Globalization and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract:     
First, we will explain the concept of globalization. We will describe its conceptual variants and point to some of the phenomena that are associated with this process. Next we will describe the traditional paradigm of CSR where the responsibilities of businesses are discussed vis-a-vis a more or less properly working nation state system and a homogenous moral (cultural) community. We will argue that both these assumptions become problematic in the current 'post-national constellation' (Habermas 2001). We describe the new situation with regulatory gaps in global regulation, an erosion of national governance (loss of national sovereignty and the exterritorial application of national law), and a loss in moral and cultural homogeneity in the corporate environment. We discuss the consequences of the post-national constellation with the help of two recent observations of business firms' behavior which call for a fresh view on the concept of CSR. We describe the necessary paradigm shifts toward a new politically enlarged concept of CSR in a globalized world.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: globalization, CSR, corporate social responsibility, global regulation, national governance, paradigm shift

Accepted Paper Series