We invite you to join us to engage with leading business and human rights (BHR) scholars to discuss significant and landmark publications in the field.
We will identify pressing topics and themes for future BHR scholarship, as well as what they mean for learning about BHR in universities.
This series of online sessions will provide an interactive platform for conversations about BHR scholarship, teaching and beyond.
Schedule
13 February 2025, 4pm (UK time)
Vivek Soundararajan, Professor of Work and Equality at the University of Bath School of Management, UK.
Reading list
- Soundararajan, V., Wilhelm, M., Crane, A., Agarwal, P., & Shetty, H. (2024). Towards a Systemic Approach for Improving Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains: An Integrative Review and Research Agenda. Academy of Management Annals, (ja), annals-2023.0071.
- Soundararajan, V., Sharma, G., & Bapuji, H. (2024). Caste, social capital and precarity of labour market intermediaries: The case of Dalit labour contractors in India. Organization Studies, 45(7), 961-985.
19 March 2025, 4pm (UK time)
Tricia Olsen, Professor and the Stassen Chair of World Peace at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science, USA.
30 April 2025, 4pm (UK time)
Robert Philips, Professor of Sustainability and George R. Gardiner Professor in Business Ethics, York University’s Schulich School of Business, Canada.
May date, TBC
Our speaker for May will be confirmed shortly.
Previous events
11 December 2024, 4pm (UK time)
Florian Wettstein, Professor of Business Ethics at University of St Gallen, Switzerland, in conversation with Harry Van Buren, Lupton Patten Endowed Chair of Business Ethics at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA.
Reading list
- Wettstein, F. (2012). 'CSR and the debate on business and human rights: Bridging the great divide'. Business Ethics Quarterly, 22(4), 739-770.
- Wettstein, F., Giuliani, E., Santangelo, G. D., & Stahl, G. K. (2019). 'International business and human rights: A research agenda'. Journal of World Business, 54(1), 54-65.
You can watch the recording on YouTube.
15 January 2025, 4pm (UK time)
Elisa Giuliani, Professor of Management at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Pisa, Italy.
Title: Dual Failure of Democracy: How Businesses Infringe on Human Rights and Avoid Taxes
Elisa will draw from her work with the rebalance project, a collaboration between seven European universities and an international NGO. It seeks to provide new insights, resources, events, and learning materials to help foster a rebalancing of capitalism and democracy. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe funding program and Innovate UK.
Reading list
- Giuliani, E., Nieri, F., & Vezzulli, A. (2023). Big profits, big harm? Exploring the link between firm financial performance and human rights misbehavior. Business & Society, 62(6), 1248-1299.
- Van der Straaten, K., Narula, R., & Giuliani, E. (2023). The multinational enterprise, development, and the inequality of opportunities: A research agenda. Journal of International Business Studies, 54(9), 1623-1640.