RELATIONAL DYNAMICS BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND MULTINATIONAL FIRMS IN FRANCE

Abstract

Alternative social movements have emerged in France in recent decades that have obliged multi-national firms to defend certain activities linked to growing liberalisation and globalisation. These movements have built on the emerging CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) framework to develop new forms of relationships that put pressure on firms to behave in a way that meets their demands. Through reiterative processes of dialogue and confrontation, the two sets of protagonists have been engaging in different types of power plays that could end up leading to a situation where greater legitimacy is afforded to multinational firms. In conclusion, this paper questions the likelihood of the emergence of a form of co-regulation representative of a “new social deal”.