Market Fundamentalisms: Business Ethics at the Altar of Human Rights

In this article the author explores what he terms 'an emergent traderelated, market-friendly paradigm of human rights', in contrast to the paradigm of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It focuses on a reassertion of the UDHR paradigm in relation to corporate governance and business conduct, looking specifically at the Proposed Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights ('Norms'). The article examines, in this respect, five central themes: the intertextuality of the Norms; the 'network' conception of trade and business conduct; ways of categorising human rights obligations; duties regarding implementation of the Norms; and, finally, related ethical theory concerns.