Kristian Høyer Toft

Liberal CSR and New Marxist Criticism

The term ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) is considered by the new Marxist left to be a self-defeating oxymoron. In this chapter, the new Marxist challenge to CSR as a meaningful, coherent concept and practice is discussed. In the wake of the financial crisis the critique from the Marxist-inspired left tends to replace the scepticism of the libertarian right (Friedman 1970). The legitimacy of business in society is at stake, and the critical left is well placed to debunk the integrity of business’s claim to social responsibility.