Biblio Service

Excerpt

The book by Segerlund addresses the social construct of “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) from the 1960s through to the first half of the 2000s. The key questions that she strives to answer are; “why is there renewed interest in CSR in the 1990s?” and “how can we understand the process that made this development [of CSR] possible?” (p. 2). In her analysis Segerlund mainly considers the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO). Five NGOs are chosen for in-depth case studies, viz. the International Labor Rights Fund, Global Exchange, Clean Clothes Campaign, International Business Leaders Forum, and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International. An interesting aspect is that CSR is reduced to issues concerning human rights, including labor rights (p. 3). The theoretical basis of the book is constructivist theory, especially the so called “norm life cycle model” introduced by Finnemore/Sikkink in 1998 (pp. 26–31). Segerlund uses a variety of sources, such as publications, interviews, website content, etc. All of these represent data from the point of view of NGOs (p. 9). The perspective of other groups of actors is barely taken into account. As a key result of the book, the “incipient” internalization of CSR as an international norm is documented and explained. What follows below is a discussion of the book’s key objectives and target audience. Then, the structure and contents of the chapters are discussed, followed by some recommendations and a critique. …