In recent decades, an expanded notion of corporate responsibility has developed. Still grounded in the primary goal of generating profits, there is now a widespread expectation that businesses should benefit society in ways that transcend their economic contribution. This study explores the relationship between civil society and the private sector in shaping this change in expectations of corporate social responsibility.
Using an original dataset of 803 articles from thirteen major U.S. daily newspapers, I examine patterns in public discourse about business-targeted collective action spanning from 1980 to 2010. I conduct pooled time series analyses of the relationships between business-targeted collective action, the establishment and growth of corporate responsibility reporting, and the socioeconomic conditions in which these activities are embedded. My findings suggest business-targeted collective action rises in response to increasing corporate power and declines in response to the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility. These results contribute unique perspective to the social movements and business ethics scholarship by focusing on the social processes that underlie corporate social responsibility politics and policies.