The marketization of a social movement: Activists, shareholders and CSR disclosure

In this paper, we conceptualize shareholder activism demanding CSR transparency as an outcome of the marketization of a social movement. We argue that the infusion of profit-oriented motivations into the social justice ideals on which the original shareholder activism movement was founded has contributed to create a conceptualization of CSR as a risk to be managed. As marketized solutions to risk management privilege the provision of information, they contribute to explaining the emphasis placed by shareholders on transparency in their proposals. Drawing on a sample of U.S. firms over 2006–2012, our evidence suggests a marked increase in CSR disclosure for the sample firms targeted by transparency proposals. However, our analysis reveals that concerns over the CSR practices of the same firms worsen, suggesting that shareholder activism demanding CSR transparency does not inspire change in corporate activities beyond disclosure, at least in the short term. Our contribution to the accounting literature lies in conceptualizing how the emphasis placed on CSR disclosure contributes to ensconcing the social movement into a corporation-centric, market-driven approach, moving away from the initial ideals of social justice aiming to push corporations to act on societal concerns. Altogether, we expose how the accounting practice of CSR disclosure is complicit in the attrition of the initial ideals of shareholder activism on CSR.