Business & Society with Senthil Nathan

#41 Business and Human Rights: From UN Principles to the Fourth Pillar with Tyler Giannini

Senthil Nathan

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0:00 | 36:24

Can business be a force for human rights — not just avoid violating them?

In this episode, Senthil sits down with Tyler Giannini, Professor at Harvard Law School, to explore the growing field of business and human rights. From the Nuremberg trials to the UN Guiding Principles of 2011, Tyler traces how the world has slowly — and imperfectly — begun holding corporations accountable.

Tyler also shares the thinking behind the Fourth Pillar Initiative, a framework he helped develop that puts communities at the heart of business decisions and challenges the "do no harm" baseline that defines current global standards.

In this episode:
• What the UN Guiding Principles are — and what they leave out
• Why voluntary frameworks aren't as toothless as they sound
• The Fourth Pillar: agency, power, and advancing rights
• Why community engagement is actually good for business
• Where the field is headed over the next decade

Book mentioned: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace
Fourth Pillar Initiative: https://fourthpillarinitiative.org/

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