The Intellectual History of Milton Friedman's Criticism of Corporate Social Responsibility

Bibliographic Data

ID6442789
AuthorsDavid Chan Smith (0000-0002-5845-9629, Wilfrid Laurier University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume22
Issue1-2
Pages184-210
Publication date2024-03-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Intellectual History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1479-2443 • E-ISSN: 1479-2451
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1479244324000027
OpenAlexW4393195835
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited36

This article is the first to reconstruct the intellectual history of Milton Friedman's criticism of business and its social responsibilities. Using original archival research and printed evidence, this article makes three major arguments. First, Friedman's criticisms of business and its social responsibilities evolved over time and emerged from persistent anxieties among economic liberals about monopoly, business interests, and political authority that were explicitly read from Adam Smith. Second, the article contributes to the emerging intellectual history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by reconstructing the development of Friedman's criticisms, their transformations, and their reception within the context of American managerial thought from the 1950s to the 1980s. Finally, contextualizing Friedman's criticisms demonstrates his concern about decision-making logics within organizations, which in turn explains his belief that CSR would contribute to collectivization and enhances the understanding of neoliberal political thought

Art · Criticism · Economics · Literature · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social criticism · Social science · Sociology · Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting · Ethics in Business and Education · History · Law · Management and Organizational Studies

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