Business And Human Rights In Asia

Business and human rights has emerged as a distinct field within the corporate governance movement. The endorsement by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in 2011 reinforces the State’s duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and greater access by victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial. This book draws on the UN Guiding Principles and recent national plans of action, to provide an overview of relevant developments within the ASEAN region. Bridging theory and practice, the editors have positioned this book at the intersection of human rights risk and its regulation. Chapter authors discuss the implications of key case-studies undertaken across the region and various sectors, with a particular focus on extractive industries, the environment, and infrastructure projects. Topics covered include: due diligence and the role of audits; businesses’ responsibilities to women and children; and the mitigation of human rights risks in the region's emerging markets. The book sheds light on how stakeholders currently approach business and human rights, and explores how the role of ASEAN States, and that of the institution itself, may be strengthened. In doing so, the book identifies critical challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the region in relation to business and human rights. This book will be of excellent use and interest to scholars, practitioners and students of human rights, business and company law, international law, and corporate governance.

This book examines the State’s duty to protect human rights in Asia amidst rising concern over the human rights impact of business organisations in the region, a topic which has hitherto been understudied. It analyses a range of inter-connected issues: the advent of international standards, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the challenges inherent in the formulation of National Action Plans on business and human rights, the need for improved legislation and policies, access to remedies, and conflicts with indigenous peoples over business activities. The book also covers innovative themes such as BHR in the era of smart cities, ethical consumer behavior, and a human rights management system, which are emerging areas of enquiry in this field concluding with a range of critical issues to be addressed, including the need for an assessment of COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on BHR in Asia and beyond. This book is part of Asia Centre’s exploration of the nascent regional human rights architecture that is facing significant obstacles in protecting human rights and showcases the progress achieved and the ongoing challenges across Asia.

Does the increasing prominence of Asia also mark a new era for human rights in the region? This timely book uncovers the political drivers behind both recent regional and country-based changes to the recognition, promotion, and protection of rights. Human Rights in Asia focuses on the relationships between political regimes, institutions and cultures, and external actors, such as international organisations, NGOs, and business. The contributing authors provide important discussions on Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Phillipines. Thematic chapters then go on to frame these individually focused contributions, by examining the international pressure to 'normalise' rights regimes, and the relationship between Islam and rights in the region. Providing a unique combination of country-specific and thematic analysis, this book will be a fascinating and beneficial read for postgraduate and undergraduate students in human rights and international relations, as well as scholars in politics, human rights, international relations and government and NGO analysts.

The Routledge Handbook of Human Rights in Asia provides a rich study of human rights challenges facing some of the most vulnerable people in Asia. While formal accession to core international human rights instruments is commonplace across the region, the realisation of human rights for many remains elusive as development pressure, violent conflict, limited political will and discrimination maintain human rights volatility. This Handbook explores the underlying causes of human rights abuse in a range of contexts, considers lessons learnt from global, regional and domestic initiatives and provides recommendations and justifications for reform. Comprising 23 chapters, it examines the strengths and weaknesses of human rights institutions in Asia and covers issues such as: Participation, marginalisation, detention and exclusion Private sector responsibility and security Conflict and post-conflict rehabilitation Trafficking, displacement and citizenship Ageing populations, identity and sexuality. Drawing together a remarkable collection of leading and emerging scholars, advisers and practitioners, this Handbook is essential reading for students, scholars, policy makers and advocates of human rights in Asia and the world.

As globalization has brought about new concerns and responsibilities for business, particularly in the realm of human rights, many multinational corporations (MNC) operating in Asia have argued that such rights are the responsibility of government. However, as globalization continues to improve market access for MNCs, it increasingly exposes them to new forms of transnational social movements, and as a result the private sector has emerged as one of the central stakeholders in the region’s human rights dialogue. Taking three of Asia’s fastest emerging economies – Cambodia, China and Thailand – as its starting point, Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights in Asia explores the business case for corporate social responsibility, human rights and anti-corruption in the region. In doing so, it examines how industry perceives human rights and corruption within the corporate social responsibility (CSR) paradigm, and builds on the argument that the CSR regime is a socially constructed concept. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders including business leaders, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and government officials, Robert Hanlon argues that industry perceives human rights as outside their sphere of influence; that divergent stakeholder interests are side-lining the human rights debate; and that human rights are increasingly ignored in the quest for profit-maximization. This leads to the conclusion that human rights and corruption will remain peripheral business issues until stakeholders find new ways of creating space for CSR engagement, and business actors will continue to marginalize the human rights issue so long as governments in the region let them. This interdisciplinary book draws on political science, business and sociological perspectives and as such, will be of great interest to students and scholars working across the fields of Asian business, corporate social responsibility and business ethics, human rights and international political economy.

Analyses the emerging human rights norms, regional institutions and enforcement mechanisms in Asia.

This book explores the role and purpose of journalism to spark and propagate change by investigating human rights journalism and its capacity to inform, educate and activate change. Downman and Ubayasiri maximize this approach by proposing a new paradigm of reporting through the use of human-focussed news values. This approach is a radical departure from the traditional style that typically builds on abstract concepts. The book will explore human rights journalism through the lens of complex issues such as human trafficking and people smuggling in the Asian context. This is not just a book for journalists, or journalism academics, but a book for activists, human rights advocates or anyone who believes in the power of journalism to change the world.

This book identifies the more persuasive contributions by East Asian intellectuals to the international human rights debate.