Critical essay micro-CSR.pdf (406.97 kB)
Download fileTransforming corporate social responsibilities: toward an intellectual activist research agenda for micro-CSR research
journal contribution
posted on 2020-11-13, 09:13 authored by Verena Girschik, Luda Svystunova, Evgenia I LysovaIn their recent essay, Gond and Moser (2019) have proposed that micro-CSR research has the potential to “matter” and transform business practices as it engages closely with how individuals in companies work with and experience corporate social responsibility (CSR). But can micro-CSR research in its current form realize this transformative potential and serve social justice? Adopting an intellectual activist position, we argue that the transformative potential of micro-CSR is severely limited by its predominant focus on CSR as defined, presented, and promoted by companies themselves, thereby serving to sustain the hegemony of the business case for CSR, promoting narrow interests and maintaining managerial control over corporate responsibilities. We propose that micro-CSR researchers broaden the scope of their research to cultivate the potential of alternative ideas, voices, and activities found in organizational life. In so doing we lay out a research agenda that embraces employee activism, listens to alternative voices, and unfolds confrontational, subversive, and covert activities. In the hope of inspiring other micro-CSR researchers to explore these unconventional paths, we also offer suggestions as to how we can pursue them through empirical research.
History
School
- Loughborough University London
Published in
Human RelationsVolume
75Issue
1Pages
3-32Publisher
SAGE PublicationsVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© The AuthorsPublisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Human Relations and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726720970275. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference.Publication date
2020-11-03Copyright date
2022ISSN
0018-7267eISSN
1741-282XPublisher version
Language
- en