Call and response: Identity and witness in legitimating CSR

Authors: Nordberg, D. and Breitbarth, T.

Conference: British Academy of Management

Dates: 9 September 2014

Abstract:

How do social actors adopt a path alien to their organizational environment and, against the odds, get that environment to accommodate them? This developmental paper sketches an approach to answering that question, building on evidence from a series of conferences of themes related to corporate social responsibility. We see these events as facilitating construction of an identity that shields the participants from backlash in a less than accommodating institutional setting. Drawing on the concept of witness in religious practice, it suggests that a purpose of the events is the ritual enactment of practices that reinforce that identity, providing protection against hostility in the work environment. This version of the paper concludes with indications of the direction of the development and a request for suggestions

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21214/

Source: Manual