Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulatory Governance: Towards Inclusive Development?

by P. Utting (Editor), J. Marques (Editor)

Overview

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement has been instrumental in raising awareness that firms have responsibilities other than to their owners and 'the bottom line'. Yet despite all the talk about the importance of stakeholders, transparency, corporate citizenship and sustainability, the developmental and regulatory impacts of CSR remain highly questionable. This book assesses the global rise of private regulation and CSR from the perspective of social and sustainable development. By adopting a multidisciplinary lens, it examines why the experience of CSR pales in comparison with the promise, what needs to be done to address 'the intellectual crisis' of CSR, and forms of corporate accountability and regulation more conducive to inclusive patterns of development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349366316
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	International Political Economy Series
Edition description:	1st ed. 2010
Pages:	309
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Blowfield, University of Oxford, UK
Colin Crouch, Warwick Business School, UK
Ruth Findlay-Brooks, University of Cambridge, UK
Doris Fuchs, University of Münster, Germany
Catia Gregoratti, Newcastle University, UK
Paddy Ireland, University of Kent, UK
Agni Kalfagianni, University of Stuttgart, Germany
José Carlos Marques, McGill University, USA
Ndangwa Noyoo, National Department of Social Development, South Africa
Florence Palpacuer, University of Montpellier, France
Renginee Pillay, University of Surrey, UK
Ngai-Ling Sum, Lancaster University, UK
Peter Utting, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
James Van Alstine, University of Leeds, UK
Rob van Tulder, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Wayne Visser, Mannheim University, Germany
Thurstan Wright, University of Cambridge, UK

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures and Box vii

Preface viii

Notes on the Contributors x

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xiii

Introduction: The Intellectual Crisis of CSR Peter Utting José Carlos Marques 1

1 CSR and Changing Modes of Governance: Towards Corporate Noblesse Oblige? Colin Crouch 26

2 Wal-Martization and CSR-ization in Developing Countries Ngai-Ling Sum 50

3 Corporate Social Responsibility in a Neoliberal Age Paddy Ireland Renginee G. Pillay 77

4 Linking Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Policy in Zambia Ndangwa Noyoo 105

5 Business, Corporate Responsibility and Poverty Reduction Michael Blowfield 124

6 Transnational Corporations and Poverty Reduction: Strategic and Regional Variations Rob van Tulder 151

7 Cross-Sector Partnership as an Approach to Inclusive Development Ruth Findlay-Brooks Wayne Visser Thurstan Wright 180

8 Growing Sustainable Business in Eastern Africa: The Potential and Limits of Partnerships for Development Catia Gregoratti 203

9 Private Food Governance: Implications for Social Sustainability and Democratic Legitimacy Doris Fuchs Agni Kalfagianni 225

10 Spaces of Contestation: The Governance of Industry's Environmental Performance in Durban, South Africa James Van Alstine 248

11 Challenging Governance in Global Commodity Chains: The Case of Transnational Activist Campaigns for Better Work Conditions Florence Palpacuer 276

Index 300

Editorial Reviews

'This timely and important collection addresses many of the critical shortcomings in conventional approaches to CSR by emphasizing issues of power and the role of regulatory governance in promoting corporate responsibility, and restraining acts of corporate irresponsibility.' - Professor Peter Newell, School of International Development, University of East Anglia, UK

'Historically informed, theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded, this excellent volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of prominent authors to provide a piercing examination of the practices, potential and limitations of CSR.' Professor David L. Levy, Department of Management and Marketing, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA

'Ongoing and recent crises have raised profound questions about the effectiveness and virtues of corporate social responsibility and deregulation. However, concerns about the difficulties and costs of developing adequate, appropriate and effective regulation continue to command attention. This volume sheds much light on these complex issues.' - Jomo Kwame Sundaram, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development

From the Publisher