Where next for responsible enterprise? Centring equity, equality and plurality

Dr Lauren McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in CSR and Director of ETHOS, gave a welcome address along with Professor André Spicer, before the symposium began with a talk on the politics of CSR.

Dr McCarthy said: “We at ETHOS, The Centre for Responsible Enterprise, wanted to celebrate our 10-year anniversary not just by looking back but by looking forward. We’ve always been a home for critical thinking about responsible organisations, and the day was testament to that- with keynotes touching on feminist, postcolonial and radical ways of thinking about how we do business better.

“We also heard from scholars from across the world on tough, but crucial topics: such as digital ethics on social media, climate justice, and the challenges of making change within businesses. It is my hope that ETHOS will continue to be a home, and community, for world-leading research in these areas over the next 10 years and beyond.”

Featuring a workshop on micro-CSR, internal activism, social intrapreneurship, tempered radicalism, and CSR-related consultancy, the sessions looked at the processes of making organisations greener, more sustainable, or more responsible, and the obstacles and support they encounter in their endeavours.

The day also held panel discussions on the mechanisms underlying polarization and fake news leading to the decline of democracy, as well as the governance of social media platforms spaces.

Lastly it hosted a session on planetary (in)justice, which will bring together scholars working on the intersections of climate change, critical social theory, and organisation studies. Speakers discussed the economic, racial, gendered, and colonial legacies of the planetary ecological crisis, to gain a better understanding of the present climate conjuncture, and the scholarship and practice needed to achieve planetary justice.

Professor Spicer added:

“When we founded ETHOS 10 years ago, we wanted to connect the great research on sustainability, ethics and CSR with practitioners. We also wanted to help foster a community of people working at the cutting edge in this field. I’m proud to say that over the years we have managed to make this happen.

“ETHOS has become a home for both researchers and practitioners from throughout the world interested in questions about responsible enterprise. Our members have made important advances in theory but also changed practice. I’m also proud of the ETHOS community which has helped to foster and develop many researchers over the years.”

Both Dr McCarthy and Professor Spicer shared photos and thoughts on the event on X (formerly Twitter).