ABSTRACT
III. THE PRACTICE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ......................................... 8 A. The Language and Culture of the Movement ................................................... 8 B. The Substance ofCSR Discourse ................................................................... 11
1. Who Counts as a Stakeholder? ................................................................ 11 2. What Is "Stakeholder Dialogue"? .......................................................... 12 3. How Serious Are the Participating Corporations? ................................. 13 4. What is the Attitude of the NGOs? .......................................................... 18 5. The Role ofGovernment .......................................................................... 20
C. The Investor Perspective ................................................................................ 21
IV. ANALYZING THE DISCOURSE OF CSR REPORTING ................................................. 23
V. THE CSR MOVEMENT AS AN EXPERIMENT IN THE NEW GOVERNANCE ................. 31
VI. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 36
I. INTRODUCTION
One of the most striking developments in the business world over the last decade has been the emergence of a coherent and energetic "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) movement. 1 This Article reports the results of an empirical study of that movement. "CSR," as it is universally referred to, has as its theoretical base the notion that the responsibility of a corporation extends beyond the traditional Anglo-American objective of providing financial returns to its shareholders. Instead, CSR proponents have argued, the legitimate concerns of a corporation should include such broader objectives as sustainable growth, equitable employment practices, and long-term social and
*William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law. **Richard W. and Marie L. Corman Scholar, Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law.
