Business & International Human Rights

In this course we will examine the legal, economics, philosophical, and policy implications of requiring businesses to comply with international human rights law. Given the rapidly growing area of law and social justice, differences between hard law, soft law, custom, and general principles of human rights laws will be explored. We will interrogate social problems like child labor, climate change and environmental degradation, human trafficking, global financial destabilization, indigeneity, modern slavery, ethnic and geopolitical conflict, war, and genocide. We will also track how conceptions of international human rights have changed over time and globally. Primary and secondary works from the field of history, economics, sociology, and law will be incorporated to carry out the goal of the course which is to provide tools and perspectives that help students engage thoughtfully in these debates and to extend them into application in their own roles as engaged citizen, corporate, nonprofit, public, and entrepreneurial leaders. (INTD 0120 or PHL 0170 or PSCI 0109 or with instructor approval.)