ABSTRACT
Like the terms corporate social responsibility and stakeholding, the term globalization is easily and commonly understood, but difficult to encapsulate in a definition. According to Van Der Bly (2005: 875), the difficulty in defining the concept of globalization is rooted in three dialectics: globalization as a process versus globalization as a condition; globalization as reality versus globalization as futurology, and one-dimensional globalization versus multi-dimensional globalization. For example, Held and colleagues (1999:16) define globalization as “a process, which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions … generating transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity,” while Clark and Knowles (2003: 368) define it as “the extent to which the economic, political, cultural, social, and other relevant systems of nations are actually integrated into World Systems.” A critical view of globalization suggests that it “has become part of a powerful political-economic ideology through which capital–labor relationships and relative class power positions are shifted in profound ways” (Swyngedouw 2004: 28). Notwithstanding the opacity of its definition, globalization has had profound effects on governance, corporate social responsibility, and their conceptual and practical reach, particularly the role of multinational enterprises.
