The proper "sphere of influence" in relation to corporate responsibility for human rights

Date
2010-03-01T12:37:18Z
Authors
Van Niekerk, Andre Johann
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Abstract
ABSTRACT In this research report, I address the question: “What is the proper sphere of influence of a corporation in relation to its moral obligations to support and respect human rights?” I take for granted that corporations have positive duties to help protect human rights. Referring to recent reports on sphere of influence by the UN Special Representative, I consider the question of whom it is that a corporation is obliged to help. I assert that the predominant spatial metaphor provides an implausible account of sphere of influence and propose an alternative approach, adopting principles of respect for the freedom and autonomy of others, with specific reference to a corporation’s concrete set of social, economic, political and historical relations with other actors. I attempt to demonstrate that the proposed approach more plausibly defines the beneficiaries of a duty to aid in relation to human rights than either a spatial metaphor or the Special Representative’s principle of a duty to respect human rights.
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