The concept of corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), or the idea that companies should
\\ncombine economic, social and environmental concerns, seems an unavoidable
\\ncomponent of discourses on business and society. Why is this the case? Is it
\\nbecause we are in a post neoliberal era, and in an economic crisis, that we are acknowledging the drawbacks of unrestrained business activity? Or is the
\\nopposite true, and the popularity of CSR is the product of the triumph of
\\nneoliberal ideology? Both views can be supported by equally convincing
\\ntheoretical and empirical arguments. In this paper rather than arguing for either
\\nview, I propose to set the problem of CSR according to a different perspective,
\\nwhich may help to move beyond narrow alternative of CSR as \\xe2\\x80\\x98reaction to
\\nneoliberalism\\xe2\\x80\\x99 or \\xe2\\x80\\x98as product of neoliberalism.\\xe2\\x80\\x99
\\nMy thesis is that CSR and its concerns are much older than neoliberalism
\\nand post-neoliberalism. These are concerns that have to do with how to
\\norganize our social life, and what institutional arrangements can better promote
\\njustice and well-being. These concerns have to do with economy and politics at
\\nthe same time. While many people may think that corporate social
\\nresponsibility is empty rhetoric, I argue here that there is some substance to
\\nCSR, and that this substance has to do with the inextricable connection
\\nbetween economic, political and moral concerns. In the first part, I argue that
\\ndisagreements about the nature of CSR can be addressed using the distinction
\\nbetween \\xe2\\x80\\x98concept\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and \\xe2\\x80\\x98conception.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 I identify the main understandings of CSR,
\\nand argue that all obscure, to varying degrees, the nuances of the relationship
\\nbetween economy and politics. In the second part, I argue that the relationship
\\nbetween politics and the market, which lies at the core of CSR, can be better
\\nunderstood if we reverse the neoclassical analogy between market and politics.
\\nIn the third part, I address the opposition between voluntary and hard
\\nregulation and link this opposition to the tension between political means and
\\nends. I conclude with some questions about the limitations of the label
\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x98Corporate Social Responsibility.\\xe2\\x80\\x99