Institute for Business Ethics

www.unisg.ch
Choose INSTITUTE
  • Institutes
  • ACA-HSGInstitute of Accounting, Control
    and Auditing
  • CFM-HSGCenter for Mobility
  • FAA-HSGForschungsinstitut für Arbeit
    und Arbeitswelten
  • FGN-HSGInstitute of Economics
  • FIM-HSGResearch Institute for
    International Management
  • FIR-HSGResearch Center for
    Information Law
  • FWR-HSGForschungsstelle für Wirtschaftsgeographie
    und Raumordnungspolitik
  • GIMLA-HSGSt.Gallen Institute of
    Management in Latin America
  • IBB-HSGInstitute for Educational
    Management and Technologies
  • IMP-HSGInstitute for Systemic Management
    and Public Governance
  • IORCF-HSGInstitut for Operations Research
    and Computational Finance
  • IPW-HSGInstitute of Political Science
  • IRM-HSGInstitute of Retail Management
  • ISCM-HSGInstitute of Supply Chain Management
  • IWE-HSGInstitute for Business Ethics
  • IWP-HSGInstitute of Business Education
    and Educational Management
  • MCM-HSGInstitute for Media
    and Communications Management
  • MED-HSGSchool of Medicine
  • OPSY-HSGResearch Institute for Organizational Psychology
  • SBF-HSGSwiss Institute
    of Banking and Finance
  • SEW-HSGSwiss Institute for
    Empirical Economic Research
  • SFS-HSGResearch Institute of Sociology
  • SGI-HSGSGI-HSG St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia
  • SIAW-HSGSwiss Institute for International Economics
    and Applied Economic Research
  • WBZWeiterbildungszentrum Holzweid
  • Center
  • ACC-HSGAsia Connect Center
  • CDI-HSGCompetence Center for Social Innovation
  • CDI-HSGCenter for Disability and Integration
  • CFAC-HSGCenter for Aviation Competence
  • CFB-HSGCenter for Family Business
  • CFI-HSGCenter for Innovation
  • CFM-HSGCenter for Mobility
  • CHC-HSGCenter for Health Care
  • CLS-HSGCentro Latinoamericano-Suizo
    de la Universidad de San Gallen
  • FR-HSG
  • GCE-HSGCenter for Governance and
    Culture in Europe
  • GCEI-HSGGlobal Center for
    Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  • GP-HSGGender Portal
  • HDZ-HSGHochschuldidaktisches Zentrum
  • Smart Government LabSmart Government Lab
  • TME-HSGTransformative Management Education
Logo University of St.Gallen
  • About us
    • A Brief History
    • Team
    • IWE transparent
    • Social Media
    • Press
  • Initiatives
    • Competence Center for African Research
      • About the Competence Center for African Research
      • Reports CCAR and Ethics Lab
      • Upcoming Events
      • Associates and Projects
      • Collaborations
    • Responsible Commodity Trading
      • The Swiss Commodity Sector as a Matter-of-Public-Concern
      • Hard and Soft Commodities
    • Young Researchers Summit
      • About YRS
      • Organizers
      • Upcoming Events
      • Call for Abstracts
      • Past Events
      • Good Business
      • YRS Network
  • Research
    • Research projects
      • The Human Right to Health and Health Care
      • Symbolic Forms of Remedy for Corporate Human Rights Impacts
      • Blurred Team Boundaries: Multiple Team Membership in Open-Source Software Development Teams
      • Early Institutional Entrepreneurship in Hostile Contexts
      • Smart Cities and Human Rights
    • Publications
      • Latest Publications
      • All Publications
  • Teaching
    • Current Courses
    • Ktx: Area of Concentration Responsibility
    • BA/MA Topics
  • Search
  • Language
    Deutsch
    English
  • Login
  • EN-Social Media, Newsletter
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • EN-Universität spezifische Links
    • Sitemap
    • Contact
Mobile Navigation

You are here:

  1. IWE
  2. Initiatives
  3. Young Researchers Summit
  4. Past Events
  5. BHR Young Researchers Summit 2017
Current navigation level
Previous navigation level
Next navigation level
Current navigation level
  • About YRS
  • Organizers
  • Upcoming Events
  • Call for Abstracts
  • Past Events
  • Good Business
  • YRS Network
Next navigation level
Current navigation level
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2022
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2021
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2020
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2019
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2017
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2016
  • Participants
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this page
Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Share on Pinterest E-mail

BHR Young Researchers Summit 2017

Evolving Paths of Business and Human Rights –

Rachel Chambers and Ludovica Chiussi

As the field of business and human rights matures and research projects become more nuanced, the need to draw together different threads and collaborate between disciplines becomes greater.

Building on the successful outcome of the 2016 event, the Second Business and Human Rights Young Researchers Summit took place on 6-8th April in St Gallen, Switzerland. New participants, new contributions, yet the same drive: setting up an interdisciplinary discussion among a group of emerging scholars in the business and human rights discipline. 

Thanks to the well-established partnership between the Institute of Business Ethics at the University of St Gallen, the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights and the Business and Human Rights Journal, fifteen PhD and postdoctoral scholars from different regions of the world gathered together to share and discuss their research projects.

Ranging from economics to law, social science and humanities to business management, the works presented touched upon key issues in the field, such as regional perspectives to corporate liability, human rights due diligence vis-á-vis corporate practices, as well as paradigms of shared responsibility between States and economic actors.

The debate, enriched by the interactive format of the seminar, yielded a long list of insights and challenges. Space constraints only allow us to name a few:

• There is a need for a more effective dialogue between economic actors and the normative structures that support them at the international, regional and domestic level. What kind of models of business-State partnership can be conducive to an effective redistribution of responsibility, while avoiding a dangerous volatility of the content of human rights?

• Multi-stakeholder engagement serves as a legitimizing force, but all actors need to be “visible” in the process of standard-setting and enforcement. This is even more the case when it comes to companies operating in conflicted-affected regions, or in particular contexts such as that of mega-sporting events.   

• Effective implementation and compliance mechanisms require a systemic approach to legal dilemmas such as the one of jurisdiction, as well as more emphasis on regulation aimed at prevention of corporate-related human rights violations and good governance policies. They may also require the re-conceptualization of certain legal approaches, for example a corporate obligation to rescue, applicable to pharmaceutical companies when they causally contribute to the harm from which ‘rescue’ is needed.

• Specific focus on the response to Rana Plaza’s disaster in two of the presentations ignited debate – just a few days before the fourth anniversary of the factory’s collapse – on the “Accord” and the “Alliance”, offering potential explanations for their lack of effectiveness.

• There remain certain thorny issues, for example what role, if any, there is for human rights due diligence when a consulted community outright rejects a proposed corporate venture such as a mine? Is it a fitting ‘tool’ in these circumstances or one that can only be used for arguably unethical ends – namely to seek to change the community’s mind?

• With the intrinsic interdisciplinary features of the business and human rights field come the challenges of different terminology – and criteria – across actors and disciplines. 

The Summit provided a unique chance to boost interdisciplinary approaches through a process of critically appraising and reflecting upon the work of other emerging scholars in this field. 

We believe that this second Summit already marks what can be considered a meaningful trend in this challenging – yet fascinating – discipline, and one that we are sure will continue through future Summits and the ongoing collaborations of Summit participants. 

CONTACT

Prof. Florian Wettstein
Director of the Institute for Business Ethics,
University of St.Gallen

Phone +41 71 224 3145
E-Mail


Dr. Dorothée Baumann-Pauly

Research Director at NYU Stern Center
for Business and Human Rights

E-Mail

related links
  • Commentary: A Snapshot of the Second Business and Human Rights Research Summit

Accreditations

EQUISAACSBAMBA

Member of

Logo CEMSLogo PIMLogo APSIALogo gbsn

© Copyright 2022 University
of St.Gallen Switzerland · General
legal information · Privacy Policy

Dufourstrasse 50
CH-9000 St.Gallen
Tel +41 71 224 21 11
Fax +41 71 224 28 16

University of St.Gallen - School
of Management, Economics, Law,
Social Sciences, International Affairs
and Computer Science

From insight to impact

Navigation
  • Search
  • Language
    Deutsch
    English
  • Login
  • EN-Social Media, Newsletter
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • EN-Universität spezifische Links
    • Sitemap
    • Contact
  • About us
  • Initiatives
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • A Brief History
  • Team
  • IWE transparent
  • Social Media
  • Press
  • Competence Center for African Research
  • Responsible Commodity Trading
  • Young Researchers Summit
  • About the Competence Center for African Research
  • Reports CCAR and Ethics Lab
  • Upcoming Events
  • Associates and Projects
  • Collaborations
  • Brocher Symposium
  • Webinar on The Concept of Minority, a Critical Appraisal
  • Webinar on Digital Transformation
  • Book Workshop
  • Ethics Lab Conference 2020
  • CCAR Launch Event St. Gallen, 2020
  • Ethics Lab Launch Week
  • Gallery CCAR Launch Event
  • Workshop with Afronomicslaw
  • 7th Yaoundé Seminar 2022
  • Enforceable Brand Agreements
  • Humanizing Pedagogy
  • Thierry Ngosso
  • Rose Wangui Kimotho
  • Kebene Kejela Wodajo
  • Marta Domínguez Díaz
  • Florian Elliker
  • Tina Freyburg
  • Charles Gottlieb
  • Roland Hodler
  • Sebastian Kernbach
  • Ehtics Lab
  • The Ethics Institute
  • The Swiss Commodity Sector as a Matter-of-Public-Concern
  • Hard and Soft Commodities
  • About YRS
  • Organizers
  • Upcoming Events
  • Call for Abstracts
  • Past Events
  • Good Business
  • YRS Network
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2022
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2021
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2020
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2019
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2017
  • BHR Young Researchers Summit 2016
  • Participants
  • Research projects
  • Publications
  • The Human Right to Health and Health Care
  • Symbolic Forms of Remedy for Corporate Human Rights Impacts
  • Blurred Team Boundaries: Multiple Team Membership in Open-Source Software Development Teams
  • Early Institutional Entrepreneurship in Hostile Contexts
  • Smart Cities and Human Rights
  • Latest Publications
  • All Publications
  • Current Courses
  • Ktx: Area of Concentration Responsibility
  • BA/MA Topics