The Essential Conversations in Business and Human Rights (BHR) organizing team (Tricia Olsen, Annie Snelson-Powell, Kathleen Rehbein, Judith Schrempf-Stirling, Harry Van Buren, Michelle Westermann-Behaylo) are excited to announce our next event on 30 April 2025 at 4pm (UK time):
Robert Phillips, Professor of Sustainability and George R. Gardiner Professor in Business Ethics, York University's Schulich School of Business, Canada will discuss "Bringing together business and human rights with stakeholder theory" Rob will first discuss the philosophical foundations of BHR and then engage in conversation with Harry Van Buren and Judith Schrempf-Stirling about their working paper that brings BHR together with stakeholder theory.
The audience will then consider some key philosophical questions, such as is BHR liberal? If not, what are its foundations? Or does it need such foundations? How does the answer alter our expectations for BHR ? If BHR does rest on liberalism, how broadly does it define positive duties? Or is it safer and more convincing to think of rights as negative injunctions against rights violations?
These questions are all of urgent importance in the present moment, and the organizing team hopes for a robust conversation about them and the broader topic of BHR's connection to philosophy.