Putting Corporate Responsibility in its Place

Geographers have made significant contributions to debates about corporate social responsibility (CSR) over the past two decades. Rather than focusing on what it means to be a responsible corporation and the attendant ranking and ratings schemes that pervade the CSR industry, geographers’ evaluations have extended beyond the firm, to CSR initiatives’ broader impacts on local economic development and political processes. This article explores four key themes in geography research on CSR: translation problems, standards dilution, access to markets and governance structures, and institutional embeddedness. I argue that geographers’ generally critical perspective and attention to local specificities provide important insights for the development of an appropriate division of labor among governments, markets, and civil society to address pressing social and environmental concerns. I conclude with an appeal to further broaden the analysis of CSR beyond single initiatives or campaigns and into spaces of negotiation and capacity‐building.