Ethical trade networks as a catalyst for corporate compliance with human rights

Abstract

Elaborating on Ethical Trade Networks as a Catalyst for Corporate Compliance with Human Rights, Kirsteen Shields considers why voluntary regulatory efforts channelled by social movements, in particular Fairtrade, may achieve compliance in areas beyond the reach of traditional regulatory methods of international law. Insights from network theory cast light on how ethical trading networks may serve as catalysts for corporate compliance. Moreover the development of transnational voluntary regulation challenges the democratic accountability of traditional methods of international law, whilst bearing its own democratic deficits.