This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Oestreich, J. E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Human Rights Responsibilities of the World Bank

A Business Paradigm

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA jeo25{at}drexel.edu

This article proposes a model for understanding the appropriate role of intergovernmental organizations in the promotion of human rights, using the World Bank as an example. Most critiques of the Bank’s record on human rights fail because they implicitly treat the institution as a pseudo-governmental agency, with the authority to choose among competing social goals. It is more accurate and instructive to see it as similar to a large corporation, with clear but limited responsibilities to society. As such it is obligated to consider human rights only when they are directly impacted by projects. The article then examines the Bank’s human rights policies. Both in its direct policies and its emphasis on ‘governance’ reform, the institution is acting as we would expect from a corporation in the same situation. Its failures to live up to even its stated guidelines reinforce the need to understand its organizational nature.

Key Words: business ethics • governance • human rights • international organizations • World Bank

Global Social Policy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 55-76 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1468018104040985


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?