The Role of CSR in Re‐empowering Local Communities

Purpose – To investigate CSR initiatives and suggest how these might re‐legitimate, where necessary, current systems of democracy. Design/methodology/approach – The CSR programmes of the world's largest 60 companies were examined, along with more unusual CSR activities of smaller companies worldwide. Democratic systems were analysed to elicit what deficiencies exist in this form of government. CSR initiatives were classified according to the balance of their benefit to the community against benefit to the company itself. This classification was used to suggest how CSR might fill the democratic gap left by the increasingly global scale of government. Findings – Too often, CSR comprises companies claiming credit for programmes they would be legally obliged to undertake or which increase company profits, although some CSR is genuinely altruistic. Traditionally, local communities have little say as to what companies put back into their neighbourhood however if competitions, for example “best kept village”, were encouraged involving companies at a local level, CSR would then have greater relevancy. Perhaps global actors, both corporate and governmental, would in this way gain legitimacy. Research limitations/implications – Approximately 100 companies were used for this study. A larger sample could have been used although this selection covers most of the types of CSR currently being practiced. The findings are only applicable to democratic countries, although this system of government is practiced by the majority of countries worldwide. Originality/value – This paper proposes a novel classification of CSR, by geographical scope and by type of initiative. New links are made between the concept of CSR and the deficiencies of the democratic system of government.