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The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of agency on basis of a pragmatist philosophy framework of analysis. Agency is a key analytical concept in management studies, debated in terms of its theoretical elements and its degree of empirical substantiation. Agency is commonly either assumed to be the case, understood as some generic human capacity to act with integrity, or, alternatively, agency is considered to be derived from social structures, say professional norms or occupational identities acquired through socialization. In contrast, in an attempt to escape the agency/structure model, agency may be considered as what is generated in and through meso-level interactions, constituted as recurrent practices wherein accomplishments in the past serve as the template for new activities that further reinforce agential capacities.

Drawing on the work of pragmatist philosopher Donald Davidson and what he calls the principle of charity, this paper presents an analytical model wherein agency is generated on basis of a shared everyday language wherein beliefs and preferences are constituted and thereafter serve as the basis of agential action.

Davidson’s externalist theory of action is supportive of the theory and study of meso-level interactions and helps to overcome the question whether agency is exogenously given or the effect of social structure.

This paper reviews recent social science literature on agency and introduces pragmatist philosophy concepts to better examine under what conditions social actors can reasonably have faith in an interaction being premised on beliefs that are held on basis of rational and reasonable grounds. This adds to an integrated theory of agency, being of importance for social theory and organizational analysis more specifically.

In previous efforts I have dated the birth of (modern) Social Catholicism (alias: Roman‐Catholic Social Economycs) with the publication of the closely associated works of Charles de Coux (1832) and Alban de Villeneuve‐Bargemont (1834/37). If indeed (and without going all the way back to Jesus of Nazareth, via Thomas Aquinas, Jerome and Ambrose et al.) that be the case, and the implication of the present assignment be correct, then we should have to date the “birth of solidarism” in the Social‐Catholic vein identically. Undaunted by Gide's virtual declaration that “they were all solidarists then”, this is what we set out to show, viz. that our Solidarism did have its birth therewith.

Sometimes an issue can remain dormant for a long period of time before receiving governmental and legislative attention. Debate on corporate governance has coincided with a number of measures impacting on the charitable sector which, taken together, have the effect of bringing about improvements in the overall corporate governance climate for the charity, and re‐inforcing the centrality of the charity as an important instrument of social policy. The aim of this article is to explore this battery of measures, their historical context, and the varying fortunes of the charitable sector in its social policy role.

The purpose of this research is to understand the attitudes of individuals towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Kazakhstan and identify the benefits that CSR activities may bring to business and its stakeholders.

Theoretical underpinnings for the research are drawn from existent literature on CSR. A total of 120 questionnaires were collected, 68 percent of which were filled in online, the rest were answered manually by the respondents.

The results suggest that environmental friendliness, legal responsibility and stewardship principle are considered to be very important in Kazakhstan. The attitudes towards economic responsibility are significantly affected by age and working experience. The application of Carroll's Pyramid of CSR identified that the hierarchy of responsibilities in Kazakhstan exists in the following order: legal, ethical, economic, and philanthropic. The primary payback of CSR is improved company image and reputation.

As the concept of CSR is relatively new in Kazakhstan misunderstanding of CSR principles might have led to wrong perceptions and attitudes and distortion of the research results. The sample is not representative of the population as a whole and cannot be generalized.

The paper is a valuable contribution to the development and promotion of CSR principles in Kazakhstan which provides an insight into the current situation in the country. Managers and policy makers may revise their strategies and policies with the expectations of the general public.

The paper contributes to the limited scope of literature on the attitudes towards CSR in Kazakhstan.

This research explores the use of the internet, a mechanism that provides the opportunity to reach vast audiences efficiently and cost effectively, by United Kingdom (UK) charities to discharge accountability.

This research combines a content analysis of the web sites of large UK charities and semi-structured interviews with key charity personnel responsible for the formulation and dissemination of information to stakeholders.

The results indicate that, in most cases, charity web sites, as accountability mechanisms, appear to play a wide role, being directed at both upward and downward stakeholders. However, while the web sites are usually professionally created with appropriate web site presentation and page design, the discharge of fiduciary accountability via the internet is not universal.

This research focuses on large UK charities. This, together with the nature of the items captured by the content analysis checklist and the semi-structured interviews, inevitably affects its generalisability.

Accepting that charities have a duty to account to their stakeholders, and that the input of accounting practitioners is vital in this process, this research extends our understanding of how the internet is employed by charities to fulfil this duty.

The charity sector has grown extensively in size and prominence in recent years and policymakers have come to embrace the role that charities play in societal development. This paper provides a crucial insight into the discharge of accountability by charities through the internet.

This study aims to explore the role of the Indian merchant class in 19th-century colonial India in addressing the social concerns of disability. Specifically, it addresses why and how business engaged with disability in colonial India.

This study’s methodology entailed historiographical approach and archival investigation of official correspondence and letters of business people in 19th-century colonial India.

Using institutional theory, the study’s findings indicate that guided by philanthropic and ethical motives, Indian businesses, while recognizing the normative and cognitive challenges, accepted the regulative institutional pressures of colonial India and adopted an involved and humane approach. This manifested in the construction of asylums and the setting up of bequeaths and charitable funds for people with disability (PwD). The principal institutional drivers in making of the asylums and the creation of benevolent charities were religion, social practices, caste-based expectations, exposure to Western education and Victorian and Protestantism ideologies, the emergence of colonial notions of health, hygiene and medicine, carefully crafted socio-political and economic policies of the British Raj and the social aspirations of the native merchant class.

In contrast to the 20th-century rights-based movement of the West, which gave birth to the global term of “disability,” a collective representation of different types of disabilities, this paper locates that cloaked in individual forms of sickness, the identity of PwD in 19th-century colonial India appeared under varied fragmented labels such as those of leper, lunatic, blind and infirm. This paper broadens the understanding of how philanthropic business response to disability provided social acceptability and credibility to business people as benevolent members of society. While parallelly, for PwD, it reinforced social marginalization and the need for institutionalization, propagating perceptions of unfortunate and helpless members of society.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)¹ has become such an important and popular concept along with the rise of the importance of sustainable development (SD) in the world. Nowadays, CSR is focused on goals such as poverty reduction and SD. It has become clear to the business world that SD is no longer only the concern of governments and related non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and that they should also immediately start becoming concerned about the sustainability of resources and human development along with their financial sustainability. In this sense, establishment of multi-stakeholder dialogues and partnerships among all these actors has also become extremely important.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourse has taken a wrong turn in its historical development, which risks a restriction of our thinking.

The paper has two main sections followed by a concluding discussion. First, the way in which even proponents of CSR have allowed a search for a link between engagement in CSR and firm performance to become a predominant strand of the debate is explored. Second, the way that economic rationality has developed through the sociology of economic behaviour is examined to provide a novel lens through which to view CSR.

It is contended that arguments for CSR based in morality and ethics have been at least partially foreclosed by the CSR academy's response to pronouncements on the topic made by Milton Friedman in 1970. It is argued that, in responding to his arguments largely in the terms dictated by those arguments, the critical potential of CSR is diminished.

The paper suggests alternative intellectual resources that might help to re‐balance this debate, drawing on what might broadly be called the sociology of economic behaviour. The paper concludes by calling for a re‐moralised CSR, reminding one that economic activity is embedded in social relations.

Attempts to critique CSR through lenses afforded by sociology are comparatively rare. This paper shows how the true nature of predominant preoccupations in the mainly business‐related debates on CSR can be more openly seen as being economically rational when examined using theoretical frames and language from sociology.

The purpose of this paper is to explore food access issues as tackled by an association that runs a week-end soup kitchen in a social welfare center in Bucharest, Romania. The research focuses on how the volunteers involved in this food charity activity perceive the beneficiaries of their generous act and their current life circumstances, as well as the extent to which a sense of responsibility informs the charitable cookers’ perspective on the donated food recipients.

The findings presented in this paper are based on volunteering work done within the association, more precisely on participant observation focusing on the purchase and cooking of ingredients. It also relies on extensive semi-structured interviews with one founding member, and with two other volunteers who regularly participate in the charitable cooking sessions.

Due to the specific way cooking and food distribution take place within the week-end soup kitchen, contact with beneficiaries is very limited and the volunteering activity is unlikely to fuel reflections on and actions against the underlying causes of inadequate food access.

There is a growing interest in studying food poverty in Romania, where private, non-denominational organizations focusing on food access are struggling to build a stable and equitable food (re)distribution system. This paper offers new insights into food aid organizational features that support and help advance both wider participation and long-term sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the motivations for and the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) online reporting on organisational identity development and stakeholder relationship management through corporate web communication and information strategies.

A content analysis method is utilised to critique evidence of the use and impact of online CSR reporting in three selected corporate web sites from the automotive industry. In particular, sustainability and environmental social responsibility reporting, evidence of stakeholder engagement and acknowledgement of societal concerns for corporate identity and reputation management are critiqued from a framework of persuasion and credibility alongside organisational role responsibility.

The findings concurred with current research in corporate communication that documents the significant rise in the use of corporate web sites for the reporting of CSR activities and in corporate attempts to acknowledge and respond to changing local/national and global societal expectations concerning business practices. The automotive industry web sites showed recognition of this increase in societal expectations, projection of a desired corporate identity and the subsequent monitoring of a consistent and accessible communication strategy directed at all stakeholders.

While the findings reflect the literature, the evaluation of three selected global web sites within one industry sector only allows for conclusions reflecting generalisations. Future research will necessarily incorporate consideration of both traditional and contemporary national cultures, into such evaluations.

Exploring the traditional and non‐traditional motivations for CSR and their impact on CSR reporting for a globalised world.