Why do corporate actors engage in pro-social behaviour? A Bourdieusian perspective on corporate social responsibility

Aaken, Dominik van ; Splitter, Violetta and Seidl, David (May 2013): Why do corporate actors engage in pro-social behaviour? A Bourdieusian perspective on corporate social responsibility. In: Organization, Vol. 20, No. 3, SI: pp. 349-371

Abstract

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social practice, this article develops a novel approach to the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR). According to this approach, pro-social activities are conceptualized as social practices that individual managers employ in their efforts to attain social power. Whether such practices are enacted or not depends on (1) the particular features of the social field; (2) the individual managers' socially shaped dispositions and (3) their stock of different forms of capital. By combining these theoretical concepts, the Bourdieusian approach we develop highlights the interplay between the economic and non-economic motivations that underlie CSR, acknowledging influences both on the micro- and the macro-level, as well as deterministic and voluntaristic aspects of human behaviour.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Keywords: Bourdieu; corporate social responsibility; instrumental approach; interplay between economic and non-economic motives; political approach; power; practice theory; pro-social behaviour
• Faculties: Munich School of Management
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• ISSN: 1350-5084
• Alliance/National Licence: This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
• Language: English