@article{article_1425231, title={Instrumental Use of Corporate Social Responsibility and Capitalist Activism}, journal={4. BOYUT Medya ve Kültürel Çalışmalar Dergisi}, pages={43–64}, year={2024}, DOI={10.26650/4boyut.2024.1425231}, author={Öztürk, E. Sahra}, keywords={analogy between social responsibility and helping, capitalist activism, CSR, CSR for symbiosis, instrumental use of CSR activities}, abstract={This study highlights how the concept of social responsibility has been transformed into corporate social responsibility (CSR), which has been detached from social responsibility both etymologically and epistemologically. The study also investigates how and in what ways organizations implement CSR, in which the concept of social responsibility has been transformed as an invention of instrumental reason, for their own purposes to ensure their sustainability within the capitalist system. The study has uncovered and identified these objectives and examines them under two headings in correlation with CSR: CSR for brand image and CSR for symbiosis. The study also brings a critical perspective to the concept of CSR within the framework of capitalist activism as a concept proposed for the first time here and constituting the study’s grounded theory, arguing society as also being instrumentalized for corporate purposes. In this direction, the study has a two-fold methodology: descriptive and grounded theory. This study uses the instrumental theory of CSR to conduct itself from the perspective of historical materialism. In this context, the study is expected to contribute to the critical political economy approach and the disciplines of public relations and business administration regarding CSR.}, number={24}, publisher={Istanbul University}