The power of critic: Social risks and corporate social responsibility

The Power of critic: Social Risks and Corporate social responsibility

This paper aims at analyzing the meanings given to the notion of "social risk", used by business consultants and business managers to refer to conflicts over land involving social and environmental movements and to understanding the meaning of the actions justified in the name of the need to "manage" such risks. Consultants and managers of large companies argue that the "corporate social responsibility" programs enable a closer relationship between the company and the community and contribute to building consensus on business activities, stabilizing the social environment where the company is located. As the object of analysis, we concentrate on the study of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) related initiatives in the pulp and paper sector in Brazil. From this research, we intend to verify the way in which CSR projects operate in communities to mitigate the resistance of social actors mobilized against the territorialization of eucalyptus plantations in the North of the state of Espirito Santo and the South of the state of Bahia.