Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Economic Governance: A Comparison of the OECD Guidelines and the UN Global Compact

Abstract

It has become almost common wisdom that processes of globalization have significant effects on the role of the state in international politics. Susan Strange has coined the term ‘retreat of the state’, others such as Raymond Vernon have alleged for a long time that state’s sovereignty is at bay, being under attack by transnational corporations (TNCs) (Strange 1996; Vernon 1971). In their seminal book on ‘Governance without Government’, James Rosenau and Ernst-Otto Czempiel realized that power can be exercised without formal public authority (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992: 5). Some years later, Claire Cutler, Virginia Haufler and Tony Porter spoke explicitly about the importance of profit seeking entities wielding private authority in international politics (Cutler et al. 1999). And in the latest of important publications almost closing the circle of arguing, Hall and Biersteker speculate about the reversibility of private authority back to public authority (Hall and Biersteker 2002: 213).