Boundary of accountability and the process of constructing political CSR; an ANT perspective

Abstract

This article proposes theoretical insights into how political CSR is shaped, based on the analytical framework of boundary work and the actor-network theory. More precisely, we analyze how executives react to stakeholder demands and stabilize the boundary of accountability of their companies. Based on the analytical developments of boundary work, we show that three strategies are possible: conservative political CSR, bilateral political CSR, or institutional political CSR. Developments in the actor-network theory shed light on how this is carried out as well as the key stages of each of these strategies. The theoretical proposals we develop contribute to the analysis of the micro-foundations of political CSR. These proposals also show the possible strategies of decision-makers (public and private) in terms of political CSR in a context where companies are seeing increasing pressure to reconsider their boundaries of accountability.