Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights: Codes of Conduct in the Global Economy

The emergence of voluntary corporate codes of conduct since the early 1990s is both a manifestation of and a response to the process of globalization. They have been part of a more general shift away from state regulation of transnational corporations towards corporate self-regulation in the areas of labour and environmental standards and human rights. This work provides a critical perspective on the growth and significance of corporate codes with a particular focus on working conditions and labour rights. It brings together work by academics, practitioners and activists.

Rhys Jenkins is professor of development studies at the University of East Anglia. Ruth Pearson is professor of development studies and director of the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Leeds. Gill Seyfang is senior research associate at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) at the University of East Anglia.