explores the fundamental challenge in business and human rights: the question of accountability. Even in cases of wrongdoing, jurisdictional issues, the corporate veil, and lack of political will present important challenges to holding firms accountable. This chapter tells the old narrative of corporate impunity and governance gaps; it introduces a new story that draws from systematic data and illustrative examples to explore the pathways by which victims gain access to remedy mechanisms.