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I have been doing a lot of work on this topic recently, from organizing a CSR conference to writing two major papers. I guess there are just moments when I have some doubts about the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate human rights practices. The doubts centre around the contradiction between the profit motives of corporations and the (perceived) costs of complying with or exceeding human rights obligations and expectations. Is there a way to make businesses into positive actors? Yes, if you point out how the CSR measure helps the bottom line. $ $ BUT what about when the benefits and costs of a decision suggest a corporation take on a project that puts human rights at risks. For example, a car manufacturer considering investing in China has to consider potential human rights and corruption risks. The potential profits may be so huge that the corporation goes ahead with the project even though they are almost certain that human rights abuses will occur as a result their investment. I am at the point of thinking that governments, some sort of international force or heavy duty media and NGO pestering are required to turn CSR into corpobligation .
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