MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – In 2011, the United Nations adopted the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, establishing the first global standards for preventing human rights violations by businesses.
Four years later, a new book made possible by a WVU College of Law conference is the most comprehensive guide to business and human rights. Published by the Cambridge University Press, “The Business and Human Rights Landscape” is edited by Jena Martin, a WVU law professor, and Karen Bravo, an Indiana University law professor.
The book is based on papers presented at a gathering of global experts on business and human rights hosted by theWVU College of Law in September 2013. Organized by Martin, it was the first comprehensive conference on business and human rights held at a university in the United States.
“The Business and Human Rights Landscape” includes in-depth explorations of the U.N. Guiding Principles. It also presents practical case studies of current events, such as the 2013 garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 people, as well as perspectives of historical events such as the colonial slave trade.
Martin, who serves as the associate dean for innovation and global development at the College of Law, co-authored a chapter in the book with Michael Addo, a member of the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
The book launch for “The Business and Human Rights Landscape” is being held at the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 18.
-WVU-
jj/11/13/15
