Abstract
Mahatma Gandhiji transformed contemporary capitalists amidst the criticism from leftist quarters that he was working for a compromise in the interests of the Indian bourgeoisie. The purpose of this paper is to present a forerunner of today’s conversations in the world about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Gandhiji not only befriended a number of businesspersons but also advised them to consider their role as a steward of their wealth and businesses that they held. We intend to substantiate his pious intentions derived from his understanding of Bhagavad Gita, which suggested to him that one could enjoy one’s acquired wealth by renouncing it. Persuaded by such moral disposition, Gandhiji argued that it is the surest method to evolve a new order of life of universal benefit of all people in the society as opposed to the order in which most of us live for ourselves without regard to what happens to our neighbour. The paper is based on archival materials representing his conceptualisation and acceptance of trusteeship and the collaborations of the capitalists that lived in his times.
Highlights
There seem to be several definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but we begin in this article with an understanding that contemporary CSR underpins positive impacts of businesses on meeting the societal expectations
CSR is a notion of contemporary society that has awakened the multinational business houses to contribute an amount of their profit for the benefit of the society (Jaysawal and Saha, 2015)
We argue social responsibility as a precursor to the overarching concept of trusteeship
Summary
There seem to be several definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but we begin in this article with an understanding that contemporary CSR underpins positive impacts of businesses on meeting the societal expectations. It appears that CSR has evolved into carrying social responsibility (Jaysawal and Saha, 2015). The European Union held CSR as the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society – a shift from its previous understanding that CSR was an approach whereby companies have an opportunity to integrate social and environmental concern in their business operations and strategies and in their interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (European Commission, 2011)
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