ABSTRACT
The notion of the social responsibility of corporations and of companies operating beyond their immediate (market) boundaries is as old as capitalism itself. What is currently referred to as ‘corporate social responsibility’ and customarily abbreviated as ‘CSR’ is an umbrella term that encompasses a hodgepodge of concepts and meanings that date back to the second phase of the industrial revolution in the mid-nineteenth century. The industrial revolution was accompanied by the advent of mass production for mass markets in the large steel and chemical factories, along with the widespread electrification of society. The third long wave (Kondratieff) of economic and technological development that emerged out of the industrial revolution demanded entirely different social structures and placed enormous pressure on existing networks such as the family, Church and community. Large-scale urban migration created societal and regulatory uncertainties within countries comparable with what we are experiencing today between countries-under the fifth Kondratieff (see Chapter 2). It called for new social structures at the interface of markets and civil society. The government generally kept to its role of guardian and was not yet ready for large-scale interventions.
