The Processes of Defining Corporate Responsibility: A Study of Swedish Garment Retailers' Responsibility

Abstract

Despite extensive research on corporate responsibility, little research exists on how the inter-organisational processes of defining corporate responsibility develop. In this paper, we present a framework based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) for analysing these processes. The developed framework is illustrated in a study of the redefinition of Swedish garment retailers’ responsibilities for workers’ rights at suppliers’ factories between 1996 and 2004. We show that definition processes can be characterised as battles for the right to interpretation, and that traditionally non-dominant actors can, at least temporarily, win these battles and dictate the development of the processes for defining corporate responsibility. We also show that definition processes can take an exclusionary form prohibiting certain actors from participating.