"Democracy and Democratic Deficits in Economic Globalization and Governance": Program of the Section on Economic Globalization and Governance for the AALS 114th Annual Meeting Washington, D.C. 2 January 2020

This year I have chaired the Section on Economic Globalization and Governance of the Association of American Law Schools.  One of the most rewarding tasks of that role is to organize the Section program for the AALS Annual Meeting, this year scheduled for the first week of January 2020.

In that connection I am delighted to share with you the Section's 2020 Program: Democracy and Democratic Deficits in Economic Globalization and Governance. The program brings together three extraordinary scholars--Jena Martin (West Virginia), Karen Bravo (Indiana) and Tara van Ho (Essex UK)--whose path breaking work examines the voices of impacted individuals and affected communities with regard to their interactions with businesses and business activities. The object is to gain valuable insight into what’s important to individuals on the ground when crafting a system of remedies and accountability within the field of business and human rights.  

The Panel Concept Note and bios of the speakers follow. 

Democracy and Democratic Deficits in Economic Globalization and Governance

Program of the Section on Economic Globalization and Governance

AALS 114^th Annual Meeting

Washington, D.C.

2 January 2020

Economic globalization has brought in its wake a movement toward the privatization of governance and the governmentalization of key actors in transnational global production. States project authority in markets through state owned enterprises, sovereign wealth funds, and development facilities. Enterprises and civil society have undertaken greater responsibility for human rights and sustainability consequences of their operations as international soft law regimes have blossomed. This panel considers questions about the applicability of the three pillars of democracy—law, representation, and knowledge-- to the emerging structures of globalization and economic governance. Should governmentalization of economic activity by such private (and state as private) actors also bring with it the protections of democratic structures and principles? How might those be incorporated within the transnational or supranational space within which much of these activities are undertaken.? Should the increasing focus on rights holder in current efforts to manage substantive rights and remedial mechanisms give rise to a duty to faithfully represent?  How is knowledge to be represented and disseminated within value chains among their key actors? Are traditional transparency regimes sufficient where economic activity becomes increasingly data driven and algorithmically programmed. 

To these ends, the Section on Economic Globalization and Governance 2020 Program will focus on the voices of those who are usually the objects rather than the participants in law and norm making in the context of business and human rights.  The panel will focus on their joint work, “Dying to be Heard:  Businesses Impact on Communities.” The object is to highlight the importance of first-person and reported narratives in informing traditional legal analysis.  Specifically, the panel is the outgrowth of an edited volume that examines the voices of impacted individuals and affected communities with regard to their interactions with businesses and business activities.  By highlighting these stories, we can gain valuable insight into what’s important to individuals on the ground when crafting a system of remedies and accountability within the field of business and human rights.  The panel will begin with an overview of how the project came to be and some of the lessons that the editors learned in curating these stories.  Following this, the panel will provide an in-depth case study into one such story: an affected community in Cajamarca Colombia as they attempt to seek remediation from the impacts of AngloGold Ashanti’s “colossal” mine.  Finally, the panel will conclude with potential solutions to some of the issues that we’re uncovered as we collected these stories. We expect a lively Q&A that considers the impact of narratives and collaborative story-telling on legal analysis and remedial action.

Panelists:

Jena Marrtin, Professor of Law West Virginia University College of Law

Karen Bravo, Vice Dean and Professor of Law, Director MJ Program, IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Tara van Ho, Lecturer University of Essex School of Law (UK) 

The Panel is Scheduled for Thursday 2 January 2020 from 1.30 to 3.15 PM. Program available here:  https://am.aals.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/08/SAAG20.pdf

Jena Martin is a professor at West Virginia University College of Law. She has written extensively on many issues, including the intersection of securities regulation and human rights impacts. She is the author of several articles on the subject including, "The End of the Beginning? A Comprehensive Examination of the U.N.’s Business and Human Rights Agenda" (Fordham J. Corp. Financial Law), which earned her the law school’s Significant Scholarship Award. In addition, Prof. Martin has co-edited and co-authored a number of books in the field of securities regulation and business and human rights including: The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward, Looking Back (Cambridge University Press); When the Levees Break: Re-visioning Regulation of the Securities Markets (Lexington Books) and Dying to be Heard: Businesses’ Impact on Communities, (forthcoming Anthem Press). She has presented her research at the United Nations.

Karen E. Bravo is a Vice Dean and Professor of Law at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. She has lectured on human trafficking and slavery around the world and is the founder and leader of the Slavery Past, Present and Future project, an interdisciplinary initiative that brings together scholars of slavery from a multiplicity of disciplines. Professor Bravo’s publications include: "Exploring the Analogy between Modern Trafficking in Humans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade;" "Free Labor! A Labor Liberalization Solution to Modern Trafficking in Persons;" "Interrogating the State’s Role in Human Trafficking; and Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries." She also co-edited the volume The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward, Looking Back (Cambridge University Press) and Dying to be Heard: Businesses' Impact on Communities (forthcoming Anthem Press).

Tara Van Ho is a lecturer and the educational director of the post-graduate programmes in human rights at the University of Essex’s School of Law and Human Rights Centre (UK). She is a Vice President of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (‘BR2R’) and the Conference Chair for the organization’s 2019 annual workshop, which will be held in Essex in September. Her most recent publications include ‘Investor Obligations in Occupied Territories: A report on the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global’ and ‘Assessing the Duty of Care for Social Auditors,’ European Review of Private Law, vol. 27(2), both of which came out in April, ‘The Fukushima diaspora: assessing the state-based non-judicial remedies,’ in Civil and Political Rights in Japan: A Tribute to Sir Nigel Rodley(Saul Takahashi, ed.), which came out in February, and ‘The Duty to Prosecute and the Role of Victims’ Rights,’ in Beyond the Binary: Securing Peace and Promoting Justice after Conflict(Nelson Camilo Sanchez and Rodrigo Uprimny, eds.), which came out in January.

A core member of the Essex Business and Human Rights Project, she advises states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and occasionally businesses on issues of business, investment and human rights. Her primary research interest is on the impact of businesses and investment law on situations of armed conflict and transitional justice. As such, she did the principle drafting of a statement by eminent jurists on legal obligations when supporting reconstruction in Syria that was released in September 2018.