DIALECTICS IN CORPORATE DISCOURSE ON CSR IN INDIA.

This study aimed to generate greater understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as constructed in non-Euro-American contexts, by examining dialectics in corporate discourse on key themes and drivers of CSR in India. Qualitative in-depth conversations with business leaders and senior managers who define thought leadership in the space, selected from the Standard & Poor India ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Index, were the main method of data generation. Results, based on 19 interviews with participants from 16 companies revealed that participant understandings of key themes and drivers of CSR are riddled with multiple layers of dialectical complexities simultaneously negotiating the apparently contradictory notions of nation building and inclusive growth, paternalism and egalitarianism, and duty and consequences. The paper also proposes that the ancient Indian concept of dharma might be a probable theoretical framework within which duty and consequences, the dialectical drivers of CSR in India could be further understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]