Corporate Social Responsibility: an honest duplicity

Business activity - which is dominated by corporations - through the provision of investment, jobs and tax payments, is central to the provision and protection of Human Rights. Simultaneously, there is copious evidence that business activity is a direct source of Human Rights violations and undermines numerous States ability to protect and provide Human Rights. Hence governments face a tension between encouraging investment and asserting authority over business activity to limit corporate excess and ensure business works for rather than against humanity. The challenge in the globalised world is how governments can best assert that authority. This essay will contend that a voluntary approach through Corporate Social Responsibility is currently the dominant approach to limiting corporate excess but will argue this approach is fundamentally flawed and cannot be relied upon to protect and enhance the provision of Human Rights.