Flexibility or exploitation? Corporate social responsibility and the perils of universalization (Respond to this article at http

(Www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Bibliographic Data

ID11495166
AuthorsJessica Smith (0000-0003-3740-5549), Jessica M Smith (0000-0002-9700-4096, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research), Jess Smith (0000-0002-7835-6803), Federico Helfgott (0000-0003-1203-354X, Center for Excellence in Education), Frederico Helfgott
Year2010
Volume26
Issue3
Pages20-23
Publication date2010-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropology Today (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-540X • E-ISSN: 1467-8322
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-8322.2010.00737.x
OpenAlexW4250942065
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited7

As anthropologists and other critics of capitalism turn their attention to the controversial and burgeoning corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, most focus on conflicts in community relations and environmental degradation. Few scholars have examined equally pertinent questions of labor restructuring, even though these transformations emerged at about the same time as the rise of CSR. In this article, we draw on research in two Peruvian mining communities to explore the potential contradiction between the simultaneous mandate for corporations to present themselves as responsible employers, on the one hand, and the drive to rationalize labor and reduce financial responsibility for the workforce, on the other. We suggest that for both corporate officials and some scholars, this tension remains a latent one because CSR discourses and documents generalize corporate interests as the interests of mines as a whole

Capitalism · Contradiction · Corporate social responsibility · Economics · Economy · Epistemology · Law and economics · Mandate · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Restructuring · Sociology · Universalization · Workforce · Law · Mining and Resource Management

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub