Abstract Deadline:Friday the 26th September, 2008

ICCSR 6th Annual Symposium - Spheres Of Influence/Spheres of Responsibility: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights
Date: November 7th 2008
Location: Nottingham University Business School, UK (To be confirmed)
Information: www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/ICCSR

In his third report as Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, Professor John Ruggie has argued: 

• States’ have a duty to protect human rights
• Corporations’ have a responsibility to respect human rights; and
• States’ have a duty to ensure that when and if corporations fail to respect human rights, these failures be investigated, punished and redressed.

These arguments are of vital interest to business ethics and business and society scholars and practitioners. Ruggie’s suggestions arguably represent a reassertion of a more traditional division of labour between business and government: A reassertion of the belief that businesses should predominantly be concerned with the production of goods and services (and obeying laws and more generally recognized moral precepts); whilst governments should be concerned with the establishment and enforcement of these “rules of the game”.

Ruggie’s third report demands serious engagement from those who argue for more (and less) expansive notions of corporate social responsibility.

If you wish to submit papers for presentation at the Symposium please relate your ideas to the above contextual information and submit an abstract of 1000 words to:

Dr. Glen Whelan
glen.whelan@nottingham.ac.uk
by Friday the 26th September, 2008

An ICCSR team (Moon, Orlitzky and Whelan) will be editing a special issue of the Journal of Business Ethics with the same title as this year’s symposium. The symposium therefore provides a forum within which authors interested in publishing within the special issue can present their work and receive valuable feedback. Please note that acceptance of a paper for the symposium will not indicate acceptance for the special issue.

Key Dates:
Conference Programme Finalised - 1 September 2008
Conference Registration Open - 1 September 2008
Call for Papers (Symposium) Deadline - 26 September 2008
Notice of Acceptance - 6 October 2008
Conference Registration Closed - 31 October 2008
Conference - 7 November 2008
Call for Papers (Journal of Business Ethics) Deadline - 1 December 2008