It is undeniable that greater enforcement for corporations to better respect and protect socio-economic rights is needed. Accusations against corporate violations of human rights on the Global South are not few. Some have pointed to the power transnational corporations and other economic actors have over governments to lobby against measures or regulations that may harm their interests. But, as we can see from the case of South Africa, where the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that business was central to the economy that sustained the state during the Apartheid years, we should also highlight the situations where corporations are key to sustaining the state, government and/or system. In this situation, a symbiotic relation exists where both state actors and corporations benefit from each other, instead of perpetrating a situation in which the first is pressured by the latter. Changing this structure is extremely complex, for it would require a reshape of the system, and the economic and political structures and frameworks. This is why international legislation is key, for it could provide the organizational resources to litigate and mediate between the state and corporate actors in one side, and the affected population on the other to conduct constructive and non-violent transitions towards the desirable outcome.
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