BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS – UPHOLDING THE MARKET'S SOCIAL DARWINISM

An assessment of Mr. John Ruggie's Report: "Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights"? This work is an assessment on John Ruggie's –UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights– vision to determine the key principles for the foundation of a new business and human rights framework, as a continuation of his comprehensive earlier assessment of the debate on the responsibilities of business regarding human rights, which covered Ruggie's work extensively. Unfortunately, Ruggie insists on endorsing the market reigning supreme over our lives by insisting on a laissez-faire framework. Albeit Ruggie acknowledges the unsustainability of the market ethos, it is notoriously evident –as in his previous reports– the absolute absence of reference to the need to impose over the market a truly democratic context. In the author's opinion, before Ruggie can attempt to advance the principles for a future business and human rights framework, he must first abandon the unsustainable market-centred ethos and embrace a sustainable people-and-planet-centred ethos. This would entail advocating a legally-binding framework –as in true democratic practice– as the only way to effectively reconcile business with human rights, assuming he believes in real democracy. This paper builds the author's position by detailing how the market has supplanted democracy and overtaken the halls of government worldwide, allowing for the massive, ubiquitous, systematic and customary violation of human rights in the business ethos.