Critical perspectives on CSR and development: what we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know (original) (raw)
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International Affairs, 2006
The May 2005 issue of International Affairs addressed the theme of critical perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the developing world. The aim of this article is to take the debate a step further. Five researchers and practitioners on corporate social responsibility and development in various regions in the developing world—Central America, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Argentina and India—using knowledge gained by their empirical research, argue that the management-oriented perspective on CSR and development is one-sided. While recognizing that critical approaches to the question have emerged, there is still a need to know which issues should form part of a critical research agenda on CSR and development.In this article the authors seek to fill this gap in order to facilitate a more in-depth investigation of what CSR initiatives can or cannot achieve in relation to improving conditions of workers and communities in the global South. They suggest that a critical research agenda on CSR and development should encompass four areas: a) the relationship between business and poverty reduction; b) the impact of CSR initiatives; c) governance dimensions of CSR; and d) power and participation in CSR. Such an alternative critical approach focuses on society's most vulnerable groups and adopts a ‘people-centred’ perspective as a counterbalance to the dominant ‘business case’ perspective. The authors conclude that this has significant implications for CSR practice.
CSR in Developing Countries as An Emerging Field Of Study
Given rising interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) globally, its local expressions are as varied as they are increasingly visible in both developed and developing countries. We present in this paper a multilevel review of the literature on CSR in developing countries, and highlight the key differentiators and nuanced CSR-related considerations that qualify it as a distinctive field of study. Our review entails a content analysis of 452 articles spanning two-and-a-half decades (1990-2015). Based on this comprehensive review, we identify the key differentiating attributes of the literature on CSR in developing countries in relation to depictions of how CSR is conceived or " CSR Thinking " and depictions of how CSR is practiced and implemented or " CSR Doing ". We synthesize from there five key themes that capture the main aspects of variation in this literature, namely: 1) complex institutional antecedents within the national business system (NBS); 2) complex macro-level antecedents outside of the NBS; 3) the salience of multiple actors involved in formal and informal governance; 4) hybridized and other nuanced forms of CSR expressions; and 5) varied scope of developmental and detrimental CSR consequences. We conclude by accentuating how the nuanced forms of CSR in the developing world are invariably contextualized and locally shaped by multi-level factors and actors embedded within wider formal and informal governance systems.
Corporate social responsibility in international development: an overview and critique
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 2003
Within the literature focusing on CSR's role in development, three ‘schools of practice’ appear to be emerging: the neo-liberal school (focused on self-regulation by industry according to the risks and rewards of CSR activity), the state-led school (focused on national and international regulation and co-operation) and the ‘third way’ school (focused on the role of for profit and not-for-profit organizations. Yet, each of these schools of practice may be critiqued using theories applicable to the broader field of development. Namely, the neo-liberal school fails to address the resource misallocations caused by CSR. The state-led school fails to address the underlying politics behind government encouraged CSR. The ‘third way’ school fails to address the self-interest involved in CSR. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.