Abstract
This article reviews how corporate social responsibility, in particular its environmental practices, is being mobilised in practice by companies. We discuss that the current engagement with the Anthropocene is more a marketing argument supporting a capitalist discourse, rather than an ethical approach towards business. Thus, we call for a more sustainable approach in corporate social responsibility, not as a communication tool, but as a genuine response to Anthropocene conditions and shared stewardship, rather than a marketisation of corporate social responsibility. We suggest the establishment of an international corporate social responsibility certification entity that would advise companies in corporate social responsibility practices in the Anthropocene Earth.
Highlights
The corresponding author worked for a prestigious French financial consulting company for a couple of years during his PhD
When the corresponding author inquired about the motivation for including green options in the portfolio strategy – in relation to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of the selected companies – the executive director suggested that green investment was a way of making money: “If the customers want green I give them green
We argue that management scholars should take into consideration the Anthropocene issues, to rethink CSR as theory and practice
Summary
CSR should not be left to companies to comply with, it should be part of a wider supernational organisation of experts that could provide a significant form of effective climate/environment feedback, and change the discourses and narratives in which it is currently embedded. We criticise the current CSR practices, which have been “marketised” in the field of accounting to make the environment visible through numbers to present their “green” activities to the stakeholders, and we criticise how this communication to external stakeholders is frequently mere rhetoric, failing to engage and address the issues in the Anthropocene.
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