Foreign Policy Blogs

On Corporate Social Responsibility

This nice overview of CSR begins with an illustrative short anecdote that shows how “creative capitalism” has been around for a while.

“Like many people in Guatemala, Dona Blanca grows crops which are exported to companies in North America and Europe. But unlike most of them, she is paid fairly for her work.

That's because Dona grows aloe vera for The Body Shop – a leader in corporate social responsibility. The money she makes allows her to send her daughter to school, one of 200 funded by the UK-based natural beauty products company.”

Then, just to demonstrate the breadth of sources that Google Alerts can turn up, I saw this article in Furniture Style magazine. It quotes research showing that consumers really do prefer to buy from companies that aren't evil. Good to know.

 

Author

Kevin Dean

Kevin Dean is a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in international conflict management and humanitarian emergencies at Georgetown University. Before returning to school in Fall 2006, he spent six years working in the former Soviet Union - most of that time spent in Central Asia. He has managed a diverse range of international development programs for the US State Department and USAID. He has also consulted for several UN agencies and international NGOs, and is fluent in Russian. Kevin is originally from Des Moines, Iowa and studied Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Iowa.