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Beyond CSR? Business Poverty and Social Justice

 
UPDATE: The finalised programme is now online and can be found here.

May 22nd 2006 Venue: National Liberal Club, Central London. www.nlc.org.uk

How far can CSR initiatives help to address poverty, social exclusion and other development challenges? What is the balance of responsibilities between state, market and civil society in addressing these problems and meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? What new tools, strategies and methodologies are required to harness the positive potential contribution of business to development and deter corporate irresponsibility?

The Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at Warwick University and the Middlesex University Business School in association with the International Research Network on Business, Development and Society sponsored a conference to bring together a dynamic mix of academics, development and business practitioners to address these themes in a focussed and innovative way. Academics from all disciplines were encouraged to attend as well as government, business and civil society actors active in this important field. Speakers came from institutions as diverse as the Institute of Development Studies, Shanghai Municipal Development Research Centre in China, Christian Aid and the United Nations.

The conference examined the following themes:

  • CSR and International Development: Will CSR initiatives help achieve the MDGs?
  • Impacts of CSR initiatives: Who benefits?
  • Governance dimensions of CSR: What role for the state?
  • Globalisation and CSR: From Responsibility to Accountability?
  • Power and Participation in CSR: New voices, new approaches?
  • Beyond the Business Case: Towards a Poverty-Focussed CSR Agenda?

The organisers will be editing a publication based on selected papers from the conference.

Further Information