ABSTRACT
The concern in this chapter is the question of the social impacts of corporate social responsibility. Current research into the impact of CSR is dominated by a preoccupation with the advantages and disadvantages of CSR to businesses. This branch of the CSR literature is centred around a discussion of ‘the business case’ for CSR (Dean, 2001). The aim of this chapter is to approach the subject of the benefit of CSR from an alternative direction, asking instead whether it is possible to construct a ‘social case’ for CSR. Could it be claimed, in other words, that CSR constitutes a positive contribution to society? This question was put to CSR practitioners in England and Denmark by asking them their opinions on the effects which CSR might have on society, positive and/or negative. As previously emphasized, the aim of this approach was not to measure the ‘actual’ social impacts of CSR. Rather, the objective was to ascertain from people working with CSR how they believe that CSR is impacting upon society.
