CSR and Feminist Organization Studies: Towards an Integrated Theorization for the Analysis of Gender Issues

Abstract

Although Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice increasingly addresses gender issues, and gender and CSR scholarship is expanding, feminist theory is rarely explicitly referenced or discussed in the CSR literature. We contend that this omission is a key limitation of the field. We argue that CSR theorization and research on gender can be improved through more explicit and systematic reference to feminist theories, and particularly those from feminist organization studies (FOS). Addressing this gap we review developments in feminist organization theory, mapping their relevance to CSR. With reference to six major theoretical perspectives in CSR scholarship, we note feminist research relating to each. Drawing upon FOS theory and CSR theory, we then develop an integrated theoretical framework for the analysis of gender issues in CSR. Our framework enables us to identify research strengths in the gender and CSR literature, as well as gaps therein, to open new conversations, and to posit future research directions for this emerging area of scholarship. Our paper illustrates how a better grounding of CSR in feminist theory can contribute to CSR research more broadly.

Masculinity: A contested terrain?

“…Second, writing the lived experiences of those excluded by knowledge production, following Anzaldúa's () idea that epistemic and theoretical knowledge must have a lived dimension to them. Third, closely analysing the ways in which concepts and practices appear gender‐neutral until feminist analysis exposes their inherent masculine nature, as in the case of Grosser and Moon's () feminist analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility. Fourth, freeing femininity from its relation to masculinity so that the feminine does not continue to be devalued, as in the case of female/feminine leadership (Pullen & Vachhani, ).…”

Imagining new feminist futures: How feminist social movements contest the neoliberalization of feminism in an increasingly corporate‐dominated world

“…Finally, we note that feminism is always a political project (Calás & Smircich, ). Engagement by feminist scholars with CSR to date relates to at least six different CSR theoretical perspectives including ethical, instrumental, stakeholder, political, institutional and critical theories of CSR (Grosser & Moon, ). However, viewed through the lens of feminist theory all CSR is political in that gender relations, and specifically gender inequality, are inherent in all organizational, and thus CSR, practices and processes (Acker, ).…”

“…Corporations are also powerful: influencing regulation, business practices and popular culture globally, including gender relations. We argue that the growing economic and political power of corporations, and their global reach, means that the ways in which they do or do not address gender equality have become increasingly important with respect to feminist agendas, and increasingly worthy of investigation (Grosser & Moon, ).…”

“…This article makes two contributions: first, we extend theory with respect to the relationship between CSR and feminism (Grosser & Moon, ), contributing to research on the neoliberalization of feminism and providing a conceptual framework for further research on this topic. Second, we provide examples of new kinds of feminist activist strategies that contest the neoliberalization of feminism as advanced by corporations and through CSR.…”

The (missing) subjects of research on gender and global governance: Toward inquiry into the ruling relations of development

“…Power has long been a central concern in feminist scholarship and Karam and Jamali () have applied feminist thinking to their research on CSR. Grosser and Moon () review feminist organizational literature searching for the feminist theoretical lenses that have contributed to CSR or might do so. They find “significantly different accounts of what constitute ‘gender issues’” as well as different problems identified “with respect to gender and organization and what kind of ‘solutions’ are recommended” by feminist researchers .…”