Serving up change? Corporate Social Responsibility as a Tool for Social Change: A case analysis of the UNESCO-WTA Tour partnership for global gender equality
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This research project critically questions the power relations inherent in the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a tool for international development. My case study focuses on the partnership between UNESCO and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which advocates for global gender equality. This discourse analysis seeks to expose the social inequities that may result from CSR by using the theoretical framework of Orientalism and the methodologies of postcolonial feminism and intersectionality. The results suggest that an outdated understanding of gender as the axis of discrimination hinders the attainment of gender equality. Furthermore, Girl Effect type initiatives that promote third-wave feminism are observed to reproduce social inequities through the perpetuation of global capitalism. Key recommendations include a reconceptualization of gender (equality) that accounts for the intersectionality of identities, holistic context specific solutions, and the use of socio-cultural analysis for CSR programming.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Courtney Szto
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2181339634