Corporations and Citizenship

An exploration of the political concept of citizenship as a way of understanding the place of corporations in contemporary society.

Andrew Crane (Author), Dirk Matten (Author), Jeremy Moon (Author)

9780521612838, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 August 2008

264 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

'A comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of the implications of understanding the corporation as a citizen. It should stimulate fresh thinking about the political, social and environmental responsiblities of the firm and the role it can and should play in contemporary society.' David Vogel, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

It is widely accepted that corporations have economic, legal, and even social roles. Yet the political role of corporations has yet to be fully appreciated. Corporations and Citizenship serves as a corrective by employing the concept of citizenship in order to make sense of the political dimensions of corporations. Citizenship offers a way of thinking about roles and responsibilities among members of polities and between these members and their governing institutions. Crane, Matten and Moon provide a rich and multi-faceted picture that explores three relations of citizenship – corporations as citizens, corporations as governors of citizenship, and corporations as arenas of citizenship for stakeholders – as well as three contemporary reconfigurations of citizenship – cultural (identity-based), ecological, and cosmopolitan citizenship. The book revolutionizes not only our understanding of corporations but also of citizenship as a principle of allocating power and responsibility in a political community.

List of figures
List of tables
Foreword
Preface
1. Introducing corporations and citizenship
Part I. Corporations and Citizenship Relationships: 2. Corporations as citizens
3. Corporations as governments
4. Stakeholders as citizens
Part II. Corporations and Citizenship Reconfigurations: 5. Citizenship identities and the corporation
6. Citizenship ecologies and the corporation
7. Citizenship, globalization and the corporation
8. Conclusions
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Business & management [KJ]