RESEARCH ON CSR IN AFRICA: OVERVIEW OF EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Ramboarista et al. (2022) offer pluralist perspectives to the CSR decolonization project by urging researchers to adopt postcolonial and decolonial stances in order to produce groundbreaking knowledge. This article seeks to advance this critical project and analyze the scientific discourse on CSR in Africa, with the aim of characterizing the epistemological positions and formulate perspectives. The analytical approach is based on the identification of the conceptual, empirical, and methodological frameworks used in the researchers’ writings. Gond’s heuristic (2011) reveals that the study of CSR in Africa is predominantly functionalist, with African cultural values (where applicable) being exclusively treated as dependent or independent variables affecting CSR. Future work should: 1) develop CSR in informal VSEs, 2) highlight “grassroots decoloniality” approaches, and 3) capitalize on the insights offered by Ubuntu and Imihigo.