Thank you for visiting the Camden Civil Rights Project page on Corporate Responsibility. Corporate responsibility, in its broadest sense, is based upon the premise that corporations have a civic obligation beyond generating profit for their shareholders. Such responsibilities include the duty to refrain from the exploitation of their employees, the environment or the resources of the communities they operate within, as well as, the positive duty to contribute to the socioeconomic well-being of the communities they depend on for their commercial activities. Our archives contain a variety of informative print, audio and video materials which highlight the debilitating impact that unchecked profit seeking behavior can have upon human rights, local economies and the environment. Our goal is to encourage a shift in corporate behavior towards greater social responsibility. Archived articles can be accessed by clicking on the links below. Please feel free to use the comment section below to recommend materials and resources you believe will aid in our mission of promoting greater corporate responsibility and accountability. 

 

Articles

The Great American Bubble Machine

by Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone Magazine)

 Why Corporations Fail to Do the Right Thing

by Christine Bader (The Atlantic)

Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility

by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer (Harvard Business Review)

Private Prisons: How US Corporations Make Money Out of Locking You Up

by Carl Takei (ACLU National Prison Project)

Corporations Spy on Non-Profits with Immunity

by Ralph Nader (Huffington Post)

Spooky Business: A New Report on Corporate Espionage Against Non-Profits

by Gary Ruskin (Center for Corporate Policy)

 

Videos

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Synopsis: What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? This video clip tries to give competent but also entertaining answers to this question. The video is part of series “in a little green bag” at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland.

© University of St.Gallen (HSG), Text by Prof. Thomas Beschorner

View the videos HERE

 

The Corporation (2004)

Synopsis: One hundred and fifty years ago, the Corporation was a relatively insignificant entity. Today, it is a vivid, dramatic and pervasive presence in all our lives. Like the Church, the Monarchy and the Communist Party in other times and places, the Corporation is today’s dominant institution. In this complex, exhaustive and highly entertaining documentary, Mark Achbar, co-director of the influential and inventive Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, teams up with co-director Jennifer Abbott and writer Joel Bakan to examine the far-reaching repercussions of the Corporation’s increasing preeminence. Based on Bakan’s book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, the film is a timely, critical inquiry that invites CEOs, whistle-blowers, brokers, gurus, spies, players, pawns and pundits on a graphic and engaging quest to reveal the Corporation’s inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. Corporation is a satisfyingly dense, thought-provoking rebuttal to some of capitalism’s central arguments.

View the videos HERE

 

The Century of the Self (2002)

Synopsis: Adam Curtis’ acclaimed four part BBC series examines how the introduction of Sigmund Freud’s theory of Psychoanalysis has come to shape American culture. The series advances the thesis that Freud’s views of the unconscious set the stage for corporations, and later politicians, to manipulate public behavior through appeals to our subconscious fears and desires. The series raises important ethical questions about whether the emotional manipulation of group behaviors is consistent with Democratic ideals.

View the videos HERE

 

Why We Fight (2006)

Synopsis:  Documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki’s in-depth look at how the United States has built the largest peace time military/corporate/industrial complex in the history of the World. The film received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and raises important moral and ethical questions about the underlying economic decisions which influence U.S. policymakers to lead the nation into war.

View the video HERE

 

Yes Men: Fix the World (2009)

Synopsis: Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are “The Yes Men” — two guys who combine political activism, performance art, and the love of a good prank in the name of demanding that corporations take social responsibility for their negative externalities. Yes Men: Fix the World follows the radical pranksters as they claim responsibility for a major environmental disaster in Bhopal on European television, demonstrate a new corporate rescue orb, “defend” corporate interests in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and publish a mock edition of The New York Times that declares the end of the war in Iraq.

View the video HERE

 

Inside Job (2010)

Synopsis: From Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson, comes “Inside Job,” the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, “Inside Job” traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Narrated by Matt Damon.

View the video HERE

 

Human Resources (2010)

Synopsis: Human Resources: Social Engineering in the 20th Century, explores the complex interaction between mechanical philosophy, behaviorism, and capitalism which seeks to modify human behavior to maximize modern production. The film discusses the broad societal effects of attempting to manipulate individual behavior which has led to adverse social effects such as heightened anxiety, neurosis, and social dysfunction contributing to increased cultural violence. The filmmaker’s propose that the solution to resolving much of our societal conflict is through allowing individuals greater participation in their economic outcomes through employee ownership and workplace democracy. The heightened perception of fairness and equity results in increased creativity, collaboration and heightened personal fulfillment, leading to a less aggressive and higher functioning society.

View the video HERE

 

Noam Chomsky: Corporate Assault on Public Education (2012)

Synopsis: Noam Chomsky delivered his lecture on the goals of Public Education on March 16, 2012, at St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, NY. Chomsky discusses the longstanding tradition of utilizing public education as a means of breeding civic passivity and conformity, while discouraging free and independent thought. Chomsky sets forth the premise that the ruling class utilizes public education to naturalize individuals into the established corporate ethos and to dissuade them from challenging the dominant ideology and economic structure. Chomsky cuts through the political rhetoric with a detailed historical analysis of the Western practice of using social institutions to indoctrinate the young.

View the video HERE

 

Brooke Deterline: Creating Ethical Cultures in Business (2012)

Synopsis: As Corporate Director for the Heroic Imagination Project (HIP), Brooke helps boards, executives, and teams at all levels develop the skills to act with courage and ingenuity in the face of challenging situations. This fosters leadership credibility and candor, builds trust, engagement and reduces risk.

View the video HERE

 

The Yes Men: How to Become a Yes Man (2014)

Synopsis: The Yes Men have been called “the Jonathan Swift of the Jackass generation” by author Naomi Klein. The Yes Men have impersonated the World Trade Organization, Dow Chemical Corporation, and Bush administration spokespersons on television and at business conferences around the world. They do this (a) in order to demonstrate some of the mechanisms that keep bad people and ideas in power, and (b) because it’s absurdly fun. Their main goal is to focus attention on the dangers of economic policies that place the rights of capital before the needs of people and the environment.

View the video HERE

 

Lawrence Lessig: Our Democracy No Longer Represents the People. Here’s How We Fix It (2015)

Synopsis: Harvard Law Professor, Lawrence Lessig, makes the case that our democracy has become corrupt with money, leading to the concerns of ordinary Americans being ignored. Leesig argues that only 0.02% of the United States population actually determines who’s in power and introduces a study conducted by Princeton researchers which suggests that public opinion no longer has any quantifiable influence on public policy. Lessig contends that this fundamental breakdown of the democratic system must be fixed before we will ever be able to address major challenges like racial inequality, economic disparity and climate change.

View the video HERE