Subpolitics and the Campaign against Barclays' Involvement in South Africa
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Subpolitics and the Campaign against Barclays' Involvement in South Africa. / Skovgaard, Jakob.
I: Moving the Social, Bind 54, 2016, s. 37-58.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Subpolitics and the Campaign against Barclays' Involvement in South Africa
AU - Skovgaard, Jakob
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - In this article I examine the context for the British bank Barclays’ decision to disinvest from South Africa in 1986, with special attention to the impact of the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s campaign against the bank. The 18-year long campaign against Barclays – the largest bank in South Africa at the time and the fourth largest foreign-owned corporation – points to significant developments within the fields of corporate social responsibility and the potential influence of social movements on multinational corporations. Applying the theoretical approach of subpolitics as developed by Ulrich Beck in combination with the later subdivision by Boris Holzer and Mads P. Sørensen into a passive and an active form, it is possible to analyse the decisions of both anti-apartheidactivists and Barclays on similar terms. The conclusions drawn in this articleemphasise the idea that economic decisions taken by multinational corporations may have unintended political consequences and, furthermore, that the awareness of this phenomenon has contributed to the development of corporate social responsibility. Finally, I suggest that the campaign against Barclays generated public attentiveness towards the social responsibility of businesses.
AB - In this article I examine the context for the British bank Barclays’ decision to disinvest from South Africa in 1986, with special attention to the impact of the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s campaign against the bank. The 18-year long campaign against Barclays – the largest bank in South Africa at the time and the fourth largest foreign-owned corporation – points to significant developments within the fields of corporate social responsibility and the potential influence of social movements on multinational corporations. Applying the theoretical approach of subpolitics as developed by Ulrich Beck in combination with the later subdivision by Boris Holzer and Mads P. Sørensen into a passive and an active form, it is possible to analyse the decisions of both anti-apartheidactivists and Barclays on similar terms. The conclusions drawn in this articleemphasise the idea that economic decisions taken by multinational corporations may have unintended political consequences and, furthermore, that the awareness of this phenomenon has contributed to the development of corporate social responsibility. Finally, I suggest that the campaign against Barclays generated public attentiveness towards the social responsibility of businesses.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - corporate social responsibility (CSR)
KW - new social movements
KW - anti-apartheid
KW - disinvestment
KW - subpolitics
KW - corporate social responsibility (CSR)
KW - new social movements
KW - anti-apartheid
KW - disinvestment
KW - subpolitics
U2 - 10.13154/mts.54.2015:37-58
DO - 10.13154/mts.54.2015:37-58
M3 - Journal article
VL - 54
SP - 37
EP - 58
JO - Moving the Social
JF - Moving the Social
SN - 2197-0386
ER -
ID: 173132411