Introduction Contemporary Business and Human Rights (BHR) frameworks are built on the premise that the primary perpetrators of profit-driven human rights abuse are legally recognised business entities operating within functioning…
Author: Philipp Bogensperger
Philipp Bogensperger is a Doctoral Researcher in the International Doctorate Programme. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University and completed the First State Examination in Law at the University of Bayreuth, where he previously obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in Law and Economics. From 2020 to 2025, he worked as a student and research assistant at the Chair of African Legal Studies under Prof. Dr. Thoko Kaime at the University of Bayreuth, contributing to research and teaching activities in Human Rights Law with a regional focus on Africa.
His doctoral research adopts a comparative perspective on Europe and Africa, examining licit, illicit, and complicit forms of business conduct and the legal, economic, and governance-related interconnections between them. The project seeks to shed light on illegal forms of business practice, including corruption, human and drug trafficking, and money laundering, as well as unlawful yet state-tolerated economic activities, and analyzes how licit business operations may intersect with, benefit from, or become structurally complicit in such practices within contemporary regulatory frameworks.
This blog piece is part of our ongoing “Rethinking Legal Research in and with Africa” symposium. To access the introduction explaining the framework, click here (ALS / LDC), to access…