Abstract: The second round of Zimbabwe's presidential election is scheduled for the end of J... more Abstract: The second round of Zimbabwe's presidential election is scheduled for the end of June 2008. There has been a sharp increase in state sponsored violence since the first round in March (ICG May 2008), coming after almost a decade marked by violence, intimidation and ...
This essay explores some of the parameters and merits of a putative argument that the announcemen... more This essay explores some of the parameters and merits of a putative argument that the announcement of June 19, 2018 that the United States would withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council might most properly be understood as but one manifestation of a wider political backlash within the US (and indeed other Western democracies) against the multilateral human rights system epitomized by the Council. There are two prongs to this argument. First, populist-nationalist political sentiment at home simultaneously fuels and is fanned by strident high-profile diplomatic critiques (or even rejections) of global bodies such as the Council. Second, the nature and force of this backlash constitutes a systemic threat to the future of the post-1945 rules-based international order, especially since it comes mostly from the superpower whose values-based rhetoric and leadership has perhaps done most to advance the global human rights agenda in the modern era.
This paper explores the utility and accuracy of analogies one might make between the sorts of COV... more This paper explores the utility and accuracy of analogies one might make between the sorts of COVID-related state measures taken during the ongoing pandemic and the sorts of measures taken around the world in pursuit of public security in the ‘war on terror’ after September 2001. It proposes two ways (other than sheer prevalence and geographic spread) in which the counter-terrorism analogy is not necessarily entirely apposite, that is, because the COVID phenomenon is relatively distinct. First is the significance of new technologies in the modalities of state COVID measures relative to states’ counter-terrorism ones. Second, is the central and outsize role that technology companies play, alongside and/or intertwined with state authorities, in the state measures and activities under consideration that raise potential human rights concerns, especially at scale and over time. Finally, the paper examines the adequacy of the international human rights law framework in the face of these t...
United Nations (UN) peace operations are often at the forefront of efforts to build peace after c... more United Nations (UN) peace operations are often at the forefront of efforts to build peace after conflict. They embody universal ideals and seek to give them practical effect during post-contnct peacebuilding. This thesis explores a role for UN peace operations in helping to regulate the peacebuilding impact of one important social group, the business sector. The main hypothesis is that especially during early post-conflict periods UN peace operations can and should take steps to influence business behaviour in ways that increase the possibilities of sustainable peace and of business respect for fundamental standards. Existing scholarship has shown how business factors and activity may have both positive and negative effects on processes to consolidate peace. Meanwhile recent debates on the human rights responsibilities of business have highlighted the need for special policies and institutional initiatives for conflict-affected zones, where local regulators are often weak. But to date scholars and policymakers have not explored a role for peace operations in regulating conflict-sensitive and socially-responsible business practices. This thesis examines how UN peace operations have acted (or omitted to act) to shape the various ways in which business might help or hinder the achievement of peacebuilding goals. The principal finding is that the UN peacebuilding system mainly views businesses as subjects for economic policy. It appears largely blind to businesses as social and political actors. Peace operations have lacked explicit mandates or any strategy to engage with business to minimise harm or maximise positive contributions to peace. The challenge is to find the will and a way to do so. The thesis proposes a normative theory of transitional business regulation. It is appropriate for the UN to assume a temporary role shaping business conduct in the public interest during transitions from conflict to sustained peace. This role should involve stimulating responsible business self-regulation and linking business [...]
This uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend globally... more This uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend globally of resorting to ethics-based frameworks as the principal modality for governing the responsible development and use of AI. It is critical of the relative paucity, in the context of this trend, of approaches with respect to governing private and corporate activity that are adequately and appropriately grounded in law and regulation. Section Two below charts the proliferation of ethical frameworks in this area. Section Three identifies the missing governance dimension in this approach: how is it envisaged that the broad ethical concepts or principles (e.g. ‘fairness’, ‘transparency’) advanced in prevailing frameworks are to be connected, if at all, to mechanisms for giving effect to those principles or for providing consequences for lack of adherence to these? What is at stake in the prevailing approach – why does it matter that this piece of the governance puzzle appears, for the most pa...
Any serious notion of ‘inclusivity’ in peacebuilding arguably cannot omit the private sector. Bus... more Any serious notion of ‘inclusivity’ in peacebuilding arguably cannot omit the private sector. Business people, firms, financial institutions, for-profit collectives and others are important socio-political actors in addition to their economic role. In any given setting they may be capable of helping or hindering wider efforts to prevent conflict and consolidate peace. Policymakers and practitioners can conceivably advance their peacebuilding and development objectives by being more open to engaging business actors. Such engagement would look to better understand, influence and potentially harness these actors’ peacebuilding-related impacts, interests and ideas. What does it really mean to ‘engage’ the private sector in peacebuilding, beyond mere rhetoric about including ‘all stakeholders’? What are the policy risks of closer relations, and how do policymakers decide which businesses might be appropriate dialogue or project partners? Why should business people be interested in approp...
Abstract: The second round of Zimbabwe's presidential election is scheduled for the end of J... more Abstract: The second round of Zimbabwe's presidential election is scheduled for the end of June 2008. There has been a sharp increase in state sponsored violence since the first round in March (ICG May 2008), coming after almost a decade marked by violence, intimidation and ...
This essay explores some of the parameters and merits of a putative argument that the announcemen... more This essay explores some of the parameters and merits of a putative argument that the announcement of June 19, 2018 that the United States would withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council might most properly be understood as but one manifestation of a wider political backlash within the US (and indeed other Western democracies) against the multilateral human rights system epitomized by the Council. There are two prongs to this argument. First, populist-nationalist political sentiment at home simultaneously fuels and is fanned by strident high-profile diplomatic critiques (or even rejections) of global bodies such as the Council. Second, the nature and force of this backlash constitutes a systemic threat to the future of the post-1945 rules-based international order, especially since it comes mostly from the superpower whose values-based rhetoric and leadership has perhaps done most to advance the global human rights agenda in the modern era.
This paper explores the utility and accuracy of analogies one might make between the sorts of COV... more This paper explores the utility and accuracy of analogies one might make between the sorts of COVID-related state measures taken during the ongoing pandemic and the sorts of measures taken around the world in pursuit of public security in the ‘war on terror’ after September 2001. It proposes two ways (other than sheer prevalence and geographic spread) in which the counter-terrorism analogy is not necessarily entirely apposite, that is, because the COVID phenomenon is relatively distinct. First is the significance of new technologies in the modalities of state COVID measures relative to states’ counter-terrorism ones. Second, is the central and outsize role that technology companies play, alongside and/or intertwined with state authorities, in the state measures and activities under consideration that raise potential human rights concerns, especially at scale and over time. Finally, the paper examines the adequacy of the international human rights law framework in the face of these t...
United Nations (UN) peace operations are often at the forefront of efforts to build peace after c... more United Nations (UN) peace operations are often at the forefront of efforts to build peace after conflict. They embody universal ideals and seek to give them practical effect during post-contnct peacebuilding. This thesis explores a role for UN peace operations in helping to regulate the peacebuilding impact of one important social group, the business sector. The main hypothesis is that especially during early post-conflict periods UN peace operations can and should take steps to influence business behaviour in ways that increase the possibilities of sustainable peace and of business respect for fundamental standards. Existing scholarship has shown how business factors and activity may have both positive and negative effects on processes to consolidate peace. Meanwhile recent debates on the human rights responsibilities of business have highlighted the need for special policies and institutional initiatives for conflict-affected zones, where local regulators are often weak. But to date scholars and policymakers have not explored a role for peace operations in regulating conflict-sensitive and socially-responsible business practices. This thesis examines how UN peace operations have acted (or omitted to act) to shape the various ways in which business might help or hinder the achievement of peacebuilding goals. The principal finding is that the UN peacebuilding system mainly views businesses as subjects for economic policy. It appears largely blind to businesses as social and political actors. Peace operations have lacked explicit mandates or any strategy to engage with business to minimise harm or maximise positive contributions to peace. The challenge is to find the will and a way to do so. The thesis proposes a normative theory of transitional business regulation. It is appropriate for the UN to assume a temporary role shaping business conduct in the public interest during transitions from conflict to sustained peace. This role should involve stimulating responsible business self-regulation and linking business [...]
This uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend globally... more This uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend globally of resorting to ethics-based frameworks as the principal modality for governing the responsible development and use of AI. It is critical of the relative paucity, in the context of this trend, of approaches with respect to governing private and corporate activity that are adequately and appropriately grounded in law and regulation. Section Two below charts the proliferation of ethical frameworks in this area. Section Three identifies the missing governance dimension in this approach: how is it envisaged that the broad ethical concepts or principles (e.g. ‘fairness’, ‘transparency’) advanced in prevailing frameworks are to be connected, if at all, to mechanisms for giving effect to those principles or for providing consequences for lack of adherence to these? What is at stake in the prevailing approach – why does it matter that this piece of the governance puzzle appears, for the most pa...
Any serious notion of ‘inclusivity’ in peacebuilding arguably cannot omit the private sector. Bus... more Any serious notion of ‘inclusivity’ in peacebuilding arguably cannot omit the private sector. Business people, firms, financial institutions, for-profit collectives and others are important socio-political actors in addition to their economic role. In any given setting they may be capable of helping or hindering wider efforts to prevent conflict and consolidate peace. Policymakers and practitioners can conceivably advance their peacebuilding and development objectives by being more open to engaging business actors. Such engagement would look to better understand, influence and potentially harness these actors’ peacebuilding-related impacts, interests and ideas. What does it really mean to ‘engage’ the private sector in peacebuilding, beyond mere rhetoric about including ‘all stakeholders’? What are the policy risks of closer relations, and how do policymakers decide which businesses might be appropriate dialogue or project partners? Why should business people be interested in approp...
The universalisation post-1945 (and especially post-1989) of human rights discourses and framewor... more The universalisation post-1945 (and especially post-1989) of human rights discourses and frameworks is often seen as either a metaphor for or indicator of some wider globalisation processes. On this account, if anything appears to have globalised during the late 20 th / early 21 st century era of globalisation it was norms (if not institutions) of human rights, and the human rights vernacular itself. For better or worse-and perhaps partly due to their inherent susceptibility to appropriation by diverse sets of actors-human rights became a key feature and language of political discourse and engagement at local, national and international levels. If we have been experiencing a backlash against the rules-based international order, what are its implications for the future of the human rights project? How have any backlash dynamics manifested in human rights terms? Conversely, how has any backlash against human rights and/or its declared universalism contributed to this workshop's subject, the wider phenomenon of a generalised, often populist backlash against global law and institutions? In particular, if we are properly to interrogate the backlash motif, what particular actors and forces may have driven the backlash, why and in what sites of activity, and with what lasting effects? This paper approaches some of these questions by particular reference to how the associated patterns and trends might be illustrated in the trajectory to date of the most recent addition to the global human rights panoply: the field of 'business and human rights' as encapsulated in a framework endorsed by a unanimous UN Human Rights Council in 2011. A subsidiary theme of analysis is the place of human rights in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, and the consequences of that agenda for the human rights project. The paper also touches briefly on the future of human rights in the context of the governance at various levels of the use of new technologies especially by corporate and governmental actors. A necessary backdrop for this enquiry, of course, is the debate within human rights scholarship over 'human rights futures' (Hopgood, Snyder and Vinjamuri 2017). One way to frame that debate is by reference to what may be the future legitimacy, effectiveness and coherence of human rights as a form of power (and especially as a vehicle for constraining, contesting and countering power: Baxi 2008). Noting more familiar and longstanding critiques of human rights, in addressing its main questions the paper attempts a taxonomy of recent critical perspectives and contradictory projections about the future trajectory and
In 2015 the UN Global Compact launched the 'Business for the Rule of Law Framework' by reference ... more In 2015 the UN Global Compact launched the 'Business for the Rule of Law Framework' by reference to SDG 16. This is one reflection of a broader policy trend towards explicitly engaging the private sector in the development agenda. Partly following the model of the Compact's 'Business for Peace' ('B4P') initiative, the 'B4RoL' framework is intended to "engage responsible business to support the building and strengthening of legal frameworks and accountable institutions," activities which are intended as a complement to, but not substitute for, government action. On one view, it is entirely appropriate to view business as an important stakeholder in ensuring that governments adhere to the Rule of Law: a constituency-of-demand, a source of oversight, and possibly a source of capacity. Yet scholars have not yet appeared troubled by some of the assumptions and implications of this initiative, nor provided any theorised account of the rationale underpinning it.
Businesspeople and enterprises may be influential stakeholders with important resources, incentiv... more Businesspeople and enterprises may be influential stakeholders with important resources, incentives and ideas in efforts to secure and consolidate peace. They are not necessarily less legitimate or more political actors than the civil society groups with whom donors and others routinely interact. If so, there is an argument that external authorities and agencies with a peacebuilding mandate should, with relevant host authorities, consider cooperative strategies with responsible business actors in pursuit of that mandate. The post-2015 development agenda illustrates greater donor and institutional focus in engaging the private sector. Yet this engagement has not typically been theorised, couched in notions of power and legitimacy and agency, or given a principled underpinning. What is at stake in closer, more cooperative development and conflict-management relationships with business in fragile settings? Does the ambivalence some peacebuilders might have towards engaging with business indicate problems of 'appropriateness'? Is it really so obvious that the for-profit motive should affect the legitimacy of business as a peace stakeholder? Can one justify closer relations or would peacebuilders simply risk undue influence, 'picking winners', or other undesirable outcomes?
This chapter uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend ... more This chapter uses the Australian example to offer a far broader critique of the prevailing trend globally of resorting to ethics-based frameworks as the principal modality for governing the responsible development and use of AI. It is critical of the relative paucity, in the context of this trend, of approaches with respect to governing private and corporate activity that are adequately and appropriately grounded in law and regulation. Section Two below charts the proliferation of ethical frameworks in this area. Section Three identifies the missing governance dimension in this approach: how is it envisaged that the broad ethical concepts or principles (e.g. ‘fairness’, ‘transparency’) advanced in prevailing frameworks are to be connected, if at all, to mechanisms for giving effect to those principles or for providing consequences for lack of adherence to these? What is at stake in the prevailing approach – why does it matter that this piece of the governance puzzle appears, for the most part, to be missing? Section Four explores some of the broad considerations that might shape policy choices on appropriate regulatory approaches.
This paper engages with some questions at the nexus of COVID-19 public health responses, civil-po... more This paper engages with some questions at the nexus of COVID-19 public health responses, civil-political rights under international human rights law, and the responsible governance of digital data and data-driven technologies. Section Two charts observations, since early 2020, about the claimed ‘pandemic’ of state surveillance and accumulation/processing of personal data in pursuit, at least ostensibly, of public health objectives. Section Three accordingly suggests some of the possible parameters one might erect to begin, consistent with IHRL, to evaluate the human rights compatibility of tech-assisted COVID-related state measures with respect to populations or parts thereof. Section Four then explores the utility and accuracy of analogies one might make between the sorts of COVID-related state measures under consideration here and the sorts of measures taken around the world in pursuit of public security in the ‘war on terror’ after September 2001. Section Four’s analysis proposes two ways (other than sheer prevalence and geographic spread) in which the counter-terrorism analogy is not necessarily entirely apposite, that is, because the COVID phenomenon is relatively distinct. First is the significance of new technologies in the modalities of state COVID measures relative to states’ counter-terrorism ones. Second is the central and outsize role that technology companies play, alongside and/or intertwined with state authorities, in the state measures and activities under consideration that raise potential human rights concerns, especially at scale and over time.
Section Five examines the adequacy of the international human rights law framework in the face of these two arguably somewhat distinctive aspects of the COVID era. It does so particularly in the context of both the lack of traction of the prevailing normative framework on ‘business and human rights’, as well as in the context of the degree of self-doubt expressed – by leading defenders of human rights values – about the relevance and suitability at all of the human rights frame to the governance of many social impacts of newer data-based technologies. Section Six concludes, arguing that the counter-terrorism analogy nevertheless remains apt in one respect. This is in relation to how challenges that are (even quite properly) framed as open-ended society-wide existential ones invariably carry some risk of the progressive normalisation of supposedly exceptional measures. Unless certain parameters are adhered to, these do risk fundamentally re-shaping the proper role and reach of the state in free, open and just societies based on the rule of law
Blockbuster movies such as 'Blood Diamond' or 'Avatar' explore corporate responsibility themes in... more Blockbuster movies such as 'Blood Diamond' or 'Avatar' explore corporate responsibility themes in various ways. How might such popular culture products affect the emerging regulatory landscape on business-related human rights impacts and conflict-sensitive business practices? What role might popular culture-in particular 'big screen' movies-have to play in fostering greater awareness of, and business respect for, these norms and standards? Most scholarship on addressing the governance gap in these areas is directed to 'supply-side' factors-how to design or improve legal, regulatory and policy initiatives. Scholars in the 'business and human rights' and 'business for peace' fields have focussed relatively little on insights as to the 'demand side'-whether, how and to what extent consumer behaviour may be relevant in driving shifts in business practices or in complementing or demanding governmental action. This working paper explores a possible research agenda on how the nexus of business, human rights and peace is treated in pop culture, and what (if any) significance this might have to the universe of regulatory and other activity in this field. It asks how important pop culture might be in shaping a critical mass of informed consumers, a potentially relevant regulatory resource.
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Section Five examines the adequacy of the international human rights law framework in the face of these two arguably somewhat distinctive aspects of the COVID era. It does so particularly in the context of both the lack of traction of the prevailing normative framework on ‘business and human rights’, as well as in the context of the degree of self-doubt expressed – by leading defenders of human rights values – about the relevance and suitability at all of the human rights frame to the governance of many social impacts of newer data-based technologies. Section Six concludes, arguing that the counter-terrorism analogy nevertheless remains apt in one respect. This is in relation to how challenges that are (even quite properly) framed as open-ended society-wide existential ones invariably carry some risk of the progressive normalisation of supposedly exceptional measures. Unless certain parameters are adhered to, these do risk fundamentally re-shaping the proper role and reach of the state in free, open and just societies based on the rule of law