ABSTRACT
In most cases, businesses have completely ignored the social aspects of sustainability, even when they have recognized the need for environmental action. Increasingly, researchers have been working closely with business and have produced some interesting accounts about how a few 'leading edge' companies have taken account of the social and environmental consequences of their actions. A more critical research agenda must be more able to identify the contradictions and tensions which exist between business, its stakeholders and environmental and social implications. When it comes to corporate environmental issues, men who are both managers and fathers often find themselves in this position. The role of the researcher is to enunciate the contradictions and point to the vested interests which benefit business but which cause social and environmental damage. Seeing business as one of these barriers seems a much more productive starting point than simply analysing or describing what businesses are doing as they march forward on the eco-modernist path.
