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GREENWASHING

 A Greener Potemkin Village? Corporate Social Responsibility and te !imits o" 

Gro#tSimon Enoch*

In the wake of corporate scandals such as Enron, WorldCom, andTyco, along with environmental incidents like Shell’s Brent Spar and thedestruction of the goni people’s land in !igeria, as well as revelations ofsweatshop a"uses "y ma#or footwear and apparel manufacturers such as!ike and The $ap, pu"lic trust in corporations has plummeted to recordlows% &ecent opinion polls of the 'merican pu"lic have found that chief

e(ecutive o)icers of large corporations rank second to last intrustworthiness, "eating out only car dealers%* nly + percent of 'mericanspolled "elieve "usiness strikes a fair "alance "etween pro-t and the pu"licinterest, down from a high of ./ percent thirty years ago%+ 0This is achallenging time for "ig corporations,0 notes 1ohn 2% 3ofmeister, who runsthe 4nited States operations of Shell il Company% The modern feeling, hesaid, is 0"ig is "ad%05 It is no surprise then that the "usiness press hasover6owed with possi"le curatives to restore pu"lic con-dence in "ig"usiness% The most proli-c of these suggestions is the notion of CorporateSocial &esponsi"ility 7CS&8, which entails the adoption of sociallyresponsi"le "usiness practices in areas such as human rights, la"or

standards and the environment% Indeed, the "usiness world has witnessed a virtual e(plosion of CS& inspired literature in the past -ve years%9 Theprevalence and the intensity with which the notion of CS& has "een takenup "y the "usiness community has caused some commentators to declarethat CS& is developing into a form of social movement activism in its ownright, al"eit on the :part of the economically powerful%;<

* The author would like to thank Stefan =ipfer, >iette $il"ert and the participants ofthe +//< International ?olitical Economy and Ecology Summer School at @ork4niversity, all of whom indirectly contri"uted to the ideas in this paper%1  Stevenson Swanson, :>ack of Trust in Business >ingers,; Chicago Tribune, 'pril*A, +//5%2

  ?at 'rgenti, Corporate Communication 7!ew @ork c$raw 3illDIrwin, +//58, pp%59%3 Claudia 2eutsch, :!ew Surveys Show That Big Business 3as a ?%&% ?ro"lem, The

 New York Times, 2ecem"er F, +//<%4  1ames 3amilton, :edia Coverage of Corporate Social &esponsi"ility,; The 1oanShorenstein Center on ?ress, ?olitics and ?u"lic ?olicy Working ?aper Series, +//5,p% A%5  $raham =night G 1osh $reen"erg, :Events, Issues, and Social &esponsi"ility TheShifting Terrain of Corporate ?&,; paper presented at $lo"al edia Conference, Spokane,W', 1uly +//+, p% 9%

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 While CS& has inspired a mountain of commentary, "oth pro and con,

the phenomenon has scarcely "een studied% 'nd what studies have "eendone fail to ask whether CS& is actually compati"le with today’s glo"alcapitalism% ost of the theories and criticisms view CS& as something that

either has "een adopted, or could "e adopted "y corporations if they actedin good faith%A Hery few seem to uestion the a"ility of CS& to accomplish itsstated claims even if optimally implemented% Ironically, only the most vociferous :freemarketeers; of the ilton Jriedman variety entertain thepossi"ility that CS& may "e fundamentally incompati"le with the capitalistsystem of production%. Indeed, many commentators on CS& view itseventual adoption as a simple matter of appealing to the ethics of corporatemanagement% :It is as if,; writes 1ohn &o"erts, :the in#uries of the past werethe simple product of a misunderstanding, which is easily remedied oncemanagers have seen the light%; To view the adoption of CS& as anindividual management choice is to lose sight of the system in which it is

meant to operate% To use an e(treme analogy o)ered "y ar#orie =elly, :It’slike talking ethics to an S%S% o)icer in Weimer KsicL $ermany, while ignoringthe system in which he must function%;F 

In this paper I challenge the notion of CS& from a critical leftperspective, drawing on a "ody of argument put forward from anecosocialist standpoint% By focusing on the rationale of CS& to ameliorateecological degradation, 7an integral claim of CS&8, I argue that CS&,irrespective of its implementation, cannot hope to overcome the inherentcontradictions within the capitalist system of production% oreover, CS&can "e viewed as an :ideological -(; that attempts to overcome what 1ames

’Connor has called the :second contradiction of capitalism%; It does so "ypreempting democratic pressures for environmental regulation andinculcating an individualiMed form of what ichael $oldman calls :greenneoli"eralism; within the general pu"lic%*/

I -rst illustrate the ina"ility of CS& to address the fundamental

6 Jor a crosssection of these di)ering viewpoints see Tom Bateman, :Thinking '"outCorporate Social &esponsi"ility,; Integra Hentures, 'pril +//5, availa"le online athttpDDwww%iintegra%infotech%sk N Eveline >u""ers, 7ed%8, Battling Big Business: CounteringGreenwash, n!ltration and "ther #orms o$ Corporate Bull%ing 7onroe, E Common

Courage ?ress, +//+8N and 1em Bendell, 7ed%8, Terms $or Endearment: Business, NG"s andSustainable &e'elopment 7She)ield, 4%= $reenleaf ?u"lishing, +///8%7 Jor an e(ample, see Steven 3ayward, :The !ew Corporate Balance Sheet Black, &ed and$reen,; (E En'ironmental "utlook, 'merican Enterprise Institute, cto"er +//+%8  1ohn &o"erts, :The anufacture of Corporate Social &esponsi"ility ConstructingCorporate Sensi"ility,; "rgani)ation, Hol% */, !o% +, +//5, p% +</%9  ar#orie =elly, :Building Economic 2emocracy,; Business Ethics, 'ugust *<, +//+%10 ichael $oldman, :The World Bank and the aking of $reen !eoli"eralism,; paperpresented at the Capitalism Nature Socialism 'nniversary Conference, @ork 4niversity,Toronto, 1uly +5, +//<%

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contradictions within capitalism that drive ecological degradation% !e(t, Iaddress the economic and political dynamics that have allowed CS& to"ecome the preferred corporate legitimation strategy in a glo"aliMedeconomy, and how in reality, CS& serves as a means to paper over the:second contradiction of capitalism%; I conclude "y e(amining the potential

this :ideological -(; has to preclude a collective ecological outlook withinthe general pu"lic%

The World Business Council for Sustaina"le 2evelopment 7WBCS28,the foremost industry association promoting CS&, de-nes Corporate Social&esponsi"ility as follows

 We de-ne CS& as :"usiness; commitment to contri"ute to sustaina"leeconomic development, working with employees, their families, the localcommunity, and society at large to improve their uality of life% We areconvinced that a coherent CS& strategy, "ased on integrity, sound values, anda long term approach o)ers clear "usiness "ene-ts to companies and

contri"utes to the well"eing of societyOIndeed, so central is the CS& issuethat it has moved "eyond the stage of "eing a WBCS2 pro#ect and is now aCrossCutting Theme% Today, the WBCS2’s vision statement calls for;promoting the role of ecoe)iciency, innovation, and corporate socialresponsi"ility toward sustaina"le development%;**

Speci-cally, CS& attempts to induce corporations to recogniMe thattheir operations impose costs on society that are not normally factored into"usiness calculations% CS& attempts to recogniMe these :negativee(ternalities; of corporate operations and incorporate their impact oncommunities into -rm decisionmaking%*+ Jor e(ample, through CS&,corporations would come to recogniMe the environmental impact of theiroperations, such as pollution releases andDor resource depletion, andattempt to diminish or eliminate the negative e)ects this might have on acommunity% Beyond the negative impact that corporations have on acommunity, CS& also emphasiMes the :positive e(ternalities; that can resultfrom corporate operations% CS& attempts to stress the possi"le positivespillovers that corporations can produce, such as increases in education,health outcomes, and community development, and there"y lead -rms tointentionally produce more of these positive outcomes%*5 Thus a corporationmight "uild health clinics, provide educational materials, or assist in watertreatment in the communities in which they operate% >astly, CS&

emphasiMes positive relationships "etween corporations and theirstakeholders% Stakeholders are de-ned as :any group or individual who cana)ect or is a)ected "y the achievement of an organiMation’s purpose%;*9 These can include indigenous peoples, community groups, trade unions,

11  WBCS2 Corporate &esponsi"ility verview, online at httpDDwww%w"csd%ch%12  3amilton, +//5, op cit%, p% 5%13  bid, p% 5%14  1em Bendell, :Working with Stakeholder ?ressure for Sustaina"le 2evelopment,; in 1emBendell, +///, op cit%, p% *A%

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development agencies, or nongovernmental organiMationsPessentially, anyindividual or group that has a :stake; in the operations of the corporation%The goal is to "uild a sense of :shared values; with key stakeholders inorder to gain credi"ility and legitimacy for corporate operations in localcommunities, and indeed, in the eyes of the wider pu"lic% Conseuently,

CS& attempts to transcend the predominant focus on shareholder value toinclude "roader sections of society that are a)ected "y a corporation’sactions% CS& holds that corporations need to "e #udged on how theyrespond to their wider responsi"ilities to the environment, localcommunities and to society as a whole, and not merely on economicperformance% 

The speci-c strategies deployed as CS& initiatives to counterecological degradation include measures such as full cost pricing, energye)iciency, depletion allowances, emission credits, green consumerism, andother sustaina"le development strategies% We need not take up each of

these individually to challenge the logic and e)icacy of CS& to forestallecological crisis% We need only ask the uestion at a more a"stract level,whether, as stated a"ove, corporations can successfully internaliMe thenegative e)ects of their practices within a system premised on pro-tma(imiMation, and what conseuences such a system would entail%

 's ?aul Ekins has written, environmental :goods; 7i%e%, clean air, purewater8, which at a lower level of economic activity were e)ectively :free,;would, through the internaliMation of negative e(ternalities, come to have aneconomic cost, thus resulting in increasing in6ationary pressure, especiallyas these resources "ecome more and more scarce%*< This would in e)ect

drive up the costs of production, putting greater strain on pro-ts%oreover, even if it were possi"le to pass these e(panded costs on toconsumers, this would invaria"ly :price; greater num"ers of consumers outof the market for these :environmental goods,; 7water privatiMation inBolivia is a contemporary manifestation of this8, which are also, materially,:the means of life, means of survival; for the rest of us%*A Such initiatives,deemed to protect the natural commons for us all, would in reality have thee)ect of e(cluding greater num"ers of people from the necessary means ofsurvival%

 1ohn Bellamy Joster demolishes even the "leak notion that such a

system could still work and "e pro-ta"le "y relying on an ever shrinking

15 ?aul Ekins, cited in 'ndrew 2o"son, Green +olitical Thought, 5rd edition 7>ondon&outledge, +//*8, p% .<%16 artin ’Connor deems this the :ecological phase of capitalism,; where nature isrendered internal to capital and su"ordinated to :the rational calculus of production ande(change%; See artin ’Connor, :n the isadventures of Capitalist !ature,; in artin’Connor 7ed%8, s Capitalism Sustainable +olitical Econom% and the +olitics o$ Ecolog%  7!ew @ork $uilford ?ress, *FF98, pp% *+A*5*%

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pool of aQuent consumers while internaliMing negative e(ternalities% 'sJoster argues

The di)iculty of internaliMing all e(ternal costs "ecomes o"vious when oneconsiders what it would take to internaliMe the costs to society and the planetof the automo"ilepetroleum comple( alone, which is degrading our cities,the planetary atmosphere, and human life itself% Indeed, as the greatecological economist =% William =app once remarked, :Capitalism must "eregarded as an economy of unpaid costs%; The full internaliMation of socialand environmental costs within the structure of the private market isunthinka"le%*.

Indeed, even if one could internaliMe all the potential environmentalcosts and still make a pro-t, this would not alter capitalism’s ecologicaldestructiveness 7though it may postpone it8% This is "ecause capitalismreuires never ending growth to survive, that it must :accumulate or die,;in ar(’s words%* 's 1ames ’Connor notes, :a capitalist economy "ased on

what ar( called :simple reproduction; and what many greens call:maintenance; is a 6at impossi"ility%;*F Thus even with CS&inspiredcountermeasures in place to ameliorate the worst ecological e(cesses ofcapitalist production, the incessant need for e(pansion must eventuallycollide with the natural :limits to growth; imposed upon us "y "oth the-nite nature of resources 7taps8 and the a"ility of ecosystems to a"sor" theresulting waste 7sinks8%+/ The notion that there e(ist prescri"ed limits toeconomic growth remains contested in certain -elds of inuiry% 3owever,this argument is typically premised on the "elief that some future :nearperfect su"stitution; of technology for nature will come to the rescue%+* 

While it is impossi"le to accurately predict potential futuredevelopments, computer models designed "y the Clu" of &ome to calculatethe impact of human production on the environment predicted a reaching of the limits of growth e'en with a dou"ling of e(isting resources and a seriesof technological strategies to reduce the level of pollution to oneuarter ofits pre*F./ level factored into the calculation%++ The researchers concluded

17  1ohn Bellamy Joster, Ecolog% (gainst Capitalism% 7!ew @ork onthly &eview ?ress,+//+8, p% 5.%18  bid, p% /%19 1ames ’Connor, :Is Sustaina"le Capitalism ?ossi"leR; in artin ’Connor, *FF9, op cit,p% *<5%20

 Those who would seek assurance in recycling as a panacea would "e wise toconsider 3erman 2aly’s argument that for those products that can "e recycled, theprocess not only uses up irreplacea"le energy, "ut that recycling can also never "e*// percent complete% Some fraction will always escape the process% See To"ySmith, The -%th o$ Green -arketing: Tending our Goats at the Edge o$ (pocal%pse 7Toronto 4niversity of Toronto ?ress, *FF8, pp% ...%21 William E% &ees, :'n Ecological Economics ?erspective on Sustaina"ility and?rospects for Ending ?overty, +opulation and En'ironment, Hol% +9, !o% *,Septem"er +//+, p% *.%22 2% eadows, et al, Be%ond the .imits: Global Collapse or a Sustainable #uture 

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that

The application of technological solutions alone has prolonged the period ofpopulation and industrial growth, "ut it has not removed the ultimate limitsto that growthOThis is a society that is using its increased technical capacityto maintain growth, while the growth eventually undermines the e)ects of

these technologies%+5

oreover, as 1oel =ovel notes, technological innovation under capitalismhas "een the sine /ua non of growth, "ecause it :cheapens the cost of la"or,indispensa"le to surplus value e(tractionN the more technology, roughlyspeaking, the more growth under a capitalist regime%;+9 Thus those:technological -(es; designed to ameliorate the environmentaldestructiveness of capitalism ultimately provide the impetus for furthergrowth, and therefore further destruction%

This uestion of growth is central to understanding how CS&inspired

reforms cannot resolve the contradictions within capitalism, "ecause theydo not fundamentally alter the social organiMation of production thatreuires growth to survive% 's Elmar 'ltvater notes, the :process ofcapitalist growth and spatial e(pansion has no inherent "orders%;+< 's =ovele(plains, capital represents that regime in which e(changevaluepredominates over usevalue in the production of commodities, and thepro"lem with capital is that, :once installed, this process "ecomes selfperpetuating and e(panding%;+A The reason for this is that e(changevaluerepresents a commodity’s :e(changea"ility,; an a"straction that can only "ee(pressed in uantitative terms, such as money% 4nlike its materialsu"strate, which is "ound "y the laws of nature, money can :e)ortlessly

e(pand,; creating :great pools of capital; that :provide the "enchmark forgrowth,; and as they gather, :press yet for further e(pansion%;+. 3ence,"ecause the accumulation of money is in principle in-nite, capital 7money inmotion8 can seek out more and more opportunities for investment andpro-t, there"y driving e(pansion, or what ’Connor calls :money in searchof more of itself%;+

oreover, this growth is e0ponential, in that the pressure forcapitalist growth "ecomes proportional to the total magnitude of the

7>ondon Earthscan, *FF+8, p% *A%23

 eadows, cited in 2o"son, +//*, op cit%, pp% A9A<%24 1oel =ovel, The Enem% o$ Nature: The End o$ Capitalism or the End o$ the 1orld  7>ondon ed Books, +//+8, p% *<.%25 Elmar 'ltvater, :Ecological and Economic odalities of Time and Space,; in’Connor, *FF9, op cit, p% %26 =ovel, +//+, op cit, p% 5F%27  bid%, p% 95%28 1ames ’Connor, :n Capitalist 'ccumulation and Economic and EcologicalCrisis,; in 1ames ’Connor, Natural Causes: Essa%s in Ecological -ar0ism 7!ew

 @ork $uilford ?ress, *FF8, p% */%

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accumulated capital pressing for discharge%+F This e(ponential nature ofgrowth is illustrated "y future pro#ections of industrial growth% The currentrate of growth in industrial production, if e(trapolated into the future,would witness a dou"ling in the siMe of industry every +< years, that is, asi(teenfold growth every century, and e(pansion "y +</ times in the ne(t

two centuries%5/ $iven that the tendency of current production is to e(pandthe throughput of raw materials and energy in order to realiMe pro-ts, theresult can only "e a rapid depletion of energy sources and other naturalresources with higher amounts of waste% This puts strains on "oth theplanetary :taps; and :sinks%; If this is the case, then Joster argues thatN

KILt is unlikely therefore that the world could sustain many more dou"lings ofindustrial output under the present system without e(periencing a completeecological catastrophe% Indeed we are already overshooting certain criticalecological thresholds%5*

It follows, then, that all CS&inspired initiatives can hope to achieve isthe postponement of ecological collapse, as long as we continue to adhereto an economic system premised on growth, something no advocate of CS&has yet to uestion% @et even CS& apostle, ?aul 3awken, recogniMes thenegligi"le e)ect current environmentally inspired "usiness practices willhave, noting thatN

KEvenL if every company on the planet were to adopt the "est environmentalpractices of the :leading; companiesPsay, Ben G 1erry’s, ?atagonia, or 5Pthe world would still "e moving toward sure KenvironmentalL degradation andcollapse%5+

While 3awken still "elieves in the reforma"ility of capitalism, it is, toparaphrase =ovel, the imperative of growth that is the main culprit in thedestruction of the environment, and unless we deal with this reality, anyhope of reversing ecological degradation will "e fruitless% 's 'riel Sallehargues, Kcapitalism’sL operational imperatives "ear no relation to humanneedsN its e(ponential :growth; tra#ectory kills o) its own future options asit goes%;55 Thus, e(pansionism and sustaina"ility are contradictoryo"#ectives that cannot "e realiMed under a capitalist system of production%

If these goals are entirely contradictory under the capitalist system ofproduction, we might ask what the ultimate purpose of the CS& movement

is, given that it is premised on the maintenance of the current system of29 =ovel, +//+, op cit, p% 95%30 Bellamy Joster, +//+, op cit, p% 9<%31  bid, p% 9A%32 1ohn Stau"er G Sheldon &ampton, To0ic Sludge is Good #or You2 .ies, &amn .iesand the +ublic 3elations ndustr% 7onroe, E Common Courage ?ress, *FF<8, p%.<%33 'riel Salleh, :!ature, Woman, >a"or, Capital >iving the 2eepest Contradictions,;in ’Connor 7ed%8, *FF9, op cit, p% *+/%

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pro-t ma(imiMation and capitalist relations of production% It is mycontention that CS& is ultimately a legitimation tactic designed to preventthe pu"lic from full recognition of the ecological dangers we face, anawakening that would lead to calls for more "inding regulations andconstraints on corporate power% In this regard CS&, despite its progressive

windowdressing, can "e considered an essentially conser'ati'e phenomenon seeking to maintain the status uo while placating pu"lic fearsa"out the state of the ecological crisis%

Before elucidating this claim, we need to outline the economic andpolitical drivers that have facilitated the rise of CS& as the preferredlegitimation strategy for corporate capital in the present con#uncture%

 4nder the regime of glo"aliMation with its reduction or elimination oftari)s and nontari) "arriers, coupled with the power of multilateral tradeagreements, governments are increasingly reticent to impose costs on

multinational corporations through ta(ation or stringent regulatoryframeworks for fear of discouraging investment%59 This has resulted in thewithdrawal of the state from key areas of responsi"ility, such as socialwelfare provisions and regulatory restrictionsN these have "een replacedwith privatiMation and deregulation% The result has "een, in Tom Bateman’sterm, a :pu"lic policy vacuum,; especially in the coordination of economicgrowth as capital "ecomes increasingly mo"ile, while national regulatorypowers are increasingly rela(ed%5< This :policy vacuum; has had a twofolde)ect% 

Jirst, it has diminished the legitimation function of the national state,

especially visvis its domestic corporations% 's Cheryl &odgers notes,:traditional forms of legitimation for corporate "ehavior have "een derivedfrom the state machineries of regulation, legislation and the government’srole as representative of pu"lic opinion%;5A 's the legitimation function ofthe state is diminished, pu"lic attention "ecomes increasingly -(ated on theresponsi"ility of the corporation itsel$  to address its societal impact% Ine)ect, corporations have lost their :legitimiMing intermediary; with theretreat of the nation state from areas of regulatory policy% Second,corporations have increasingly moved to -ll this policy vacuum through thecreation of codes of conduct and other forms of voluntary initiatives as asu"stitute for national or international regulation% These pro#ects run the

gamut of ethical "usiness concerns, from the environmental to la"orstandards% E(amples include the Chemical Industry &esponsi"le Care?rogram, the 'pparel Industry ?artnership, IS *9///, the Jorestry and

34  !oam Chomsky, 1orld "rders, "ld and New 7!ew @ork Colum"ia 4niversity?ress, *FFA8, pp% *A/*A+%35  Bateman, +//5, op cit, pp% <A%36  Cheryl &odgers, :aking it >egit !ew Ways of $enerating Corporate >egitimacyin a $lo"aliMing World,; in Bendell 7ed%8, +//+, op cit, p% 95%

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arine Stewardship Councils and the Ethical Trading Initiative%5. The siMeand the societal impact of these corporateled initiatives have compelledthem to assume an almost uasigovernmental function in the a"sence ofany stateled system of regulation%

 

3owever, corporations, as we have seen, no longer en#oy a highdegree of con-dence from the pu"lic at large% The setting of voluntarystandards and codes of conduct inevita"ly raises suspicions of selfserving"ehavior% Therefore, it is increasingly necessary for corporations tolegitimiMe the usurpation of responsi"ilities traditionally associated with thenation state% Without the legitimacy formerly provided "y governmentregulation, corporations are forced to seek legitimacy through e(trastateactors and agencies% The emphasis on stakeholder relationships in CS&allows corporations to generate the needed legitimacy for what Cutler, et al deem these new :regimes of private authority%;5 CS&, through strategicstakeholder partnerships, is seen as an e)icacious way of creating

legitimacy for "oth corporate activities in general and these new forms ofcorporateled regulation in particular%

 !$s play a particularly important role in this process% Simon adek

notes that !$s have "uilt a wealth of trust with the pu"lic "y pro#ecting asense of non-nancial purpose and a commitment to representing the "estinterests of the wider community%5F 'ccordingly, CS& seeks to "uildpartnerships "etween corporations and !$s as a way of gaining :lenttrust%; Essentially, CS& advocates the use of strategic partnerships with!$s as a way of transferring the legitimacy of the !$ onto thecorporation% Thus, a tim"er company in partnership with a welltrusted

environmental !$ would "e seen to "e less of a danger to thesustaina"ility of forests% Similarly, !$ participation in corporateledregulation, is seen to confer a legitimacy and an impartiality that simplycould not "e generated "y corporations alone%

  ' useful e(ample of how this :partnership; operates to legitimiMe

corporate operations can "e seen in the case of the World Wildlife Jund7WWJ8 and Chevron il% Chevron sought a partnership with the WWJ afterthe discovery of oil in the remote highlands of ?apua !ew $uinea% 'ndy&owell argues that due to the environmentally sensitive nature of therainforests in this area, Chevron negotiated a partnership with the WWJ to,

as descri"ed "y internal Chevron documents, :act as a "u)er for the Koil

37  Chris arsden, :The !ew Corporate CitiMenship of Big Business ?art of theSolution to Sustaina"ilityR; Business and Societ% 3e'iew, Hol% */<, !o% *, +///, p%*/%38  Clare Cutler, Hirginia 3au6er, and Tony ?orter, +ri'ate (uthorit% and

 nternational (4airs 7'l"any, !@ S4!@ ?ress, *FFF8, pp% 5<%39  Simon adek, The Ci'il Corporation: The New Econom% o$ Corporate Citi)enship 7>ondon Earthscan ?u"lishing, +//*8, p% 9.%

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pro#ectL against environmentally damaging activities in the region, andagainst international environmental criticism%;9/ This partnership, coupledwith an environmentally disastrous :ecoforestry; partnership with a tim"ercompany in the same area, has severely damaged the WWJ’s legitimacy asan independent entity within the !$ community%9* Whatever the WWJ’s

intentions, in the end, :they "asically legitimiMed a du"ious company at"est, to introduce an insidious industrial operation into what was awonderful wilderness%;9+

In this case, Chevron’s partnership with the WWJ acted as a :Tro#anhorse; in which the corporation used the legitimacy of an environmental!$ to gain access to ecologically sensitive areas, while presenting itself asa responsi"le steward of nature%95 's =ovel notes, :capital is more thanhappy to enlist the mainstream KenvironmentalL movement as a partner inthe management of nature%;

 'ccording to =ovel, environmental groups o)er capital athreefold convenience

 's legitimation, reminding the world that the system worksN as control overpopular dissent, a kind of sponge that sucks up and contains ecologicalan(iety in the general populationN and as rationaliMation, a useful governor tointroduce some control and protect the system from its own worsttendencies, while ensuring the orderly 6ow of pro-ts%99

In this sense we can view CS& as an :ideological -(; in a futile e)ortto overcome what 1ames ’Connor has termed the :second contradiction ofcapitalism%; 'ccording to ’Connor, capitalism’s second contradiction, or

:costside crisis; can originate in two ways% The -rst is when individualcapitals :defend or restore pro-ts "y strategies that degrade or fail tomaintain over time the material conditions of their own production,; as "yneglecting infrastructure, degrading soils, poisoning water "odies, etc%9< The secondPwhich concerns us herePis when social movements demandthat capital provide for the maintenance and restoration of the a"ovementioned conditions of lifeDproduction% 's ’Connor states

3ere we are talking a"out the potentially damaging economic e)ects tocapitalist interests of la"or movements, women’s movements, environmental

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  'ndy &owell, :The Spread of $reenwash,; in >u""ers, +//+, op cit, p% +5%41  bid%, p% +<%42  bid%, pp% +5+9%43 This is not to indict all corporations of the same malign intent as Chevron%3owever, given the irreconcila"ility of capitalism and sustaina"le development, thee)ect of these partnerships will "e to legitimate destructive corporate actions in theeyes of the pu"lic, irrespective of intentions of good faith on the part of theparticipants%44 =ovel, +//+, op cit, p% *<9%45 1% ’Connor, *FF9, op cit, p% *A+%

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movements, and ur"an movements% This pro"lem of :e(tra costs;Pand theirthreat to pro-ta"ilityPo"sesses mainstream economists and capitalistideologists%9A

Thus in order to forestall the potential for these movements to imposeincreased costs and restraints on corporate power, capital needs toconvince "oth governments and pu"lics that it is making a su)icientattempt to ameliorate the ecological destructiveness of its own operations%CS& there"y acts as a means to present a :green faUade; that, :concealsand reassures, while accelerated "reakdown takes place "ehind its walls%;9. Timothy >uke has argued that current initiatives to supposedly ameliorateecological destruction should "e more rightly deemed a system of:sustaina"le degradation,; as what is really "eing sustained is the a"ility ofcapital to continue with "usinessasusual%9

&alph 3amann and !icola 'cutt add that the discourse of CS&

operates to legitimiMe the status uo, reinforcing the perception of privatecorporations as given and immuta"le economic agents upon whoseenlightened selfinterest our well "eing depends%9F It accomplishes this "yputting the onus for social change on the transformation of attitudes ofindividuals in positions of power rather than on the fundamentaltransformation of the system of production% 4nder the logic of CS&,engagement "y the pu"lic in matters of ecological concern is unnecessaryNwe merely need to put our faith in the "ene-cence of corporate capital tosolve the pro"lem for us% In this regard, CS& acts as an individualiMingtactic% It encourages fatalism towards political action "y framingsu"stantive social change as the sole province of managers and other elites%

Concomitantly, CS& induces the pu"lic to channel political sentiment intoindividualiMed, yet ostensi"ly systemserving e)orts, such as :greenconsumption; and :ethical investing%; 's 1oel =ovel argues, this form ofenvironmental :voluntarism,; precludes collective action towards theecological crisisN it is rather an action taken towards an individualmanifestation of the crisis%</ Similarly, Ewa CharkiewicM argues that CS&em"odies a neoli"eral rationality in that it responds to demands foraddressing the social and environmental e)ects of capitalist productionthrough the individualiMed mechanism of the market, there"y reframing andreorganiMing social actors as :stakeholders; positioned within the corporate

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  bid%, p% *A+%47 =ovel, +//+, op cit, p% +9%48 Timothy >uke, :The System of Sustaina"le 2egradation,; paper presented at the Capitalism Nature Socialism 'nniversary Conference, @ork 4niversity, Toronto, 1uly+9, +//<%49 &alph 3amann and !icola 'cutt, :3ow Should Civil Society 7and the government8&espond to Corporate Social &esponsi"ilityR ' Critiue of Business otivations andthe ?otential for ?artnerships,; &e'elopment Southern ($rica, Hol% +/, !o% +, 1une+//5, p% +<F%50 =ovel, +//+%, *<9%

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or"it%<* We can view CS&, then, as inculcating a form of :greenneoli"eralism; within the populace "y encouraging voluntaristic,individualiMed strategies as a su)icient means to respond to ecological crisiswhile eschewing more collective and more radical means of politicalengagement%

To conclude, CS& can "e viewed as the maintenance of the hegemonicpro#ect of productivism through its uncritical faith in industry, technology,and science as the means of moving humanity towards a more a"undantuality of life% Indeed, the hegemony of productivism incorporates manycentral tenets of Western society that are now considered common senseeconomic theories of accumulation, primacy of individual property and theunlimited right to its disposal, "elief in progress and scienti-c rationality,etc% Su)ice it to say, there is uite a lot at stake in the maintenance of thisdiscourse as hegemonic, for to re#ect it would "e to re#ect ideas central toadvanced industrial capitalism, if not Western ontological and

epistemological assumptions altogether% 't the same time, evidencecontinually emerges to contradict the hegemonic "elief in phenomena suchas glo"al warming, to(icity of food, air and water, and deforestationN andalongside these manifestations of ecosytemic "reakdown arise thepredictions of generaliMed ecological crisis and the competing counterhegemonic claims of the environmental movements 

 's environmental insta"ility increases, :dystopian aspects ofproductivism and industrialism, previously marginaliMed or trivialiMed, nowthreaten to su"vert radically the scienceDtechnologyDrationalistic paradigmwe have lived with since at least the Enlightenment%;<+ CS& there"y acts as

what Ernesto >aclau calls a :hegemonic suture,; in that it repairs a rupture,or a vulnera"ility within the hegemony of productivism, "y o)ering solutionsthat continue to serve the system while pretending to o)er an alternative toit%<5 Jurthermore, "ecause CS& draws upon e(isting hegemonic "eliefs asthe solution, 7faith in science, development, and technocratic elites8 it canforeclose alternative "eliefs, such as entertaining a new economic system,as outside the realm of possi"ility% 3ence radical ecological critiue has to-ght +</ years of productivist discourse to even enter the imagination ofthe populace as a via"le alternative to capital as the means of organiMingsociety% CS& there"y placates pu"lic an(iety over the e(tent of theecological crisis "y o)ering solutions that do not fundamentally challenge

the capitalist mode of production% If the predictions of the ecological criticshold true, CS& is operating to preclude the impetus for revolutionarysystemic change at a time when it is of the utmost necessity%

51 Ewa CharkiewicM, :Corporations, the 4! and !eoli"eral Biopolitics,; &e'elopment, Hol% 9, !o% *, +//<%, p% /%52 Smith, *FF, op cit, p% A%53  bid%, p% A%

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