Article One’s Annual Summer Reading List: 2018 Edition

By Faris Natour

With the depth of summer upon us, we wanted to share our annual Article One summer reading (and watching) list with you again this year.  While we encourage you to read and provide input on the recently published draft binding treaty on business and human rights, that may not make for the best beach reading.  So here are five more pieces that really got us thinking:

1. The year is not over yet, but one of 2018’s most significant human rights milestones was the launch of the new Centre for Sport and Human Rights led by the Institute for Business and Human Rights. If you are involved with sports as a sponsor, broadcaster, partner or supplier, check out the Centre’s new website and great resources such as guiding questions for sponsors and broadcasters, and a guide to the full lifecycle of integrating human rights in mega sporting events.  It may even help you get over 2018 World Cup withdrawal, although as a German, I’m trying to forget that the tournament ever happened.
2. At Article One, much of our work in the last year has centered on the human rights impacts of artificial intelligence (AI). To get a thorough and accessible overview of the risks, opportunities, and ethical challenges of AI in under ten minutes, watch this great video on the Ethics of AI produced by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and The Atlantic.
3. How can sustainability leadership help companies succeed in today’s uncertain global environment? “All In – The Future of Business Leadership”, a new book by our friend and office neighbor, SustainAbility’s Mark Lee along with Chris Coulter and David Grayson, answers that question clearly using examples and insights from many global leaders.  The book is an easy read and inspires us to embrace today’s sustainability challenges full steam ahead.
4. Can longstanding human rights frameworks point us towards solutions to the societal challenges of today and tomorrow? At a panel facilitated by Eileen Donahue, director of Stanford’s Global Digital Policy Incubator, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and Y Combinator President and OpenAI co-chairman Sam Altman discuss potential avenues for addressing the impacts of new technologies on human rights, from hyper-specialized ANI bots to super intelligent AGIs. Catch the conversation here to see two highly influential leaders—one, an international human rights leader, the other a Silicon Valley tech pioneer—tackle tough questions of progress, policy, and opportunity that remain central to the AI and human rights debate today.
5. Last but not least, Patagonia’s CEO Rose Macario made headlines earlier this summer when she announced that Patagonia will close its stores and offices and give employees a paid day off on election day.  With 2014 Pew Research Center study showing that 35 percent of voters said scheduling conflicts kept them from the polls, Macario calls on other business leaders to follow Patagonia and “let our people vote.

Happy reading!