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Recent years saw a surge of interest in the social
responsibilities of corporations in general and of
multi-national corporations in particular. Largely
premised on the view that corporate power exceeds or nearly
exceeds that of national governments in this global era,
various social forces are currently at play with the attempt
to redraw the redistributive obligations and capacities of
market, state and civil society. This class offers an in
depth introduction to the topic, drawing on theoretical and
empirical materials from sociology, political science,
management theory and law. The purpose is to familiarize
students with the contested meaning of the concept
of 'social responsibility,' and to introduce them
to the vibrant field of activity that emerges around it. In
particular, the aim is to familiarize students with concepts
and models such as corporate citizenship, triple bottom line
reporting, social performance management systems, social
accountability standards (e.g. SA8000), and compliance
and monitoring instruments and to situate those in the
context of evolving contemporary theories of governance and
regulation.
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