Corporations and Citizenship in New Institutions of Global Governance

Corporate citizenship is typically considered as synonymous with CSR. In contrast, this chapter uses the term 'corporate citizenship' to examine the changing roles of corporations as active participants in emerging forms of (global) governance. The ways in which wider society is being governed is broadly theorized and the different ways in which 'citizenship' can be applied to corporations is empirically examined. In doing so, this analsysis identifies how many corporations enter the political realm in one of three-seemingly contradictory-relationships between corporations and citizenship: corporations as if they were citizens; corporations as governments in relation to human citizenship; or corporations as arenas in which humans can play out their citizenship. In this analysis, corporations are fully engaged in and are even transformative in and of political arenas; yet, the role of corporations in shaping, enacting, and transforming citizenship status, entitlement, and participation is very rarely recognized.