The External

In an analysis of French companies in response to the French Duty of Vigilance Law, Dr. Bernhard Reinsberg and Dr. Christoph Valentin Steinert assess whether compliance with mandatory due diligence laws impacts businesses' profitability. Their findings of their article 'The French duty of vigilance law: reconciling human rights and firm profitability’ published in the Review of International Political Economychallenge widespread industry claims that such regulations threaten competitiveness and provide crucial evidence for policymakers considering similar legislation worldwide.

In their article, ‘From Constructive Ambiguity to Escalating Commitment: The Evolution of the Bangladesh Accord as a Transnational Institution for Collective Action’ in Administrative Science Quarterly, Juliane Reinecke and Jimmy Donaghey uncover how strategic ambiguity in international agreements can paradoxically strengthen rather than weaken collective action. Their eight-year study of the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety demonstrates how deliberately vague language that initially enables difficult negotiations can evolve into robust, expanding commitments that exceed original expectations.  Tune in for a summary of their key findings.

Research from Dr Aikaterini-Christina Koula at Manchester Metropolitan University reveals how legal systems are increasingly being weaponized to silence human rights defenders, particularly in Europe. Her work introduces a taxonomy of violations perpetrated through the legal system and demonstrates how these tactics deviate from human rights standards, offering valuable insights for academics, practitioners, and defenders alike.Episode 24 of the External presents a concise summary of her paper (2024) 'Human Rights Violations Committed Against Human Rights Defenders Through the Use of Legal System: A Trend in Europe and Beyond’ in Human Rights Review.

In Episode 23, we are joined by Dr. Nicolás Pose-Ferraro ⁠(University of the Republic of Uruguay) to discuss his 2025 article in the Journal of Common Market Studies, ‘Between Geopolitics and Political Economy: The European Union–Mercosur Negotiation to Form a Trade Agreement’, which explores the reasons behind the latest push to conclude the EU-Mercosur agreement and what threatens its completion.

In ‘International Attention and the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Campaigning for Agents of Change’ (Routledge 2023), Dr. Janika Spannagel ⁠(Freie Universitat Berlin) seeks to address the question of whether and how international attention can protect and enable domestic human rights activists in authoritarian settings.In episode 22, Janika Spannagel joins the External to discuss the key insights from the book.