Wolfsteller René, Li Yingru
Department of Political Science, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Hum Rights Rev. 2022;23(1):1-17. doi: 10.1007/s12142-022-00656-2. Epub 2022 Mar 14.
Since the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) were adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, they have diffused into policy frameworks, laws, and regulations across the globe. This special issue seeks to advance the interdisciplinary field of human rights research by examining key elements of the emerging transnational regime for the regulation of business and human rights. In seven original contributions, scholars from political science, law, accounting, and philosophy critically reflect on the theoretical foundations of the UNGPs, they analyze the effectiveness of implementation mechanisms and current regulatory practice, and they advance proposals for the future development of the business and human rights regime. In this introduction, we prepare the ground for these analyses, proceeding in three steps. Firstly, we argue that the adoption of the UNGPs has triggered a norm cascade which requires a distinctive, empirically oriented research agenda focusing on the scope, governance, and effectiveness of corporate human rights accountability norms and instruments. Secondly, we explain how the articles in this special issue contribute to that research agenda by addressing these themes. Thirdly, we provide an overview of the individual contributions and point out avenues for future research.
自联合国人权理事会于2011年通过《联合国商业和人权指导原则》（UNGPs）以来，这些原则已融入全球各地的政策框架、法律法规之中。本期特刊旨在通过审视新兴的跨国商业和人权监管制度的关键要素，推动人权研究的跨学科领域发展。在七篇原创论文中，来自政治学、法学、会计学和哲学领域的学者批判性地反思了《联合国商业和人权指导原则》的理论基础，分析了实施机制和当前监管实践的有效性，并就商业和人权制度的未来发展提出了建议。在本引言中，我们分三步为这些分析奠定基础。首先，我们认为《联合国商业和人权指导原则》的通过引发了一场规范级联效应，这需要一个独特的、以实证为导向的研究议程，重点关注企业人权问责规范和工具的范围、治理及有效性。其次，我们解释本期特刊中的文章如何通过探讨这些主题为该研究议程做出贡献。第三，我们概述了各篇论文的内容，并指出未来研究的方向。
