In this first edition of 5 Questions with the CORE Network series, we introduce Dr. Bonny Ling, a Taiwanese-American who lives in the UK and specializes in business and human rights, with a focus on modern slavery.
Meet Dr. Bonny Ling, a Taiwanese-American-British resident, the Executive Director of Work Better Innovations, professor of business and human rights, criminologist and expert on human trafficking and modern slavery.
Question 1: What are the three things people should know about you?
I am a migrant worker. If we look at the international definition for a migrant worker in the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, it does not define migrant workers based on the type of the work involved.
I like to raise this in my talks to challenge how we colloquially divide work into arbitrary tiers based on perceived status. It can be rather powerful for all of us who work in a country where we are not a national to say simply: I am a migrant worker, in solidarity and amongst us.
I am a Taiwanese-American-British resident. Yes, long story. My kids once found a package of Taiwanese-styled noodles made with American wheat in a British supermarket. I laughed so much when they said, “Mommy, this noodle is so you!”
I head a social enterprise called Work Better Innovations. We drive social impact through research, advisory and training on business and human rights. We also engage in community service to address migrant inequalities in employment and health. It is a community-driven vision of corporate responsibility that we started during the pandemic when the idea aligned with all our hopes and purpose. It is probably one of the hardest things I have done – up there with writing a PhD with young kids who didn’t sleep very much.
Question 2: What fascinates you about your work?
I really enjoy working in a space of trust, where rightsholders can speak honestly about their views and concerns. We need this space for the business and human rights landscape because there are many views, interests and often misconceptions too about what is the content of the corporate responsibility to protect human rights. Only in this trusted space can we begin to see the contours of a solution that gives reality to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. I went to a graduate school in diplomacy, and the training there influenced my thinking in how to identify crevices where positions could align, how to get to an agreement and not see things as zero sum because, most times, there are mutually beneficial solutions.
Question 3: If there were no limitations, what would you recommend companies do to advance the rights of people in business?
I would say not to approach this question with a limitation mindset. But rather to answer it knowing that the core of business is people – just like your name! After all, what is business without people? What is our world without people? Nevertheless, resource limitation is the reality, so companies should be guided by the UNGPs on the prioritisation of action, starting with where delayed or no response would cause the most harm. This needs to involve all rightsholders and a good amount of courage to really listen to each other.
Question 4: What is the most pressing question in your field of work right now and how are you approaching it?
The most pressing question, and this is for everyone and in every field, is what businesses can do to protect democracy. It wasn’t that long ago when Taiwan was still under martial law (only lifted in 1987), and collective trauma from that period is still very real and echoes today when people go to vote in Taiwan. It is a powerful affirmation of freedom that should never be taken for granted in Taiwan or anywhere else. Democracy is also more than the polling day. It needs all of us to support fundamental rights, starting with democracy in the workplace, i.e. union rights and having difficult but nonetheless civil dialogues about putting into practice the rights of people in business. One thing I am doing, and this comes from being asked to contribute to a project backed by a movement to make plain discussions around law and rights in Taiwan, is to make common the language we use around human rights – to move it from legalistic terms to why it matters to the everyday lives of people. This is what Eleanor Roosevelt once said about human rights beginning in the world of the individual person: their neighborhoods, schools, factories, farms, offices, etc, where each seeks dignity and justice.
Question 5: What will the world of responsible business look like in 10 years?
I hope very much that we are still making good progress today, so the world of responsible business in ten years will still surprise us. Maybe in a decade, new instruments that we have not thought of yet can help us to make human rights a normal and ordinary part of business. Maybe this sounds like a tall order in the current political climate when we are encountering pushback against progress already made, but this is also an introspective conversation I am having about working from hope, especially in difficult and hurtful times.
Get in touch with Bonny Ling via Linkedin or via email: bonny.ling@wbi.org.uk
