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      T(w)alking responsibility: A case of CSR performativity during the COVID‐19 pandemic

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          Abstract

          This paper centers on a case study of CSR performativity during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In the extant CSR literature, CSR performativity has focused on “walking the talk” and/or “talking the walk,” wherein narrative and action around CSR are typically treated as two different things with their relationships questioned. We focus on what has been called “t(w)alking” wherein speech is understood to be performative and wherein speech acts and CSR are merged, becoming one and the same thing. Performativity then entails what is (and what is not) said, whereby CSR involves taking responsibility for speech and/or silences. Our thesis is that the COVID‐19 pandemic led to the “presenting” of CSR as performativity, in the presence of Levinas' Other, as noble (speech) acts. We examine what became of CSR performativity in a for‐profit medical services provider when the COVID‐19 pandemic turned fatal for its main client group: the infirm elderly. The performativity of the statement: “The elderly and their carers must be protected” turned out to be crucial and set the stage for the provider's emergency action. Following on insights derived from Nietzsche and Levinas, and more specifically from their views on the particularity of ethical action, we find that CSR morphed into ethical performativity in the case study at hand. Against the backdrop of the views of these thinkers, the research potential of the performativity of “t(w)alking” in future CSR studies emerges and is critically discussed.

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          Most cited references67

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          The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy

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            The Drivers of Greenwashing

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              PERFORMATIVE AGENCY

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                h.letiche@uvh.nl
                Journal
                10.1111/(ISSN)2694-6424
                BEER
                Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility
                John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )
                2694-6416
                2694-6424
                23 August 2022
                23 August 2022
                : 10.1111/beer.12473
                Affiliations
                [ 1 ] Institut Mines: Telecom Business School, LITEM (Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologies, Economie & Management) Evry France
                [ 2 ] Department of Accounting Auditing & Control Nyenrode the Business University Breukelen Netherlands
                Author notes
                [*] [* ] Correspondence

                Hugo Letiche, Institut Mines‐Telecom Business School, Evry, Paris, France.

                Email: h.letiche@ 123456uvh.nl

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5866-8826
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9584-0445
                Article
                BEER12473 BEER-2021-Sep-0382.R4
                10.1111/beer.12473
                9539056
                5fbf123e-4d72-4415-90cc-9eec5e90bdb6
                © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

                This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency.

                History
                : 01 July 2022
                : 12 September 2021
                : 22 July 2022
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 1, Pages: 13, Words: 12155
                Categories
                Special Issue
                Special Issue
                Custom metadata
                2.0
                corrected-proof
                Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:6.2.0 mode:remove_FC converted:07.10.2022

                covid‐19,csr,herd mentality,nursing homes,performativity,t(w)alking

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