Corporate citizenship: the ruse of the destitution of dissent

Abstract

This article analyzes the results that corporate social responsibility projects have on the communities that benefit from them. The analysis is based on a case study on the company, ALBRAS SA, more specifically the two main projects it develops. Initially, it discusses the empowerment of transnational companies vis-à-vis the weakening of the national states at the present stage of capitalist development. At a second moment, it demonstrates that such projects are promoted by resorting to a discourse focused on the “mobilization of the poor”, in which the latter are considered for staying or not in a condition of poverty. Thirdly, it shows that such actions are inscribed in the instrumental rationality of the market, and for that reason they impose a set of management techniques as the only legitimate way of overcoming social deprivation and needs, which is an evidence of the anti-dissent character of this kind of action.

Key words: corporate social responsibility, globalization, dissent.