Proverbs as other-than-human actants in corporate social responsibility communication
A ventriloquial analysis of corporate-community dialogues
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9891758 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mai Chi Vu (0000-0003-3492-6496, Monash University, corresponding author), Hyemi Shin (0000-0002-1671-4054, Royal Holloway University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00187267261425549 |
| OpenAlex | W7135197836 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 55 |
How do proverbs play a role in the evolution of corporate-community communication about social responsibility? We show that these everyday sayings can act as powerful, other-than-human actants in corporate social responsibility (CSR) dialogues. Drawing on 32 interviews with CSR managers in Vietnam, supported by ethnographic notes and observations from 8 corporate–community presentation sessions, we trace how proverbs enter conversations and redirect the flow of interaction. Using a ventriloquial lens, we identify three mechanisms—authoring, re-authoring, and counter-authoring—through which proverbs speak on behalf of participants, challenge corporate narratives, and reopen space for community voice. Our findings reveal how proverbs become resources through which community members reclaim authority, rework the meaning of CSR, and negotiate more equal communicative ground with corporations. By foregrounding how these cultural resources participate in interaction, our study encourages communication constitutes organization scholarship to take seriously the organizing role of material and other-than-human actants. We argue that attending to proverbs not only enriches our understanding of communication in the Global South but also unsettles dominant assumptions about who, and what, gets to participate in organizational life
Agency (philosophy · Corporate social responsibility · Ethnography · Foregrounding · Identity (music · Materiality (auditing · Meaning (existential · Negotiation · Organizational communication · Scholarship · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Management and Organizational Studies · Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Corporate social responsibility communication
Power in Management and Organization Science
Action and Agency in Dialogue
Investigating the making of organizational social responsibility as a polyphony of voices
Corporate change agents for sustainability
T(w)alking responsibility
Communication Theory at the Center
Rebuilding Babel
A World of Many Worlds
Governing with care, reciprocity, and relationality
Understanding Malay and Chinese work ethics in Malaysia through proverbs
Yoruba proverbs as cultural metaphor for understanding management in the Caribbean
Communication as Ventriloquism
Proverbs of Nonprofit Financial Management
Shape-shifting
Mirroring and switching authoritative personae
Folklorized politics
Transforming corporate social responsibilities
Culture in Action
Conversational mitigation
Language and Liberation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |