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A number of factors have placed Africa, as a geographical region, in a uniquely unusual position regarding the application of business and human rights (BHR) standards: dissonance between the abundance of natural resources on the one hand and extreme poverty on the other; notoriety for the region’s weak governance regimes; and an acute tension between trade and investment liberalization policies; and the lack of effective regulation of foreign direct investment. Above all, the levels of adverse corporate human rights impacts are particularly high, especially on vulnerable groups.
The emergence of international and regional standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) has provided opportunities for scholars and practitioners to reflect further on what impact these standards have on the region. Yet, whatever contribution Africa has made to the practice and norms on BHR has not been fully recognised, nor studied systematically.
This Special Issue of the Business and Human Rights Journal (BHRJ) aims at addressing that gap in scholarship and practice. The primary ambition of this issue is to provide a platform for reflection on and analysis of the contribution that the region has made and could further make to BHR.
We invite scholarly articles (of 9 000 – 12 000 words) on any of select four themes listed below. The contributions must constitute uniquely African reflections to the practice and scholarship on BHR in the region by drawing as far as possible on the significance of African concepts, philosophies and values towards a better understanding and realization of BHR ideals globally, regionally and domestically.
The four themes are the following:
We also invite shorter pieces (2 000 – 3 000 words) for the Development in the Field (DiF) section of the BHRJ focussing on current laws, policies, practices and activities concerning BHR in Africa. These pieces are expected to appraise official government activities including legislation, debates, plans and projects as well as the work of non-state actors including business enterprises and non-governmental organisations, and decisions, opinions and recommendations of courts, national human rights institutions, arbitration tribunals and traditional actors.
Table of ContentThe Cambridge Commonwealth, European & International Trust was established on 1 August 2013 from the merger of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Overseas Trust. These were established as charities by the University of Cambridge in the 1980s in order to provide financial support for international students on degree courses at Cambridge. Today, the Trust is the largest provider of funding for international students at Cambridge, working with partners worldwide to support students of outstanding academic merit under a variety of scholarship schemes.... read more
The authors of selected scholarly articles and pieces will be invited to present their drafts at a writing workshop to be held at the University of Cape Town in March-April 2024. Participation in the workshop is strongly encouraged. More information will be shared with the selected participants in due course, including potential funding for some authors.
We invite scholarly articles (of 9 000 – 12 000 words) on any of select four themes listed above. The contributions must constitute uniquely African reflections to the practice and scholarship on BHR in the region by drawing as far as possible on the significance of African concepts, philosophies and values towards a better understanding and realization of BHR ideals globally, regionally and domestically.
We also invite shorter pieces (2 000 – 3 000 words) for the Development in the Field (DiF) section of the BHRJ focussing on current laws, policies, practices and activities concerning BHR in Africa. These pieces are expected to appraise official government activities including legislation, debates, plans and projects as well as the work of non-state actors including business enterprises and non-governmental organisations, and decisions, opinions and recommendations of courts, national human rights institutions, arbitration tribunals and traditional actors.
The anticipated timelines for the special issue are as follows:
Please send an abstract of no more than 500 words to [email protected] by 15 October 2023 specifying author(s), affiliation, email and draft title of the intended paper. Please indicate clearly whether your abstract is for a scholarly article or a DiF piece. All submissions should follow the BHRJ style guide: CityULR – Call for Paper (cambridge.org).
For more details, visit University of Cambridge website.