This book presents a critique of dominant governance theories grounded in an understanding of existence as a static, discrete, mechanistic process, while also identifying the failures of theories that assume dynamic alternatives of either a radically collectivist or individualist nature. Relationships between ontology and governance practices are established, drawing upon a wide range of social, political, and administrative theory. Employing the ideal-type method and dialectical analysis to establish meanings, the authors develop a typology of four dominant approaches to governance.

In the past decade, companies have become increasingly aware of their corporate, social and human responsibilities. However, with the exception of a few isolated cases, access to justice has barely improved, particularly for or violations of socio-economic rights. In most cases of human rights violations by corporations the victims remain without the right to effective judicial protection. International law does not currently allow for the possibility of enforcing corporate responsibility for human rights, leaving victims to attempt to seek recourse in often inefficient and reluctant...

The rapid industrialization of societies has resulted in radical changes to the Earth's biosphere and its local ecosystems. Climate scientists have recorded and forecasted worrying global temperature rises going back to the early twentieth century, while biologists and palaeontologists have suggested that the next mass extinction is on its way if the current rate of species loss continues. To avert further ecological damage, excessive natural resource use and environmental deterioration are challenges that humanity must deal with now. The human species has had such a significant...