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Accountability and human rights: A tentative exploration and a commentary

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  • Gray, Rob
  • Gray, Sue

Abstract

There continues to be many attempts to articulate what is meant by Human Rights but Griseri and Sepella's (2010, p. 176) adaptation of Leighton et al. (2002) as “entitlements that one holds by virtue of being a human being” takes us to the heart of the matter. What is it to be human and what does humanity demand of us? But the notion is far from settled; it is far from uncontentious; despite its domination by lawyers it is far from simply legalistic; and the matter has only relatively recently been taken up as a matter of focus amongst business and management academics. Human rights have, as yet, almost no presence in accounting and finance. This short essay seeks to provide an introduction to the practitioner papers presented in this issue of CPA and in doing so to provide some context within which the papers might be better appreciated. As happens too often for comfort, practice (at least regulatory and NGO practice) is still leading research and theory in the field of Human Rights. Providing that context offers us the opportunity to speculate on how – notwithstanding the potentially seminal papers that also appear in this issue – we might see accounting academe recognising and responding more widely to Human Rights.

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  • Gray, Rob & Gray, Sue, 2011. "Accountability and human rights: A tentative exploration and a commentary," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(8), pages 781-789.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:22:y:2011:i:8:p:781-789
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2011.07.004
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    2. Salawati Sahari & Noradiva Hamzah & Mohamat Sabri Hassan & Mara Ridhuan Che Abdul Rahman, 2018. "The Development of a Human Rights Disclosure Index," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(5), pages 459-479, May.
    3. Paredes-Gazquez, Juan Diego & Rodriguez-Fernandez, José Miguel & de la Cuesta-Gonzalez, Marta, 2016. "Measuring corporate social responsibility using composite indices: Mission impossible? The case of the electricity utility industry," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 142-153.
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    6. Maurizio Cisi & Francesca Alice Centrone, 2021. "The Human Capital for Value Creation and Social Impact: The Interpretation of the IR’s HC Definition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, June.
    7. Goncharenko, Galina & Khadaroo, Iqbal, 2020. "Disciplining human rights organisations through an accounting regulation: A case of the ‘foreign agents’ law in Russia," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Lopatta, Kerstin & Tideman, Sebastian A. & Scheil, Carolin & Makarem, Naser, 2023. "The current state of corporate human rights disclosure of the global top 500 business enterprises: Measurement and determinants," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. William D. Brink & Karen De Meyst & Tim V. Eaton, 2022. "The Impact of Human Rights Reporting and Presentation Formats on Non-Professional Investors’ Perceptions and Intentions to Invest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-25, February.
    10. Rogerson, Michael & Scarpa, Francesco & Snelson-Powell, Annie, 2024. "Accounting for human rights: Evidence of due diligence in EU-listed firms’ reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. Walaa Wahid ElKelish*, 2023. "Accounting for Corporate Human Rights: Literature Review and Future Insights," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(2), pages 203-226, June.

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