Business Ethics Quarterly 15 (3):429-453 (2005)
Abstract |
This paper investigates whether, in theoretical terms, corporations can be citizens. The argument is based on the observation that thedebate on “corporate citizenship” (CC) has only paid limited attention to the actual notion of citizenship. Where it has been discussed, authors have either largely left the concept of CC unquestioned, or applied rather unidimensional and decontextualized notions of citizenship to the corporate sphere. The paper opens with a critical discussion of a major contribution to the CC literature, the work of Logsdon and Wood (Wood and Logsdon 2001; Logsdon and Wood 2002). It continues with a consideration of the nature and role of metaphors for business and of the contestable nature of the political concept of citizenship. It evaluates corporations as citizens through a four-dimensional framework of democratic citizenship offered by Stokes (2002). The analysis suggests that corporations do not easilyfit the “liberal minimalist” model of citizenship. It finds, however some possibilities for fit with the three more participatory models. The paper concludes by cautioning against basing corporate citizenship on legal and administrative status or identity, and mapping out specific criteria by which we might determine whether corporations could be considered as citizens by virtue of their participation in processes of governance
|
Keywords | Applied Philosophy Business and Professional Ethics Social Science |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 1052-150X |
DOI | 10.5840/beq200515329 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
IX.—Essentially Contested Concepts.W. B. Gallie - 1956 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 56 (1):167-198.
Multiculturalism and "The Politics of Recognition.".Charles Taylor & Amy Gutmann - 1994 - Ethics 104 (2):384-386.
Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality.Michael Walzer - 1983 - Journal of Business Ethics 4 (1):63-64.
View all 23 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Global Rules and Private Actors: Toward a New Role of the Transnational Corporation in Global Governance.Andreas Georg Scherer, Guido Palazzo & Dorothée Baumann - 2006 - Business Ethics Quarterly 16 (4):505-532.
Does Global Business Have a Responsibility to Promote Just Institutions?Nien-hê Hsieh - 2009 - Business Ethics Quarterly 19 (2):251-273.
The Political Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Critical Research Agenda.Glen Whelan - 2012 - Business Ethics Quarterly 22 (4):709-737.
An Institution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Multi-National Corporations (MNCs): Form and Implications. [REVIEW]Krista Bondy, Jeremy Moon & Dirk Matten - 2012 - Journal of Business Ethics 111 (2):281-299.
Learning From Multi-Stakeholder Networks: Issue-Focussed Stakeholder Management.Julia Roloff - 2008 - Journal of Business Ethics 82 (1):233-250.
View all 80 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Behind the Mask: Revealing the True Face of Corporate Citizenship. [REVIEW]Dirk Matten, Andrew Crane & Wendy Chapple - 2003 - Journal of Business Ethics 45 (1-2):109 - 120.
Towards Refining the Concept of Corporate Citizenship.Jae Hwan Lee & Ronald K. Mitchell - 2011 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 22:265-273.
Incorporating the Corporation in Citizenship: A Response to Néron and Norman.Andrew Crane & Dirk Matten - 2008 - Business Ethics Quarterly 18 (1):27-33.
Theorising Corporate Citizenship. Jeremy Moon, Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten / Corporate Power and Responsibility : A Citizenship Perspective; Christopher Cowton / Governing the Corporate Citizen : Reflections on the Role of Professionals; Tatjana Schönwälder-Kuntze.Corporate citizenship from A. view - 2008 - In Jesús Conill Sancho, Christoph Luetge & Tatjana Schó̈nwälder-Kuntze (eds.), Corporate Citizenship, Contractarianism and Ethical Theory: On Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics. Ashgate Pub. Company.
Citizenship, Inc.: Do We Really Want Businesses to Be Good Corporate Citizens?Pierre-Yves Néron & Wayne Norman - 2008 - Business Ethics Quarterly 18 (1):1-26.
Cosmopolitan Citizenship and the Corporation.Dirk Matten, Andrew Crane & Jeremy Moon - 2006 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 17:127-132.
Corporate Citizenship: The Dark-Side Paradoxes of Success.Sandra Waddock - 2005 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 16:184-189.
Institutional Conditions of Corporate Citizenship.Ronald Jeurissen - 2004 - Journal of Business Ethics 53 (1-2):87-96.
Business Citizenship: From Domestic to Global Level of Analysis.Jeanne M. Logsdon & Donna J. Wood - 2002 - Business Ethics Quarterly 12 (2):155-188.
Sector-Based Corporate Citizenship.Laura Timonen & Vilma Luoma-aho - 2010 - Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility 19 (1):1-13.
Stakeholders as Citizens? Rethinking Rights, Participation, and Democracy.Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten & Jeremy Moon - 2004 - Journal of Business Ethics 53 (1-2):107-122.
Environment and Citizenship: Integrating Justice, Responsibility and Civic Engagement.Mark J. Smith - 2008 - Distributed in the Usa Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2011-12-01
Total views
165 ( #72,054 of 2,519,275 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
4 ( #167,254 of 2,519,275 )
2011-12-01
Total views
165 ( #72,054 of 2,519,275 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
4 ( #167,254 of 2,519,275 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads