Coporate Responsibility
Critical Social Policy http://csp.sagepub.com/
Capitalist globalization, corporate social responsibility and social policy
Leslie Sklair and David Miller Critical Social Policy 2010 30: 472 DOI: 10.1177/0261018310376804 The online version of this article can be found at: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/30/4/472
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E S L I E S K L A I R L London School of Economics D A V I D M I L L E R University of Strathclyde
Capitalist globalization, corporate social responsibility and social policy
Abstract This article outlines how the twin crises of capitalist globalization – of class polarization and ecological unsustainability – combine to produce the need for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to attempt to bridge the gap between the rhetoric and reality of corporate conduct. The first section outlines how CSR relates to capitalist globalization and how it is integrated into the activities of the Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC). The role of CSR in relation to social policy is examined next leading on to an account of the uses to which CSR is put in policy discourse, particularly its strategic use in lobbying and the advance of corporate power. Key words: class, corporate social responsibility, globalization, lobbying, transnationalism
Introduction
Researchers working in and across the fields of social policy have long been concerned with the impact of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) on social welfare. There is general agreement
Capitalist globalization, corporate social responsibility and social policy
Leslie Sklair and David Miller Critical Social Policy 2010 30: 472 DOI: 10.1177/0261018310376804 The online version of this article can be found at: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/30/4/472
Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Critical Social Policy can be found at: Email Alerts: http://csp.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://csp.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/30/4/472.refs.html
>> Version of Record - Nov 1, 2010 What is This?
Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012
E S L I E S K L A I R L London School of Economics D A V I D M I L L E R University of Strathclyde
Capitalist globalization, corporate social responsibility and social policy
Abstract This article outlines how the twin crises of capitalist globalization – of class polarization and ecological unsustainability – combine to produce the need for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to attempt to bridge the gap between the rhetoric and reality of corporate conduct. The first section outlines how CSR relates to capitalist globalization and how it is integrated into the activities of the Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC). The role of CSR in relation to social policy is examined next leading on to an account of the uses to which CSR is put in policy discourse, particularly its strategic use in lobbying and the advance of corporate power. Key words: class, corporate social responsibility, globalization, lobbying, transnationalism
Introduction
Researchers working in and across the fields of social policy have long been concerned with the impact of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) on social welfare. There is general agreement
Citations: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/30/4/472.refs.html >> Version of Record - Nov 1, 2010 What is This? Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 E S L I E S K L A I R L London School of Economics D A V I D M I L L E R University of Strathclyde 472 © The Author(s), 2010 Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 S K L A I R & M I L L E R — C O R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y 473 countries, as well as on a more transnational basis (Farnsworth, 2004, 2006; Farnsworth and Holden, 2006; Yeates, 2008) Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 474 Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 S K L A I R & M I L L E R — C O R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 476 Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 S K L A I R & M I L L E R — C O R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 S K L A I R & M I L L E R — C O R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y Downloaded from csp.sagepub.com by guest on May 2, 2012 480