Development and the Private Sector: Consuming Interests
The private sector has a major impact on our daily lives, not only shaping the economy but also increasingly taking on the provision of basic social services. Growing corporate power has generated a backlash as companies are held to account for the social and environmental impacts of their business. The "corporate social responsibility" movement has many implications for development, and has provoked fierce debates over whether controls should remain voluntary, or form part of tighter international regulation of business.
This collection examines the impact of the private sector on development, whether through core business practices, corporate responsibility endeavors, or philanthropic activities. Drawing on examples from around the globe, contributers suggest how the private sector might do less harm, and how - by fostering equitable development - it could even do more good.
John Sayer is director of Oxfam Hong Kong
CONTENTS
Preface
Deborah Eade
Introductory Essay: Do More Good, Do Less Harm
John Sayer
1. Calling Business to Account: Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility
In whose name? The accountability of corporate social responsibility
Jem Bendell
Corporate responsibility and the movement of business
Peter Utting
Corporate accountability to the poor? Assessing the effectiveness of community-based strategies
Niamh Garvey and Peter Newell
2. Investing in Development?
Public resistance to privatisation in water and energy
David Hall, Emanuele Lobina, and Robin De La Motte
Public service privatisation and crisis in Argentina
Leopoldo Rodríguez-Boetsch
Size matters: the need for human-scale economic institutions for development
Julian Oram and Deborah Doane
Java furniture makers: globalisation winners or losers?
Lienda Loebis and Hubert Schmitz
The World Bank's land of kiosks: Community Driven Development in Timor-Leste
Ben Moxham
3. Pressure for Change: Fair Trade and Ethical Codes of Conduct
Managing ethical standards: when rhetoric meets reality
Sumi Dhanarajan
Corporate responsibility and the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): are they compatible?
Carolina Quinteros
Partnering for sustainability: business-NGO alliances in the coffee industry
April Linton
Reaching the marginalised? Gender value chains and ethical trade in African horticulture
Anne Tallontire, Catherine Dolan, Sally Smith, and Stephanie Ware Barrientos
4. Resources
Development and the Private Sector: An Annotated List of Selected Resources
© Kumarian Press Inc. 2006.
ISBN 1 56549 218 8
All rights reserved.
Available from Stylus Publishing
