Conceptualising corporate community development. Issue 2 (1st February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Banks, Glenn; Scheyvens, Regina; McLennan, Sharon; Bebbington, Anthony
• Is Part Of: Third world quarterly. Volume 37:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 245
• Page End: 263
• Publication Date: 2016-02-01
• Subjects: Corporate community development -- corporate social responsibility -- poverty reduction -- business -- market-based development -- community perspective -- agency; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 909.09724
• DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1111135
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6597

Abstract

Abstract: Globally there is an increasing focus on the private sector as a significant development actor. One element of the private sector's role emphasised within this new focus has been corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, whereby the private sector claims to contribute directly to local development. There is now a substantial body of work on CSR but it is a literature that is mostly polarised, dominated by concerns from the corporate perspective, and not adequately theorised. Corporations typically do development differently from NGOs and donors, yet the nature and effects of these initiatives are both under-researched and under-conceptualised. In this paper we argue that viewing CSR initiatives through a community development lens provides new insights into their rationale and effects. Specifically we develop a conceptual framework that draws together agency and practice-centred approaches in order to illuminate the processes and relationships that underpin corporate community development initiatives.