New Directions in Business, Development and Society Research

Workshop arranged by Center for Corporate Values and Responsibility.

Towards a critical agenda on CSR and development:

The business, CSR and development policy and research agendas are constantly evolving. At the time of the Business, Development and Society (BDS) network’s first conference in October 2003, there was clearly a need for developing an overall critique of the dominant, business-case oriented approach to CSR. The BDS network has since highlighted the need for a more critical, in-depth investigation of the broad themes of ‘business and poverty reduction’, ‘CSR impact assessment’, ‘participation and CSR’, ‘governance and CSR’, and so-called ‘Southern-centred perspectives’. While there is a still a need to deepen and nuance our existing critique of the mainstream, business-oriented approach to CSR, it is clear that the CSR and development research and policy agendas have since broadened to encompass a range of new issues (such as SMEs and CSR, Prahalad’s bottom-of-the-pyramid approach, etc.).

The “New Directions in Business, Development, and Society Research” workshop at CBS is about opening an alternative, independent space where the network presents reflections on how to roll out the critical agenda, and would like to engage in dialogue on the on-going changes on the broad CSR and development/business and poverty reduction discourses and practices.

Please see the workshop website for programme, registration, etc.