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"My Country's Future": A Culture-Centered Interrogation of Corporate Social
Responsibility in India
Author(s): Rahul Mitra
Source: Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 106, No. 2 (March 2012), pp. 131-147
Published by: Springer
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J Bus Ethics (2012) 106:131-147
DOI 10.1007/S10551-01 1-0985-8
"My Country's Future": A Culture-Centered Interrogation

of Corporate Social Responsibility in India
Rahul Mitra
Received: 29 July 2009 /Accepted: 21 July 2011 /Published online: 4 August 2011
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract Companies operating and located in emerging Student: I'm hopeful about my country's
economy nations routinely couch their corporate social future.
responsibility (CSR) work in nation-building terms. InChevron

this Employee: It's my country's future...
Background: We agree.
article, I focus on the Indian context and critically examine
mainstream CSR discourse from the perspective of the
culture-centered approach (CCA). Accordingly, five main The above excerpt, from one of the advertisements
(titled "Community") highlighting oil giant Chevron's new
themes of CSR stand out: nation-building facade, underly-
"We agree" campaign on corporate-community involve-
ing neoliberal logics, CSR as voluntary, CSR as synergetic,
and a clear urban bias. Next, I outline a CCA-inspired
ment (see Appendix 1 for the full text of this ad), illustrates
CSR framework that allows corporate responsibility an important point about the new "global" corporate social
to be
responsibility
re-claimed and re-framed by subaltern communities of (CSR) (Stohl et al. 2009). Chiefly that, as
multinational companies (MNCs) from both the developed
interest. I identify such resistive openings via interrogations
of culture (I focus on oft-cited Gandhian ethics here),and developing nations expand to new locales and markets,
they increasingly employ a nation-building and nation-
structure (State policy, organizational strategy, and global/
branding discourse (Mitra in press; Dutta-Bergman 2005;
local flows), and agency (subaltern reframing of institutional
Pal of
responsibility, engagement with alternative modes and Dutta 2008). Such a discourse frames the corpo-
agency, and deconstructive vigilance). ration as working for the national good, aligns the firm with
the nation-State in a seeming volte-face from the tradi-
Keywords Corporate social responsibility • India •tional capitalist doctrine of laissez-faire , and - as I argue in
Emerging economies • Culture-centered approach this essay - makes it harder for dissident voices to emerge.
Would-be opponents are silenced via logics of neoliberal-
ism, postcolonial nation-building, and modernization-ori-
ented development. This article suggests an alternative way
for marginalized voices to re-frame and re-claim this space,
via the culture-centered approach (CCA) (Dutta 2008,
Chevron Employee: In Angola, Chevron helped train
2009, 2011).
engineers, teachers and farmers;
Corporate social responsibility has long been debated/
launched health programs. It's not
critiqued for its efficacy, interests, and target audiences in
just good business...
various global contexts (Cheney et al. 2007; Ganesh 2007;
Munshi and Kurian 2005; Stohl et al. 2009; Utting 2005;
R. Mitra (Щ Vogel 2005; Wettstein 2005). However, few scholars have
Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, considered how situated discourses of development in the
Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, Room 21 14,
"emerging economy" (for an overview of this term, see
100 North University Street, West Lafayette,
IN 47907-2098, USA Char 2009; also Mitra et al. in press) may influence the
e-mail: rmitra@purdue.edu social role of corporations and CSR. As Jamali and Neville
â Springer
132 R. Mitra
(2011) obser
social interaction, given their structural and material con-
straints. CCA-guided CSR scholarship, as this
existing article pur-
cult
mal) portsthat
to be, then involves both re-construction and ar
worldde-construction operatingand dialectically, in its critique of c
more system
dominant ontologies and epistemologies. My concern here
over,is not so much
as how companies may strategically
Iyer frame
delvetheir CSR policies into
by selecting what they see as "condu-
institutions
cive" parts of local culture (Dirlik 1997), but how subaltern
communities may resist organizational hegemony
sectors, corp when it
threatens their ways of life and thus re-claim CSR in
contextualiz
been meaningful
articulways.
policy or st
and Stares 2
A Review of Mainstream CSR Models in India
local/global
evolve CSR m
context
Contrary to traditional managerial wit
views that downplay
Nigam 2008
corporate responsibility in emerging markets, companies
the 1980s
originating from and operating in these locales displaya
a
keen sensitivity to their social obligationsto
attesting (Alon et al.
use 2010; Baskin 2006; Luken and Stares 2005; Visser 2008).
(Kumar
thereCurrently,remain
as many as 127 Indian companies are signatories
the to the U.N. Global Compact; of these, Th
core. 102 are active
CSR, members.
using Research indicates that Indian companies c
to show how the mainstream discourse frames a facade of emphasize stakeholder commitments, societal ethics, and
nation-building, which systematically and strategically business synergy while crafting CSR programs (Alon et al.
de-legitimizes subaltern voices opposed to this neoliberal2010; Arora and Puranik 2004; ASSOCHAM 2010;
agenda.1 NASSCOM Foundation 2007). In a survey of Indian
My critique is guided by the CCA (see Dutta 2008, managers and the urban public, most respondents recog-
2009, 2011), which highlights how resistive openings may nized "a paradigm shift occurring wherein investors of the
occur for subaltern communities of interest through com- future shall demand greater transparency in disclosure of
municatively re-framing culture , structure , and agency. both financial and non-financial information" (Mehta et al.
Moving beyond showcasing corporate dominance and 2006, pp. 90-91). At the same time, there remains much
unequal power relations, CCA-inspired CSR scholarship room for improvement. For instance, scholars and activists
must also actively engage with grassroots meaning-making charge that CSR information needs to be disseminated
with subaltern communities, to decipher and strengthen more effectively, a more coherent policy on CSR should be
alternative systems of organizing, which re-define "cor- mainstreamed with regular business operations, a wider
porate responsibility." The CCA perspective to organiza- range of stakeholders (including the rural and poor) must
tion studies differs from conventional frameworks in at be addressed, more participative systems with sufficient
feedback mechanisms need to be instituted, and politico-
least two major ways. First, situated at the intersections of
legal safeguards enacted (Bhushan 2005; Chaudhri and
postcolonial theory and subaltern studies, it recognizes
collective and individual agency of impacted communities, Wang 2007; Glover 2007; Times Foundation 2008).
shifting the locus of study to the affected other rather than In their landmark survey of Indian CSR, Kumar et al.
the corporation or even its mediating non-governmental(2001) identified four operational models of corporate
organizations (NGOs). Second, it resists reified under-
responsibility in action: the ethical, Statist, liberal, and
stakeholder models. The ethical model draws on religious
standings of culture as stable and occurring at the macro-
level only, and examines instead how subaltern actors
values and Gandhian thought, the Statist model emphasizes
perform or "do" culture across the micro and macro the
in postcolonial Indian State's economic policies, the
(neo)liberal model is centered on profit-motives, and the
stakeholder
1 The examples I draw from span private domestic companies (e.g., model is based on Freeman's (1984) concep-
Reliance Telecom), private MNCs from outside India (e.g., Coca
tualization of stakeholder responsibility. Though these
Cola), private MNCs originating from India (e.g., Tata Motors), and
models were verified and used by subsequent empirical
publicly owned domestic companies (e.g., National Thermal Power
Corporation). Thus, my conception of "CSR in India" includes CSR study on CSR in India, it turns out that companies rarely
follow
work done by both homegrown firms and those originating elsewhere. one or the other faithfully, instead strategically
Ô Springer
A Culture-Centered Interrogation of CSR in India 133
repeatedly
employing elements that best serve drewtheir
on, whichbusiness
they translate as "binding men
interests.
In this section, I consider each
together,
of and
these
protecting,
models,
maintaining and
noting
regulating them
how
they are hardly isolated and
in such discrete, but
a way that they might contain
acquire both
that strength, which
significant overlaps and disjunctures, as depicted sche-
results from mutual cooperation, thereby putting them on
matically in Fig. 1. the path of acquiring merit while maintaining their good
conditions" (p. 4). The strong push to education/vocational
Ethical Model training, community development, and livelihood genera-
tion (ASSOCHAM 2010; British Council et al. 2002;
CREM 2004; Kumar et al. 2001; NASSCOM Foundation
First, Kumar et al.' s (2001) ethical model notes the loose
2007; Times Foundation 2008) is also in line with
interpretation of Gandhian ethics by Indian corporations,
Gandhian ethics.
involving philanthropy, a thrust on education and training
programs, corporate leaders as trustees, environmental
Statism in India
protection, and an adherence to religious-social (mainly,
but not strictly restricted to, Hindu) values. Since Mahatma
Gandhi enjoyed close relations with several chief execu-
With India's first (and the longest-serving) Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, among Gandhi's many mentees
tives of Indian corporations, it is not surprising that many
(Rudolph 1971), it was inevitable that Gandhian ethics
of India's older companies implemented Gandhian phi-
losophy in their mission statements (Rudolph 1971) andwere
are written into official State policy, albeit diluted and
non-enforceable (Hardiman 2003; Levi 1971). Nehru's
perceived to be more socially responsible by the public
than newer ones (Kumar et al. 2001; Mehta et al. 2006;
priority was building the newly independent nation into the
leader of the Third World. Thus, the State adopted a mixed-
NASSCOM Foundation 2007). Several companies say their
plan economy, where industries deemed crucial to devel-
CSR policies are led by their founders' guiding principles
opment were reserved for public-sector companies, and
(British Council et al. 2002; Mehta et al. 2006; NASSCOM
Foundation 2007), in line with Gandhi's trusteeship private
con- firms were put under tight regulations (Kaushik
cept (Richards 1991). In the aviation sector, Gupta 1997).
and Gandhian ideals of self-sufficiency were integrated
Saxena (2006) note the importance of loksamagrahawith , a Nehru's plans for economic progress via heavy
industrialization
concept from the Hindu text Bhagvad Gita, which Gandhi and investment in science/technology,
Fig. 1 The schematic figure shows how strategic elements empha- industrial modernization, community stake, and wealth generation.
sized by mainstream corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices The proportions depicted here are not based on particular statistics;
are influenced by individual models highlighted by Kumar et al. however, I have produced this figure as a means for readers to grasp
(2001). These models are the ethical, Statist, neoliberal, and how particular CSR aspects may have multiple influences. For
stakeholder models. Eight broad aspects of mainstream CSR have instance, techno-industrial modernization is emphasized especially by
been highlighted: philanthropy/trusteeship emphasis, education/train- Statist and neoliberal models, and not at all by the ethical model (read
ing, environmentalism, religious codes, State partnership, techno- the article text)
Ô Springer
134 R. Mitra
generated data for their CSR programs (Kumar 2004;in

resulting
Mehta et al. 2006; NASSCOM Foundation
regime 2007; SHRM
(Ked
ority2007). A recent
to large-scale survey noted that,
educwhile most
companies acknowledged the State's positive role
oriented sys in CSR
edge thus far, as many as three-fourths wanted a coherent
Gandh
government policy on CSR put in place, in consultation
environment
land with private companies (Times Foundation 2008).
and pol Tata
the Motors, India's largest automotive company, noted in a
prime fo
recent annual CSR report
crisis, the (Tata Motors 2008) that "the In
traditional role of the State is evolving from government-
liberalization
as a result
led and government-owned training systems towards cre- o
Changes
ating and enabling environment for enterprises
in and indi- o
tral viduals, employers and employees."
to this While older and r
larger companies (like Tata) are perceived to be more
The new rh
socially responsible, firms in new-age sectors, such as
"change is t
information technology (IT) and pharma, bellwethers of
survival," "
economic liberalization, are also regarded as very respon-
and "inform
sible (Kumar et al. 2001; Mehta et al. 2006; NASSCOM
lenges befor
Foundation 2007). Interestingly enough, around 66% of
create flex
private companies initiated CSR policies between 1991
excellence,
and 2005, post-economic liberalization (Times Foundation
employees,
2008). Education and healthcare are important areas for
flows, (pp.
CSR work, crucial in both Gandhian and Statist frame-
Signifying
works: more than 50% of the ГГ industry's CSR budget is t
dominated by educational initiatives,
marked simi and 86% of ГГ
rhetoric
companies say their educational initiatives "contributed of
to
note a the
wider national goal" (NASSCOM Foundation em 2007,
p. 17; also see ASSOCHAM 2010).
desire" (p. 86
maintained G
The (Neo)liberal Model post-
least),
sumption as
Next, there is the neoliberal model,
project hinge where "companies are
for Nilekan
solely responsible to their owners" (p. 3) and investors and
respect for
"the social responsibility of business is to increase profits" a
also (Friedman 1970, p. 32), so that
by an a business case for CSR un
regardless
must be argued. The business case operates along several o
planks (see Kurucz et al. 2008). First, it emphasizes vol-
Liberalizatio
ing), untary
did CSR and companies as "corporate citizens"
not oper-
State ating within legal requirements. Second, it is driven by
evolved
(Mitracorporate leaders, whoin are ethical and transformationalpr
The (Waldman and Siegel 2008). Third, stakeholders are rec-
Statist m
just in the
ognized by virtue of their potential impact on the bottom-
fine (e.g., ethical investing by shareholders, conscientious
obligations r
the march
consumption by customers, and employee volunteerism; o
the see Vogel 2005). Fourth, ecological and of
case resource-oriented p
actively
concerns are usually stressed over communities ofsup
interest
postcolonial
(Peterson and Norton 2007). Fifth, CSR that taps hitherto-
they have
ignored rural and developing markets to generate better co
2007; Roy
revenues is privileged (Prahalad 2007). Sixth, scientific 2
companies
methods of conducting/evaluating CSR, upgrades to and to
normal busin
awards, for "green" technology are important (Peterson
align1997). Finally,their
it shares several commonalties with the
ci Springer
parochial modernization paradigm of development,2

and immediate organizational context to recognize how
stakeholders may
including a preference for top-down be impacted by corporate actions:
communication.
although
Several studies have found the community case
business "still retains that connotation of
- particu-
larly, the enhancement of the place... corporate brand
it has been broadened - 'community
to include the to be a
prime motivator for CSR in India
of interest' (ASSOCHAM
or 'virtual 2010;
community,' and these ideas may
Balasubramaniam et al. 2005; British require a great Council
deal more of et al. 2002;
businesses" (Freeman et al.
Kumar 2004; SHRM 2007; Times Foundation 2008). 2007, p. 36; also see Freeman 1984). Indian companies
frequently describe their CSR partners (State agencies and
Several companies report leadership-driven CSR measures,
NGOs) and intended beneficiaries (investors, employees,
where senior executives push their CSR agenda (British
Council et al. 2002; Mehta et al. 2006; NASSCOM and impacted communities) as stakeholders (ASSOCHAM
Foundation 2007) - also in line with what they 2010; see asKumar 2004; Mehta et al. 2006; NASSCOM Foun-
Gandhian "trusteeship." Balasubramaniam et al. dation
(2005)2007; SHRM 2007). The urban public regards the
noted that though "the strength of Indian traditions media
and and NGOs as vital stakeholders in social develop-
ment
classical literature provides an underlying ethos that and CSR, ranking them higher than either corpora-
rein-
forces CSR... modern business practices are likely totions or the State in terms of trust. However, NGO-
erode
involvement in CSR is still notably low (Times Foundation
this" (p. 83). The researchers fail to emphasize, however,
2008). The public also sees itself as a key stakeholder in
that these "modern business practices" evolve in interac-
tion with the "underlying ethos," so that the business corporate projects, and expects firms to step up their role in
case in India contains Gandhian and Statist influences. social development (British Council et al. 2002; Kumar
For instance, corporate entrepreneurship, team ethics, 2004; Mehta et al. 2006), which often translates into rep-
nation-building, and social responsibility as understood utational
in problems for MNCs. While local stakeholders
mainstream media depictions are an amalgamation of expect
tra- long-term commitment in social change projects
ditionally perceived ethics and global "best standards" like education and livelihood generation, several MNCs
(Mitra 2010). A dialectical relationship between Statist think this unnecessary for business gains in the country of
motives and the business case is evident when the founder operation (CREM 2004; Kumar et al. 2001).
of one of India's largest ГГ companies says, This brief review was meant to highlight some of the
key strands of mainstream CSR discourse in India (for an
...decision makers across Indian companies today
overview of discourse in organizational contexts, see Grant
recognize that following the dictates of a broader,
et al. 2004), also shown schematically in Fig. 1. However,
social conscience can help them realize new markets,
to the critical scholar, such an exposition is incomplete
increased profits, an improved corporate image, and
without simultaneously interrogating it with an eye toward
happier employees... [It] enables them to contribute
the social privileges and inequities perpetuated therein.
meaningfully to economic and social development in
Next, I outline the CCA that guides me in this endeavor.
the country. (Murthy 2007, p. x)
Stakeholder Participation
Why Culture and CCA?
Finally, there is the stakeholder participation model.

Given that most of the extant theory on organizational
Though its terminology is often used by the neoliberal
practice - and indeed, social science research in general -
business case, stakeholder participation's deeper ethics of
has been formed on the basis of populations in the West, an
accountability and grassroots organizing are rarely engaged
increasingly vocal group of scholars and activists have
with in detail by mainstream CSR (Freeman et al. 2007;
urged for contextually based theory-building that takes into
Kallio 2007). This involves going beyond the bottomline
account local subjectivities and material conditions (e.g.,
Breen 2007; Dutta 2008, 2011; Spivak 1988; Tuhiwai
2 The modernization paradigm of development, much in vogueduringSmith 1999; Wettstein 2005). While culture has long been
the 1970s- 1990s and arguably still favored by international aid
a buzzword in organization studies, at least since Hofst-
agencies, has been critiqued for a number of reasons. It measures
ede's (1980) landmark study on IBM employees world-
social development mainly via national economic growth indicators
(like GDP); does not consider contextual specificities; assumes thatwide, recent scholarship has attempted to integrate it more
fully in studies of business ethics and CSR (e.g., Christie
the "developed" status of the West is the final good for all nations/
et al. 2003; Jamali and Neville 2011; Sagar and Singla
communities; prioritizes neoliberal capitalism and privileges national
elites, assuming that wealth will "trickle down" to the rest; tends to
2004). However, some important critical-cultural and
adopt top-down communication methods over participative dialogue;
and arguably orientalizes non-Western cultures. For an overview, see postcolonial critiques may be identified here. First, most of
Dutta (2011) and Melkote and Steeves (2001). this study takes culture as a reified stable macro-level
â Springer
136 R. Mitra
then, a framework of CSR is required, which incorporates

(usually nat
both institutional structures and culture as micro/macro-
dimensions
uncertainty
shared meaning, so that the two influence each other in
constituting CSR meanings.
short-term
However, it is not
doing enough to focus only on culture andth
so,
structure, without considering the active negotiation
oriented naof
shared
both by social agents. Most of the
setexisting literature on
micro and
CSR, in both developing and developed nations, focuses on
2002). corporate agents - theIt is
corporation itself or its boundary
"done" and constituted, and it is then sedimented and spanners, such as public relations and NGOs - rather than
transformed over time into more stable macro relations the subaltern communities impacted by them. When such
among social actors. Even as culture is "public" (since it
communities are the focus of attention, they are rarely
concerns itself with shared, not individual, meanings),accorded
it is meaningful agency. Consider Iyer's (2008) socio-
historical analysis of farmer suicides in India, where he
hardly an abstraction (as suggested for instance by Christie
argues for companies to step beyond contractual obliga-
et al. 2003), but very real in its embodied everyday per-
formance (Geertz 1994). tions and adopt a "benign paternalism" to inform and
protect
Second, this line of scholarship tends to reify culture as farmers. His treatise is well informed by critical
realist approaches, but crucially denies agency to the
a variable to be used by corporations to serve managerial
interests, a form of "re-engineering to make the work affected
force farmers: the suicides are treated as outcomes of
sheer helplessness, while the farmers' knowledge of tra-
feel good and positive about changes in the nature of work
that have created new forms of deprivation and degrada-
ditional techniques is dismissed as being out-of-sync in the
tion, both physical and psychic" (Dirlik 1997, p. 188),
modern economy where MNCs push genetically modified
while failing to interrogate the deeper power relations(GM)
and seeds. Ironically, while Iyer persuasively argues that
ideological privilege behind it. As Shome and Hegde
the presumptions of a liberal democratic social contract do
not
(2002) note, culture is "a site of struggle through which theapply to contexts like rural India, where communal
social order is maintained, challenged, produced, forms
and of organizing are crucial for survival, he fails to
reproduced, in the performance of various social relations
consider how the suicides may in fact constitute collective
protest. In fact, even "the weak" have recourse to
of equity and inequity" (p. 172). Third, some organiza-
tional scholars have argued that it becomes meaningless to
"weapons," acts of resistance in everyday practice (Scott
1985).
consider culture as a defining concept in organization
Given these important gaps in the literature, there is
studies, pointing out that cultures are rarely distinct among
national borders, several sub-cultures exist, and cultural
space for a CSR framework that keeps in mind both micro
predictors often fall short, overlap, or yield markedlyand macro aspects of culture, envisions cultural influence
dis-
similar results (Singh 2007). Often, institutional theoryon institutional
is structures (and vice versa), and centers the
suggested as an alternative framework, but this does subaltern
not communities most affected by CSR. To this end,
I examine
skirt the culture question either, since even institutions are Dutta's (2008, 2009, 2011) CCA, which draws
shaped by culture in important ways (Singh 2007, p. from
425).postcolonial theory and subaltern studies to interro-
For instance, while tracing the "crossvergence" of global
gate dominant relations of State-organization-community
and local CSR in Lebanon, Jamali and Neville (201 1) note,
from the perspective of marginalized voices. As an epis-
temologica! framework, CCA has been used by researchers
"we stand to gain a deeper understanding of CSR dynamics
in the developing world by considering implicit forms of
to critique dominant constructions of health, media liter-
CSR and the salient formal and informal cultural and
acy, poverty, public relations, corporate reputation and
religious norms and institutions at play." In another
public diplomacy, suggesting alternative frameworks of
organizing and social change (Mitra et al. in press; DeS-
example, while Visser (2008) attempted to outline histor-
ical, cultural, and institutional factors to trace a CSRouza et al. 2008; Dutta and Basnyat 2008; Sastry and Dutta
theory
for developing countries, he ends up with a pyramid2011).
modelI submit, therefore, that it provides a useful tool in
CSR studies to shift our focus from the corporations
not much different from the standard economic-legal-
ethical-philanthropic model used elsewhere.3 Importantly,
organizing such programs to the communities dealing with
them on an everyday basis.
3 Visser* s (2008) CSR pyramid for developing nations simply moves
"philanthropic responsibilities" at a more fundamental level, second
only to the "economic," but little else is changed from the Footnote
standard 3 continued
pyramid. Moreover, the "new" pyramid tends to treat culturaltogether, and aims toward a normative "ideal" - perhaps stemming
differences as homogenous, clubbing all developing countriesfrom a reified conception of culture, as noted by Dirlik (1997).
Ô Springer
In brief, the CCA attempts to engage

Finally, with
agency subaltern
refers to the ab
groups to make
subjectivities, noting how marginalized sense
actors mayof their e
resist
coursethrough
hegemonic knowledge structures of action meaningful
their communi-to th
Specifically,
catively enacted cultural practices, the
within CCA
the focuses on t
constraints
toinstitutional
and availabilities afforded by articulate their concerns
structures and al
(Dutta
2009, p. 291). Subalternity is taken
the to be the
hegemony relations of
of powerful, struct
(Dutta
subjugation and subordination 2008,
in terms of2011). The recognit
class, caste, age,
altern agency
gender, sexual orientation, wealth, means
position, or in that
any the CCA
other
the organization
way, such that local or indigenous knowledge ofand
social actors
ways of ac
and of
knowing are violently stripped flexible frameworks
legitimacy, that m
by complex
(Western)
ideological and material flows epistemologies
(Dutta 2011; (also s
Gramsci 2001;
Moreover,
Spivak 1987, 1988). In line with agency
postcolonial and involves
subaltern"de
(Dutta 2009,
studies, CCA calls for an "activist" p. to
stance 296)bethat notes
taken by the
researchers, so that they engagement,
may be attuned topowerful
when the social
corp
cies contexts
injustices at play in local/global supposedly
and "dialogue"
committed with
to
but do
interrogating them. In no way not
does enact
the meaningful
framework struc
ignore
material conditions, such as
Howresource availability
might the and
CCA perspective
ownership, bodily functions practices? Theor
and capacities, economic is not
geographical
inherently
factors. Rather, discourse and linked
materiality are to the political
dialectically
aligned, so that each accords the of
history other socialnegotiated
a people, meaning. an
Since the CCA rests on the triad of culture
interplay , structure
of structure, and
culture, a
as abelow
agency, I explain each of these discursive
in sometrope
more operates
detail.
dynamic
First, the CCA views culture (re)combinations,
as a dynamic such t
web of shared
forms of
meanings, continuously constructed, knowledge
reified, over other
and challenged
predictive
through communication in local models
contexts, outweigh liv
as participants
draw from macro discourses, tional subaltern
depending knowledge;
on the structural andTuh
material conditions at hand (also see resources
particular Geertz 1994;
(e.g.,Shome
commo
tional markets
and Hegde 2002). Such a perspective orto
allows us those hoarded b
continually
States,
critique cultural norms, rather rather
than take than
them forthose treasur
granted, so
that we may trace how social nities; Spivak
inequities 1987),
may be de-legitimize
embedded
of valuation
within cultural traditions (e.g., (e.g., of
the hierarchy communal and
the Hindu
land
caste system in India) - so that is dismissed
culture in favor
and structure of prop
become
and
intertwined. Considering that idealizes
culture Western
is always modesin
performed of
tracts
situ allows us to engage with and actors
social civil society instead of
and decipher
systems (Dutta-Bergman
alternative communicative practices 2005; Iy
whereby these struc-
tural injustices may be combated over time.
Second, structure refers to the systems of organizing
A Culture-Centered
that both constrain and enable agentic choicesInterrogat
(also see
Indian CSR
Appadurai 1990). By foregrounding the relevance of
structure in the study of organizational practices, the CCA
Guided
attends to the inequities and by CCAstructures
power principles, a critical deconstruction
that limit of
possibilities at the margins.mainstream
StructuresCSR discourse
may in be
India, drawing
both on the
mate-
rial and discursive (Dutta "models"
2009); identified earlier (also see Fig.
for instance, 1), five main
resource
availability and ownership themes stand out. In brief,
(material) formthese areimportant
nation-building as a
facade,
structural constraints on the the underlying neoliberal
articulation of voice logics of
by CSR, CSR as
poor
voluntary and as synergetic
communities, as do various organizational with "normal" business, and a
norms/standards
clear laid
and civil society conditions urban bias
downin CSR programs.
by the State and
media (discursive). Importantly, while some structures are
Nation-Building
more stable than others, they are not beyond transforma-
tion. In fact, the CCA recognizes only deep structural
Research
transformation as real social change,indicates that Indian
rather corporations
than strategically
piecemeal
efforts that end up co-opting the subaltern voice (British
couch their CSR in lofty nation-building rhetoric and
reifying inequities. Council et al. 2002; CREM 2004; Kumar 2004; Kumar
ô Springer
138 R. Mitra
et al.
(Glover 2007, p. 855). 2001
Third, several companies have
According
profited tremendously by entering rural and under-tapped
the markets (Prahalad 2007). For instance, ГГ major Reliance
view th
Telecom is said to revolutionized the revenue model for
privileged
business,
telecom in India, following its low-cost high-base entry
[ain
the B-defini
and C-tier villages and towns across the country (Roy
Nation-bu
2005). Finally, the State sheds its traditional (at least in
neoliberal frameworks) role
Indian CSRof stringent regulator and
becomes a crucial corporate partner that directsm
growing market
liberalization, provides
ship's own valuable information, facilitates
(Menon
easier tie-ups and entry to untapped markets, an and helps
The de-legitimize
elemen dissidents. Thus, in the case of Tata Motors'
ment
launch of the world's
for cheapest car, which was opposed by t
primary
rural communities whose land was being acquired for the a
agencies an
factory, the State became a key organizational ally, which
urbanizati
helped portray subaltern protesters as anti-progress and
anti-national anarchists, rather than stakeholders
growth ind who
traditiona
should have been consulted (Mitra in press).
represent
describing
CSR as Voluntary
commitm
Importantl
The State-corporation partnership is constantly contested,
from each of the four models reviewed earlier: ethical and however, by the neoliberal logic of laissez-faire at the core
Statist models contribute to national commitment goals, theof the mainstream CSR discourse (British Council et al.
ethical model reifies "traditional" values even as economic 2002; Kumar 2004; Kumar et al. 2001; Mehta et al. 2006;
wealth is pursued, the stakeholder model allows commu- NASSCOM Foundation 2007). Times Foundation (2008)
nities and the nation-state to be framed as ostensible part-found that while companies want the State to outline a
ners in this process, and the neoliberal aim of wealth
clear policy on CSR, they want a strong say (including veto
power on regulation issues) in its design, which might
generation is forcibly (and unproblematically) extended to
even subaltern communities who may have alternative
produce a policy with little regulatory teeth (if any). In
meaning-systems. other words, CSR is emphasized as a voluntary (sans
regulation) business practice, where the State is asked for
Underlying Neoliberal Logics benefits on taxes, duties and customs, even as companies
are hesitant to engage in deeper issues related to social
Despite the seemingly altruistic facade of nation-building,
transformation, such as human rights (British Council et al.
the underlying logics behind contemporary CSR programs 2002; CREM 2004). This situation means that, in case of
are staunchly neoliberal and profit based. For starters, CSR
organizational irresponsibility, legal recourse for commu-
in rural underprivileged areas is publicized as "national
nities of interest is often puny (Bhushan 2005). Perhaps the
development" in more affluent (urban) markets, in the best known example of this is Union Carbide's response to
the infamous Bhopal gas leak of 1984. As Ice (1991)
hopes of improving corporate reputation and garnering
more sales. Glover (2007) shows how Monsanto used its
comments, "Carbide's response to what should be done
Smallholder Program (SHP) with small-holding farmers in following the gas leak dealt with the scientific, rather than
India to assuage the concerns of European customers and the human, sides of the leak's effects... One might even
authorities on GM crops. Second, it adds to corporate wonder whom Carbide saw as the victim - Carbide or the
leaders' clout, building charisma and ascribing community-Bhopal residents" (p. 357). More than 20 years later, the
focused long-term vision to them (Mitra in press; Waldman
Bhopal disaster victims' petitions remain unfulfilled, while
and Siegel 2008). In the Monsanto case, for instance, the
MNCs scramble to protect their reputation and bottom-line
company's work with smallholders was attributed directly
from litigation.
to CEO Robert Shapiro's superior vision in integrating Recent incidents, such as Coca Cola's excess extraction
CSR with the firm's regular operations: "Developingof groundwater and dumping of toxic waste (Raman 2007)
country farmers assumed, therefore, a central place in
and ongoing farmer suicides owing to inadequate corporate
Monsanto' s strategy for market development and compet-and State support (Iyer 2008), reiterate this legal inequity.
itiveness as well as in Shapiro's vision of sustainability"
In the latter case, Iyer notes that the lack of structural/
Ô Springer
financial safeguards in caseeducation

of GM remain the most
crop important areas
failure, for CSR to
inadequate
focus on, especially among
land reforms, and high internationally poor rural communities,
determined prices urban of
cotton (owing to the World Bank's
respondents advice
want companies for
to address liberaliza-
transport, infra-
structure
tion) have all benefited Big Agro,and workplace
while issuesdecimating
(Balasubramaniam et al. the
small farmer (p. 439). The2005). Thus, those
severe unable to establish
effects themselves in a
of "voluntary"
marketmore
and unregulated CSR are even economy are de-legitimized aswhen
shocking stakeholders. This
State-
owned companies violate their own
urban bias is a naturallofty
consequencestandards.
of the modernization For
paradigm
instance, power giant National of developmentPower
Thermal (in which the neoliberal busi-
Corporation
ness caseCompact)
(a signatory to the U.N. Global operates), where not
the industrial
onlyeconomy is
violated
privileged
safety protocols at its facility over thethe
near agrarian sector, of
city and capital and other
Vishakha-
patnam, leading to dangerouscrucialmercury
resources are concentrated in urban centers,
pollution, but rather
also
than rural communities (Dutta
refused to share medical reports of potentially affected 2011; Melkote and Steeves
locals with them (Newell 2001).
2005). As in the case of Tata Motors,an
Eventually, an organizational
intensive
mindset
media campaign brought the dominated by
matter to thecourt,
investor-focused
so neoliberal
that casethe
company was directed to release the records. More might simply not deem indigenous communities important
recently, the same plant has been found to cause severe enough to negotiate directly with, which may have
groundwater pollution, leading to deformations among the potentially disastrous consequences for both the company
local people, especially children (CityofVizag 2010). and community (Mitra in press; Breen 2007). Moreover,
though the model of conscientious consumerism has
CSR as Synergetic gained some popularity in developed markets (Vogel
2005), it seems underdeveloped in India: potential cus-
Most companies advocated a synergetic combination of tomers are reluctant to censure (e.g., through boycotting
CSR and "normal" business, so that "CSR is not just a cost products) socially irresponsible companies, if price con-
but also a concrete help in planning and tracking envi- siderations are still favorable (Kumar et al. 2001; Gupta
ronmental and social improvements that bring financial and Saxena 2006).
benefits, [which] can then be engaged in the virtuous cycle To summarize, mainstream CSR discourse in India
of continuous improvement" (Luken and Stares 2005, frames neoliberalism through rose-tinted nation-building
p. 40; also see ASSOCHAM 2010; Times Foundation lens that marginalize subaltern voices. Accordingly, Utting
2008). However, there are plenty of cases to demonstrate (2005) calls for an alternative framework that "recognizes
that unless these synergies step beyond traditional neolib- that if CSR is to be meaningful it needs to be articulated
eral parameters, there is good likelihood of failure (for an with social change and cannot rely exclusively on indi-
overview, see Bhushan 2005; also Mitra in press; Munshividual effort or agency" (pp. 384-385). Similarly, Iyer
and Kurian 2005). Glover's (2007) examination of Mons-(2008) argues that prevalent models of CSR, based on a
anto' s SHP in India shows how "mainstreaming CSR" contract between the corporation-as-person and the
often means that less-powerful stakeholders (small farmers, atomized (not communal) stakeholder, simply do not fit in
in this case) lose out to the profit-interests of shareholders developing countries like India. However, where his solu-
located in urban and Western contexts. While SHP was tion is an "appeal to the paternalistic benevolence" (p.
440) of- corporations, which arguably further erodes sub-
positioned beyond both philanthropy and public relations
and thus "intermediate" to CSR and business (p. 859) - agency,
altern it I suggest a culture-centered framework that
became a victim of its own success. Because it was inte- centers communities of interest.
grated so well with regular marketing, the latter took pre-

cedence over it, which then became characterized as
"transient." Instead of focusing on the actual small size of An Alternative Culture-Centered CSR Framework
farm holdings, the "'long-term potential' and the 'objec-
tives of the farmer'" (p. 859) became salient, so that Rather than disparate realms, culture , structure , and agency
development for Monsanto referred to the development of are coeveal and dialogic, so that organizations and stake-
market, rather than social needs. holders negotiate their discursive and material conditions
across all three. "This interplay of culture, structure, and
Urban Bias agency offers a theoretical and empirical opening for...
scholars to study the ways in which global inequalities
Mainstream CSR discourse in India increasingly pits brought
the about by neoliberal logic are experienced by the
people
relatively powerful urban middle and upper classes against who have been pushed to the margins of policy
rural communities. For instance, while health and debates and articulations" (Dutta in press, pp. 43-44). To
â Springer
140 R. Mitra
Fig. 2 Ibis figu

mainstream co
responsibility
in India throug
structure-agen
culture-centere
Adjacent to ea
constituent themes for resistive
social action have been shown.
Noting the multiple cultures at
stake, rather than invent a single
monolithic "Indian" culture, I
examine Gandhian ethics here
this end, I outline below a CCA-based understandinginterconnections.

of Hindu codes of duty {dharma) and the
CSR, which allows the subaltern to re-claim this space
life/death cycle {karma) may intermingle with Islamic
khairaat
through the lens of culture, structure, and agency acting in (voluntariness) and Christian charity (Mehta et al.
concert with each other (see Fig. 2). For instance, when2006;
I Richards 1991). A rigorous examination of Gandhian
discuss culture (-structure-agency) below, although I
thought rejects philanthropy alone as effective CSR, and
foreground culture , structure, and agency are never farcalls
in for longer-term commitment to impacted communi-
the background. ties. Though I have noted earlier how mainstream CSR
discourse narrowly interprets education in the modernist
Culture (-Structure-Agency) vision of "re-training" for the industrial economy (also see
Mitra in press), for Gandhi, primary education, vocational
In contrast to extant studies on CSR in India, which focus
training "and the need for it to be economically self-suf-
ficient" were to be "the spearhead of a silent social revo-
on "stable" cultural themes like respect for elders, familial
lution fraught with a sound economic basis" (Richards
ties, and religious teachings (e.g., Gupta and Saxena 2006;
Sagar and Singla 2004), a CCA-based framework notes 1991, p. 112). This alternative interpretation of education
how ongoing negotiations of culture may occur in local
might be gainfully used by CCA-informed CSR frame-
works to privilege indigenous knowledge and ways of
contexts, providing openings for marginalized stakeholders
to voice themselves. Given the frequent invocation knowing.
of
Gandhian ethics in mainstream CSR discourse (Kumar Moreover, it may be related to the neglected concepts of
2004; Kumar et al. 2001; Lala 2007; Mehta et al. 2006;sarvodaya ("the welfare of all"; Bose 1971, p. 79) and
NASSCOM Foundation 2007), I examine here how sub- swadeshi (self-sufficient or homegrown nature) of the
altern voices may re-claim them.4 Although prevalent CSR
community. While the terms have been reduced in State
norms in India usually equate personality-driven philan-
policy to import substitution for industrial activity, their
thropy with Gandhian ethics, CCA allows activists and
original focus on the local community and indigenous
scholars to probe and utilize masked themes of Gandhian
knowledge may be re-claimed by dissident subaltern voices
philosophy as a suitable cultural frame for subaltern
to oppose neoliberal logics of mass-production (Kumar-
organizing (Dutta-Bergman 2005). Bose (1971) arguesappa 1951). For Gandhi, the emphasis on adopting home-
that, far from being static and unalloyed, Gandhian ethics
spun cloth {khadi) would not only "create self-sufficiency
and supply work and adequate wages... but also would
demand a dynamic interpretation, whereby communities
and corporations give of themselves both on accountembody
of a simpler way of life. . . rejecting luxuries and self-
religious principles and realization of individual-system
indulgence, the sources of unchecked competition that in
turn breed poverty disease, war, and suffering" (Dutta-
4 While I have focused on Gandhian ethics in my discussionBergman
of 2005, p. 283). In fact, one of the twentieth cen-
culture here, CCA might be fruitfully applied to other cultural frames
tury's most influential anti-neoliberalism texts, Ernst
as well (e.g., re-interpreting Islamic scripture to draw out deeper
Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful , is based on Gandhian
meanings of khairaat ), so that several resistive openings arise to
critique dominant CSR meanings. "economic theory that is oriented towards people"
Springer
(Richards 1991, p. 131). Schumacher (1973)

interests. Finally, it should be kept in mind that calls
the CCA this
"intermediate technology": perspective
rather does notthan
advocate a simplistic
mass "going back to
production,
basics" the
participatory production by - in fact, such a move might
masses, be even moreto the
attuned
disastrous forAnother
contextual needs of a community. impoverished communities
point- but
ofan re-entry
honest
engagement with
in the CSR discourse is provided bygrassroots
the cultural
famous practices to re-define
Gandhian
term ahimsa (non-violence).notions
While of "corporate
it is responsibility"
well known that do not margin-
for its
alize themovement,
role in the Indian independence subaltern out-of-hand.
itEven as it suggests non-
signifies
reclaiming Gandhian
violence not only toward fellow humans ethics, it
butencourages
also the toward
everyday
the environment (Hardiman critique
2003; of thisRichards
philosophy so that1991).
one set of dogmatic
A non-
principles (the business case
violent discourse of environmentalism, for CSR)being
while is not replaced by
attuned
another.
to the sustainability and material availability of resources,
is potentially far richer and has deeper consequences. It
Structure (-Agency-Culture)
emphasizes the social embeddedness of human communi-
ties, from the past and into the future, and connects both the
animate and inanimate intrinsically. Anecdotal
At its core, the CCA is a theory evidence
of structural transforma-
tion: social change
suggests that such a strategy might is meaningful
be only when deep-rooted in
successful
structuresfor
resisting neoliberal hegemony: are transformed,
instance, however gradually
the and imper-
Dongria-
Kondh tribais in the Indian state of Orissa were able to
ceptibly, rather than just "greenwashing" via protestations
repulse mining company Vedanta Resources fromof "dialogue." I consider three forms of structure here -
their
State policy, organizational strategy, and global/local
surroundings, mounting an emotionally charged campaign
flows - which act in concert with each other and culture-
that emphasized their spiritual, material, and communal
ties to the land (Rahman 2010). This was a far cryagency
from to constitute CSR norms.
First, in terms of State policy , a culture-centered
mainstream discourse on sustainability that tends to strip
the concept of emotion and spirituality, rendering it asks how the Indian State organizes itself and its
inquiry
abstract and hard to relate to (Ganesh 2007). offshoots, how is the law constituted and implemented,
and what are the goals sought to be achieved through
The cultural reclamation of CSR discourse necessarily
State policy. A challenge along either of these fronts
involves both communal and individual agency to modify
and use the available structural conditions - limbs of the
might expose glaring structural inequities and mobilize
CCA triad I examine in turn, below. In the case of thestakeholders (e.g., the media and NGOs) to action. For
Dongria-Kondh, a strong social network of digital activistsinstance, in the aftermath of the Bhopal leak, when Union
and scholars was actively mobilized to spread the tribais' Carbide was successfully able to navigate the Indian legal
message to a wider national and global public. Similarly, system to escape relatively unscathed, a sustained cam-
Dutta-Bergman (2005) highlights how Gandhian systems paign spearheaded by aggrieved communities and the
media sought to pressure the India State to re-cast its
of village structure might be engaged with as an alternative
to dominant (Western) notions of "civil society" that are structural frameworks. Through case studies in Nicaragua,
closely linked to the aims of transnational capital, ratherChile, and the Philippines, Dutta-Bergman (2005) has
than subaltern communities. These examples highlight a re- shown how local and global elites use the rhetoric of
framed meaning of the term "trusteeship," often used in"democracy" and "free market" to progressively shut out
mainstream CSR discourse; Hardiman (2003) quotes subaltern voices from the artificially constructed "civil
Gandhi, society," which operates essentially as a neocolonial tool
to garner resources and stifle dissent. In the Bhopal case,
We invite the capitalist to regard himself as a trustee
the strong grassroots movement forced the Indian State to
for those on who he depends for the making, the
change its tone vis-à-vis the company, pressing for a
retention and the increase of his capital. Nor need the
larger settlement and strengthening environmental regu-
worker wait for his conversion. If capital is power, so
lation (see www.bhopal.net). Despite Bhopal, CSR regu-
is work. Either power can be used destructively or
lations are sorely lacking in India, so that Bhushan (2005)
creatively, (p. 83)
urges for sustained critique of the legal discrepancies.
Corporations as trustees (in the Gandhian sense) are then Even as some companies also call for stronger policy
managers of social/collective wealth, formed not on the guidelines on CSR (NASSCOM Foundation 2007; Times
basis of a contract among atomized individuals but as an Foundation 2008), I have noted earlier how they stand to
organic relationship communicatively negotiated via gain much from implementing a toothless regulation that
everyday cultural practices, who may be resisted (and might easily co-opt subaltern protests via promises of
gradually transformed) when they turn against communal "dialogue" with little meaningful follow-up, so that CCA
Ô Springer
142 R. Mitra
scholars
operating in diverse locales must be critiqued to re-privilegean
easy. subaltern voices. Ganesh (2007) argues that the global CSR
Second, organizational strategies are also prone to discourse, focused on technological certification, sustain-
change and critique. Meaningful social transformation may ability, and Protestant work ethics, is a tool for neo-colonial
occur when organizations go beyond "business as usual" dominance, impressing upon developing nations the paro-
and implement new ways of constituting their social chial capital-intensive modernization paradigm of devel-
responsibility, as argued by Iyer (2008). For instance, opment. Moreover, while NGOs are often feted as
Thi agar ajan (2010) narrates how a mid-sized Indian bank "objective" partners in CSR, with the best interests of
used its vast rural branch network to launch a targeted subaltern communities in mind, their role in perpetuating
micro-credit system that helped subaltern communities "civil society" frameworks and "dialogue" must be inter-
gradually become self-sufficient and allow branch-manag- rogated, since so much of their funding depends on corpo-
ers to get better informed of customers' challenges/needs. rate and State funds (Dutta-Bergman 2005). Stohl et al.' s
Terming the approach "missionary leadership," he argues (2009) call for a "third generation" of corporate codes of
that organizations must re-frame their goals toward a ethics thus focuses on communal (not just individual) rights,
"shared desire to serve the mission" (p. 646) and tap "the dismantling rigid national/organizational boundaries, and
need for personal growth and the desire to derive satis- emphasizes social interconnections the world over.
faction from serving a cause" (p. 647). The nation-building Extending this line of thinking, CCA would examine
theme espoused by mainstream CSR discourse may thus be CSR in multiple inter-connected locations and suggest
re-claimed by subaltern communities and CCA scholars/ possibilities for stakeholder organizing across these con-
activists, via the argument that nation-building is indeed a texts. It would probe the advantages and disadvantages,
greater cause than short-term profits, or that even State merits and demerits, credentials, and backgrounds offered
policy goals recognize. Instead, meaningful nation-building by certification of CSR standards by domestic and inter-
can occur only when grassroots and subaltern communities national entities, to ensure that these awards were legiti-
are transformed from below (Dutta 2008). mate and duly earned. While extant research has focused
Even incremental transformations in mundane organi- on issues pertaining directly to MNC interests (e.g., CSR
zational practices, such as revenue streams and billing standards in global supply chains; Pedersen and Anderson
practices, may be usefully engaged with, from a CCA 2006), alternative viewpoints are called for. For instance,
perspective. While Thiagarajan's example did note how researchers should examine the ability of global suppliers
basic practices of determining credit worthiness, debt col- (usually, but not always, emerging-economy firms) to meet
lection and customer care were re-crafted with key inputs the standards mandated by powerful MNCs and interna-
from the rural subaltern community, the case of energy tional NGOs (often in concert with the World Bank), the
company Union Fenosa in Colombia (Peinado-Vara 2006) overlap, and disjunctives of mainstream global CSR dis-
is also instructional. In an environment with insufficient
course vis-à-vis local cultural influences, and a close
formal access to electricity, unreliable billing system and analysis of the availability/suitability of local grassroots
rampant unit-wastage, the company formed a specialized measures (rather than global "best practices"). A CCA lens
subsidiary ("Energia Social") that developed an innovative must consider how global/local flows implicate far-flung
method of collecting revenue and delivering customer care rural and urban communities together, how corporations
through small enterprises created within the local com- use discourses of emerging economy nation-building to
munities, a collective billing system that allowed cost-further neoliberal agendas (e.g., the Chevron ad seen ear-
splitting among neighbors, and outsourcing maintenance ner), and how subaltern stakeholders may organize
work to local contractors (p. 66). Important in both (sometimes, across vast distances) using both traditional
examples is the community's agency, though somewhatand digital technologies to voice their concerns - in some
limited (i.e., the community is still treated as potentialcases, going against their elected State representatives
"consumer"), without which they would not have been(Mitra in press; Dutta 2011).
successful. Despite the shortcomings, the examples are
useful indicators of how agency, culture and context pro-Agency (-Culture-Structure)
vide useful avenues to re-frame organizational and CSR
strategy. The CCA takes a fundamentally agentic stance in its
Third, a CCA perspective interrogates the globalãocal communicative negotiation of culture and structure: social
flows of capital, media and labor (Appadurai 1990) that actors voice their concerns, otherwise marginalized by
frame mainstream State-business discourse. The structures corporate and State strategy, through discursive openings
of international and domestic NGOs, the World Bank and that produce/provoke cultural-structural change. For Dutta
other agencies that set global financial standards, and MNCs (2011), "agency is explained as the capacity of human
Ô Springer
to be heard when
beings to engage with structures thatshe hasencompass
few tools available in a neoliberal
their lives,
to make meanings through
world-system
this engagement,
where the odds are so completely
andstacked
at the
same time, creating discursive
against her.
openings to transform these
The CCA
structures" (p. 13). It is agency scholarsthat
then should also be attuned to how
forms, such
reifies, and
appropriates culture and structure.
alternative forms ofIn my
agency exposition
might of
re-frame global dis-
courses,I like
subaltern agency in CSR here, sustainability.
focus on three Althoughmain
the "sustainable
areas:
development" concept
subaltern reframing of institutional is traditionally seen as
responsibility, "develop-
engage-
mentof
ment with alternative modes thatagency,
meets the needand
of the deconstructive
present without compro-
vigilance. mising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs"
First, a CCA perspective to CSR (Brundtland
would 1987), arguably centering
actively ecological
explore
conservation not social embeddedness
grassroots negotiations of institutional and is in line with , as in
responsibility
theof
the community re-framing modernization
Gandhian paradigm of development (Ganesh
trusteeship, sar-
2007;, Peterson
vodaya, swadeshi and ahimsa noted 1997), it may be usefully
earlier, re-framed
to resist by
the
subaltern communities.
neoliberal agenda of profit-market primacy One way(Dutta-Berg-
of doing this is via
Gandhian
man 2005). Actively stressing the ahimsa , noted earlier;
organic but the Dongria-Kondhof
embeddedness
corporations with subaltern
protests
communities
also extended "sustainability"
of interest
to the community's
pro-
vides a way of turning the right of self-determination.
cultural norm atop The evocative international
its head and
recognizing subaltern voicescampaign
(Mitra that allies
in of the Dongria-Kondh
press; Pal and unleashed
Dutta via
the Internet and other stakeholder
2008). Rather than static/fixed interest groups, stakeholders networks emphasized the
tribais'basis
are agentic and formed on the right to of
live on their ownthat
issues terms, keeping
evolve their
in
spiritual
urgency and shape over time, traditions and forest-based
necessitating thelivelihood
useintact,
of so dif-
ferent stakeholder responses
that future
and generations
tools in could turn
thrive, free
(Freeman
from corporate
and State authoritarianism
et al. 2007). Although mainstream CSR (Dutta 2011; PTI 2010).
discourse grants
Finally,
agency mainly to corporations, sothe CCA framework
that of CSR proposed
stakeholders mustis con-be
recognized by the firm or stantly critical , though
neoliberal not inherently
State antagonistic to
apparatus towardbe
legitimate (Mitra in press; Kalliointerests.
organizational 2007), the
Subaltern CCA of
communities frame-
interest
and CCA in
work sees legitimacy grounded scholars/activists
stakeholders' must adopt self-
"deconstructive
con-
vigilance" (Dutta
cepts. They do not require external 2009) and "critical watchdog
certification to haveroles" an
(Ganesh 2007)
interest or be effective in their to guard against
protest; flagrant dismissals
rather, their of very
the
(socially embedded) existence constitutes
law and gross irresponsibility byand arms
corporate com-
agents. Spivak
munities of interest. For instance, inthat
(1988) notes astutely theeven case of the
as the subaltern strivesTata
to be
Motors protests, although dissidents
heard, her voice is always were
appropriatedinitially not
in some way by the
storytellers who narrate
recognized as legitimate stakeholders by it. That is, even
either theas wefirm
attempt to
or
the State, they were eventually heard
represent subaltern because
subjectivity, of
erasure occurs their
simulta-
grassroots organizing andneously: powerful institutions
networking with and like-minded
actors provide the
groups (Mitra in press). appearance of dialogue but with little meaningful exchange
Second, alternative forms(Dutta
and 2009; Munshi andof
modes Kurian 2005). Thus, need
agency although the
to
be recognized, rather than those successfully
Dongria-Kondh confined to dominant
ousted Vedanta, credit for the
expulsion
understandings of civil society orwas the
claimedpublic
by the Indian State (Rahman
sphere 2010),
(Dutta-
Bergman 2005; Scott 1985). To
despite take
reports of itsan extreme
involvement in human example,
rights viola-
tions against
in Iyer's (2008) essay on farmer the tribais (PTI
suicides in 2010). Reiterating
India, State-pri-he
while
macy and outcome
treats the suicides as the natural denying subaltern foragency, the Indian
a people with
Environment Minister
no agency or autonomy left, a CCA perspective would remarked, "There's no emotion, no
recognize it as a crucial actpolitics, no prejudice. . . I havedefiance.
of communal taken this decisionThat
purely onis,
the suicides may be re-frameda legal asapproach
an -individual
laws are being violated"
cry (as to quoted
form in
Rahman 2010).
a collective protest - as indeed, the spate of suicides has
arguably succeeded in widespread media coverage and
public debate (both domestic and international) on the
Conclusion
Indian State's agriculture policies and the responsibilities
of involved companies (e.g., see Indian Express 2011). In
her landmark essay, titled "Can
The nature the subaltern
of hegemony speak?",
is that it occurs by consent, rather
than exercising the proverbial
Spi vak (1988) argued that the subaltern subject might heavy hand of power. It is
in
fact embrace death as a waythrough the strategic and artistic
of articulating protest,manipulations
seekingof
â Springer
144 R. Mitra
discourse
developing and emerging nation contexts. First, the CCA' s in
theircontextualized consideration
domi of culture, such that it is both
subaltern paradigms (Gramsci 2001; Spivak 1987). embedded in everyday structures of organizational practice
Accordingly, corporations tend to use their promises of and State policy, and actively practiced by individuals and
economic advantages, social responsibilities, and individ- groups, suggests that scholars should connect the micro and
ual empowerment to assert a colonization of the life-world macro realms of CSR vis-à-vis culture. Second, this essay
(Mitra 2010, in press; Dirlik 1997; Ganesh 2007). Criticalcalls for a broader lens to CSR, beyond what companies
scholars argue that CSR acts as a prominent tool in thisand NGOs say and do, to the lived experience of com-
process of corporate colonization, by "greenwashing" the munities impacted by CSR efforts, and how they may
socially undesirable consequences of the neoliberal agenda, "speak back" to dominant actors. Third, researchers might
such as growing inequities, structural rigidities, State consider adopting "an activist stance" (Dutta 2009) that
control and mass consumerism (Dutta 2011, in press; cautions against taking corporate or NGO discourse at face
Kallio 2007; Munshi and Kurian 2005). Yet, there also value and deconstructing their underlying ideologies,
exist examples that show companies can indeed "make aespecially the benefits accruing to key corporate and State
difference," as the ad for Chevon runs, "create jobs, keep actors. Postcolonial and feminist scholars (e.g., Spivak
people healthy, and improve schools... and our commu- 1987; Tuhiwai Smith 1999) have demonstrated at length
nities" if there is an honest engagement with subalternthat this is no less rigorous than "objective" science (which
communities of interest (e.g., Peinado-Vara 2006; Thiag- in fact is rife with unvoiced internal biases), but enhances
arajan 2010). the research at hand via core humanist principles of
In this essay, I have reviewed extant literature on CSR in reflexivity, care and empathy. Finally, alternative logics of
India to reveal a vast gap between corporate rhetoric and organizing and resisting that emanate from the subaltern
social reality, however. Drawing on the CCA (Dutta 2008, should be carefully attended (e.g., Scott 1985), to allow a
2009, 2011), I have critically deconstructed mainstream re-construction of CSR practice and norms in ways that do
CSR discourse, showing how the neoliberal agenda of not trample over indigenous people's rights and liberties.
profit-market primacy lies at its core, behind a facade of My goal here is not to craft a taxonomy of strategies and
nation-building. While the avowed aim of Indian CSR is tactics for communities, but to highlight alternative inter-
community and national uplift, what persists is the drive to pretations that may radically alter our interpretations of the
further profits, tap new markets, and reduce expenditure (if cultural, structural, and agentic in business-society
necessary, at social and environmental cost). Although relations.
some may call this a cynical reading, the CCA-based CSR

framework I outline suggests ways to correct this situation
in socially just ways by allowing subaltern stakeholders to Appendix 1
re-frame and re-claim CSR discourse. Culture, structure,
and agency operate dialectically to challenge and appro- Transcript of Chevron Advertisement, "We Agree ...
priate mainstream CSR discourse, whereby subaltern Community"
communities of interest may resist corporate colonization.
This article thus seeks to re-open the politics of CSR as a Student: Oil companies have changed my
crucial area of debate and research, and urges for its con- country.
tinued openness to avoid the erasure of valuable alternative Chevron Employee: Oil companies can make a dif-
perspectives. From the specific examples cited in this article ference.
(i.e., CSR by and resistance against Tata Motors, Vedanta, Background: Oil companies should support their
Monsanto, Union Carbide, and the National Thermal Power communities.
Corporation, among others), it should be apparent that I Student: We have a chance to rebuild the
regard CSR in the broadest sense. That is, I take CSR to be economy...
the responsible relations , communicatively formed, and Chevron Employee: Create jobs, keep people healthy,
between firms and societies , rather than just ad hoc or even and improve schools.
particularly designed/defined ventures and programs. Far Student: ... and our communities.
from being exhaustive, the CCA perspective offered here is Chevron Employee: In Angola, Chevron hel
meant to draw further critiques and considerations of these engineers, teachers and farme
relations from across the research spectrum - critical, post- launched health programs. It's
positivist, strategic, postcolonial, and so on. just good business...
By way of concluding this essay, I offer some directions Student: I'm hopeful about my country's
for future CSR research, not necessarily restricted to future.
Ô Springer
CREM. (2004). Corporate social responsibility in India : Policy and

Chevron Employee: It's my country's future...
practices of Dutch companies. Amsterdam: Consultancy and
Background We agree. Research for Environmental Management.
DeSouza, R., Basu, A., Kim, I., Basnyat, I., & Dutta, M. (2008). The
(Source: http://www.chevron.com/media/weagree/community/
paradox of "fair trade": The influence of neoliberal trade
weagreecommunitytv.pdf. The advertorial clip can be viewed at on food security and health. In H. M. Zoller & M.
agreements
http://www.chevron.com/about/advertising/?gclid=CPyhtMX
J. Dutta (Eds.), Emerging perspectives in health communication :
So6 Y CFUmo4 AodTV 2kog). Interpretive, critical and cultural approaches (pp. 411-430).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dirlik, A. (1997). The postcolonial aura: Third World criticism in the
age of global capitalism. Boulder, CO: Westview.
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"My Country's Future": A Culture-Centered Interrogation of Corporate Social

"My Country's Future": A Culture-Centered Interrogation

responsibility (CSR) work in nation-building terms. InChevron

generated data for their CSR programs (Kumar 2004;in

parochial modernization paradigm of development,2

Finally, there is the stakeholder participation model.

then, a framework of CSR is required, which incorporates

In brief, the CCA attempts to engage

financial safeguards in caseeducation

grated so well with regular marketing, the latter took pre-

Fig. 2 Ibis figu

this end, I outline below a CCA-based understandinginterconnections.

(Richards 1991, p. 131). Schumacher (1973)

some may call this a cynical reading, the CCA-based CSR

CREM. (2004). Corporate social responsibility in India : Policy and

NASSCOM Foundation. (2007). Catalysing change 2006-2007: ГГ

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