ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a discussion of critical views on corporate responsibility. It discusses two aspects of the critical approach to corporate responsibility in the Marxist tradition. The first aspect regards the macro-political level. The second aspect, much related to the first, regards the meso and micro levels of the firm. Looking at corporate responsibility historically, it appears that capitalism evolves in phases. Corporate scandals, the periodic financial crises, pollution of the environment, and exploitation of workers are all facts that disprove corporations’ ability to be responsible in spite of the proliferating corporate social responsibility agenda. The phases are interrupted by crises in the political economy to which capitalism responds and adapts. The view held by proponents of critical management studies of corporate responsibility is critical, and debunking ranging from a reformist stance to disruptive interventionist approaches with the aim of dismantling the discourse of the corporation in its current form exist.
