Shareholder Engagement in the Embedded Business Corporation: Investment Activism and Human Rights

On 14 February 2012, UCL Centre for Ethics and Law invited Aaron Dhir, Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Canada, to present on how the global expansion of the corporation brings with it new tensions such as human rights related impacts.

By examining certain sections of Canadian corporate law, Dhir looks at the impacts of the shareholder proposal on corporations and locally affected communities of third world countries.  Professor Dhir stressed that, as socially responsible corporations navigate this new terrain, they have an ethical duty to respect the interests of locally affected communities in the global business world and empower the communities in third world countries.  To empower communities, companies and investors should consult with these local communities, put them in a position to help and be involved in the process, and most importantly, obtain “free prior and informed consent of locally affected communities” before moving forward.  Dhir concluded that this new governance approach not only promotes a constructive mutual dialogue between stakeholders and corporations, but also reflects a “broader movement towards a new reflexive governance approach”.  Dhir expressed his hope that this approach will encourage corporations to focus on norm generation and the enhancement of “internal self-regulatory capacities”.  Described as “advocacy beyond orders”, Dhir’s presentation spurred audience discussion centred on whether using corporate law mechanisms to further human rights impact awareness will create a trickledown effect, encouraging multinational corporations to raise their CSR standards.

Summary of event