The business case for regulation of corporate social responsibility and accountability

This paper develops an alternative (or supplementary) theoretical justification for the regulation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) to the justification contained in the extant academic literature. It does this by demonstrating how, contrary to the dominant business discourse, increased regulation designed to protect the social and environmental interests of a range of stakeholders can also serve to enhance corporate economic performance and shareholder value.

The theoretical perspectives developed in this paper are drawn from Beck's and Giddens’ theories on reflexive modernity, and indicate that reflexively appropriated knowledge can be a key factor in developing socially constructed understandings of the social and environmental risks to a range of stakeholders inherent in business operations.

In situations where voluntary self-regulation of CSR and SEAR has been ineffective in preventing corporate actions and decisions that have resulted in damaging social and environmental consequences, processes of reflexivity can substantially increase public awareness of the level of risk they face from corporate operations. Such increased perceptions of risk can lead to a loss of trust in an individual corporation or a whole industrial sector, and this can be exacerbated where stakeholders begin to actively seek out alternative risk discourses to inform themselves about possible risks of which they were previously unaware. We argue that effective statutory regulation could avoid these outcomes, and the loss of shareholder economic value that can flow from these outcomes.     

构建超越现代性的中国经济学

西方主流经济学中存在着五种现代性,中国经济学的构建要超越它们:实现后实证主义的科学哲学基础和知识的实践观;超越理论人本主义的主体间性原则;整体有机的世界观和动态演化的分析框架;对现代化范式、后殖民主义和西方中心主义的超越;超越人类中心主义的后现代生态主义.     

Looking for the Real Me: Locating the Self in Heritage Tourism

This paper considers the relationship between concepts of authenticity and the consumption of heritage attractions. Critiques of the heritage industry have often revolved around the idea that its visitors can only experience a false representation of history. Although valuable in many ways, such an approach does not explore the full complexity of these experiences. This paper seeks to develop an alternative theoretical framework to understand such visits by referring to discussions generated within those fields concerned with touristic experiences, identity and modernity. These argue that the nature of the authenticity at stake in these experiences is not one dimensional but must look to the concept of a subjective authenticity of self, as well as an authenticity that is judged according to objective realities. These concepts are explored in the context of exhibitionary forms and the meanings people invest in collective memories and cultural identities – that is, the strategies of interpretation and mechanisms of display used at heritage attractions.     

现代性拓殖与地方响应:少数民族盐业旅游社区的发展实践

全球化背景下,现代性以不可阻挡之势向边缘民族地区拓殖的同时,地方也不断作出响应,二者的互动塑造和影响着地方社会的深刻变迁。文章以西藏芒康县盐井地区为案例,运用深度访谈、观察等方法收集资料,分析现代性向边缘民族地区拓殖的路径、地方响应及其对地方社会的影响。研究发现:①现代性通过以机械化生产技术为代表的"硬现代性"和以旅游发展为代表的"软现代性"两条路径向边缘少数民族社区拓殖。②民族社区在这一过程中并非只是被动卷入,而是根据其现实需求、价值观念及地方知识的内在合理性等采取接受、调适、创造与抵制等多种应对策略。③现代性与地方的多元互动引发了传统与现代的边界重塑,地方社会中人地关系的疏离、回归与转变,以及社会关系与交往逻辑的打破与重构。文章关注现代性对少数民族旅游社区发展实践的具体影响,是对现代性理论的综合性微观实证探索,有助于加深对现代性与地方的互动关系以及旅游社会影响的再认识。