ESRC RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES
‘When worlds collide’: contested paradigms of corporate social responsibility
15 December 2008
The British Library Conference Centre, London NW1
Seminar One
Deciphering the domain of CSR
The financial meltdown this summer places sharp focus on what constitutes responsible business. Banking and investment practice, so often held out as an exemplar of prudence and stewardship has been exposed as negligent and opportunistic. Other corporations stand accused of contributing to global warming and climate change, exploiting child labour and other human rights abuses, and failing to implement responsible practices in the developing world, compared with reported practices in developed western economies.
This seminar sets the intellectual context for the series by establishing the factors and supporting issues to be examined in seminars 2-6. Seminar 1 will also assess the conceptual frameworks of the emerging comparative literature on CSR. It will explore, inter alia, how we have arrived at the present position, and how corporations have managed to capture so much of the agenda. It will discuss whether or not this is where we want to be, and how research in CSR relates to practice. It will consider the ‘expectations gap’ between public perceptions and corporate strategy, and whether a justification can be advanced for CSR that goes beyond the ‘business case’. What is the role for academics and policymakers? Can collaboration offer a way forward?
Presentations by
- Professor Jesse Dillard, Center for Professional Integrity and Accountability, Portland State University
- Lucian Hudson, HM Foreign and Commonwealth Office
There will be responses to the presentations, and a panel discussion will follow with questions from the floor. A tour of the British Library will be available for up to 30 people.
Further information from: alan.murray@shef.ac.uk or Kathryn Haynes: kh20@york.ac.uk
