Remedying Human Rights Governance Through Accounting and Auditing

Abstract

This thesis, "Remedying Human Rights Governance Through Accounting and Auditing", examines the emergence, evolution and societal implications of 'accounting/auditing for human rights' in the confines of three interconnected papers. Through a comprehensive analysis spanning historical, interview, and case study methods, the thesis investigates the intersection of human rights, corporate accountability, audit and the role of accounting firms in this domain. The thesis introduces the three papers with a specially written essay to demonstrate contributions of this study to the emerging literature on accounting for human rights. The first paper, "Rights at Risk: A Governmentality Analysis of the Rise of Corporate Human Rights Governance", employs a governmentality framework to trace the shift in human rights governance from a focus on detecting and remedying abuses to a preventive, risk management approach. This historical analysis, based on the developments in the United Nations from 1948 onwards, highlights how the governance system has evolved to prioritize corporate self-governance and ‘rationalized technologies’ of risk management, questioning the efficacy and underlying rationality of this shift. The second paper, "In the Right(s) Business? Understanding How Large Professional Service Firms Organize Their Engagement with the Growing Demand for Human Rights Services", delves into the professionalization of human rights services within accounting firms. Through in-depth interviews with human rights practitioners, working for the Big 4, the study reveals the internal dynamics and challenges that auditors and consultants face in balancing commercial pressures with the ethical imperatives of human rights work. The findings underscore the need to rethink professionalism in this area, advocating for a more proactive and ethically driven audit function. The third paper, "Audit as Remedy: Theorizing Modern Slavery Scandal at Boohoo.com", provides a detailed case study of Boohoo.com, a company involved in a labour abuse scandal in the UK. This investigation illuminates the role of business models, corporate governance and statutory audits in human rights violations, proposing a framework for an expanded audit function that serves as a voice for remedy and improvement. By integrating theoretical insights from Hirschman’s work on exit and voice, the paper argues for a reimagined audit role that actively contributes to human rights enhancement. Collectively, these studies contribute to the emerging literature on accounting for human rights and the audit function. They highlight (a) how some of the broader human rights rationalities are being lost because too much emphasis is put on technologies, (b) the reluctance to develop technologies in ways that could stimulate the recovery of such rationalities, and (c) switches in governance rationalities that have been ignored or underestimated in terms of their significance. On the basis of such governmentality-informed analysis, the thesis makes the case for imagining a different statutory audit function to promote human rights and build a better world.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Christopher Humphrey (Supervisor) & Brendan O'Dwyer (Supervisor)