Manufacturing amnesia: Corporate Social Responsibility in South Africa |
| |
| Authors: | DAVID FIG |
| |
| Institution: | independent environmental policy researcher based in Johannesburg and an associate of the Sociology of Work Programme at the University of Witwatersrand. He coordinated the South African study for the UN Research Institute on Social Development's programme on Corporate Social Responsibility in developing countries. His latest book, Uranium road;(2005) is a critique of the South African nuclear industry. |
| |
| Abstract: | 'Manufacturing amnesia' argues that the term 'Corporate Social Responsibility' has been abandoned by most South African firms in favour of the term 'corporate social investment'. This has been done in order to divert attention from calls on business to redress the results of its historical contribution to the apartheid system. The discourse of reconciliation has further served to erase memories of past corporate behaviour. It also masks continuing inequalities and unsustainable practices. Business has responded weakly to the pressures for CSR, of which five broad areas are identified and analysed. Voluntary sustainability initiatives have not succeeded and compliance with black economic empowerment charters and environmental standards have to be legislated and regulated. Firms need to reassess their legacies more honestly until which time their CSR contributions will be regarded as cosmetic and self-serving. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
