IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v197y2025i3d10.1007_s10551-024-05745-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global South States’ Views on Building Partnerships with Corporations: An Agonistic Struggle in the UN and Beyond

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Nilsson

    (Hanken School of Economics)

  • Martin Fougère

    (Hanken School of Economics)

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the global consensus on the UN’s partnership approach to businesses through an agonistic lens. In doing so, we seek to understand the positioning of states, particularly those in the Global South, towards the partnership approach. We draw on Mouffe’s conceptualisation of ‘the political’, in which the appearance of consensus is always an expression of hegemony accompanied by exclusion and dissensus. First, we show that the partnership approach was initially promoted by the Global North, in particular European states together with UN leadership, against fears and criticism raised by Global South states. Second, we show that Global South states have not fundamentally challenged the idea of engaging in partnerships with businesses, but they have questioned how these partnerships should be designed to shape a more equally beneficial global economy. With this article, we contribute to the literature on the UN and business ethics by identifying how the evolution of the consensus on business partnerships has been a hegemonic arrangement since the 2000s. Furthermore, we illustrate the role that states have had in forming this consensus. We also contribute to business ethics studies engaging with dissensus by problematising the potential of ‘agonistic deliberation’ at the UN level in supporting the interests of the Global South.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Nilsson & Martin Fougère, 2025. "Global South States’ Views on Building Partnerships with Corporations: An Agonistic Struggle in the UN and Beyond," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 445-463, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:197:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05745-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05745-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-024-05745-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-024-05745-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Utting & Ann Zammit, 2009. "United Nations-Business Partnerships: Good Intentions and Contradictory Agendas," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 39-56, May.
    2. Dawkins, Cedric, 2015. "Agonistic Pluralism and Stakeholder Engagement," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, January.
    3. Huw Thomas & Mark Anner, 2023. "Dissensus and Deadlock in the Evolution of Labour Governance: Global Supply Chains and the International Labour Organization (ILO)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 33-49, April.
    4. Dawkins, Cedric E., 2022. "Varieties of Deliberation: Framing Plurality in Political CSR," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(3), pages 374-403, July.
    5. David L. Levy & Daniel Egan, 2003. "A Neo‐Gramscian Approach to Corporate Political Strategy: Conflict and Accommodation in the Climate Change Negotiations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 803-829, June.
    6. Binder, Martin & Lockwood Payton, Autumn, 2022. "With Frenemies Like These: Rising Power Voting Behavior in the UN General Assembly," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 381-398, January.
    7. Voeten, Erik, 2000. "Clashes in the Assembly," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 185-215, April.
    8. Ananya Reed & Darryl Reed, 2009. "Partnerships for Development: Four Models of Business Involvement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 3-37, May.
    9. Cedric E. Dawkins, 2021. "An Agonistic Notion of Political CSR: Melding Activism and Deliberation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 5-19, April.
    10. Andreas Georg Scherer & Andreas Rasche & Guido Palazzo & André Spicer, 2016. "Managing for Political Corporate Social Responsibility: New Challenges and Directions for PCSR 2.0," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 273-298, May.
    11. Robert Couch & Caleb Bernacchio, 2020. "The Virtues of Equality and Dissensus: MacIntyre in a Dialogue with Rancière and Mouffe," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 633-642, July.
    12. Lucia Gatti & Babitha Vishwanath & Peter Seele & Bertil Cottier, 2019. "Are We Moving Beyond Voluntary CSR? Exploring Theoretical and Managerial Implications of Mandatory CSR Resulting from the New Indian Companies Act," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 961-972, December.
    13. Jon Burchell & Joanne Cook, 2013. "CSR, Co-optation and Resistance: The Emergence of New Agonistic Relations Between Business and Civil Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 741-754, July.
    14. S. Sethi & Donald Schepers, 2014. "United Nations Global Compact: The Promise–Performance Gap," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 193-208, June.
    15. Andreas Rasche & Sandra Waddock, 2014. "Global Sustainability Governance and the UN Global Compact: A Rejoinder to Critics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 209-216, June.
    16. Axel Dreher & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2012. "Do the IMF and the World Bank influence voting in the UN General Assembly?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 363-397, April.
    17. José Carlos Marques & Burkard Eberlein, 2021. "Grounding transnational business governance: A political‐strategic perspective on government responses in the Global South," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1209-1229, October.
    18. Brand, Teunis & Blok, Vincent & Verweij, Marcel, 2020. "Stakeholder Dialogue as Agonistic Deliberation: Exploring the Role of Conflict and Self-Interest in Business-NGO Interaction," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 3-30, January.
    19. Alexander Kentikelenis & Erik Voeten, 2021. "Legitimacy challenges to the liberal world order: Evidence from United Nations speeches, 1970–2018," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 721-754, October.
    20. Axel Dreher & Peter Nunnenkamp & Rainer Thiele, 2008. "Does US aid buy UN general assembly votes? A disaggregated analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 139-164, July.
    21. Carl Rhodes & Iain Munro & Torkild Thanem & Alison Pullen, 2020. "Dissensus! Radical Democracy and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 627-632, July.
    22. Glen Whelan, 2013. "Corporate Constructed and Dissent Enabling Public Spheres: Differentiating Dissensual from Consensual Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(4), pages 755-769, July.
    23. Martin Fougère & Nikodemus Solitander, 2020. "Dissent in Consensusland: An Agonistic Problematization of Multi-stakeholder Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 683-699, July.
    24. Michael A. Bailey & Erik Voeten, 2018. "A two-dimensional analysis of seventy years of United Nations voting," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 33-55, July.
    25. Sandra Moog & André Spicer & Steffen Böhm, 2015. "The Politics of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: The Crisis of the Forest Stewardship Council," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 469-493, May.
    26. Daniel Berliner & Aseem Prakash, 2014. "The United Nations Global Compact: An Institutionalist Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 217-223, June.
    27. Charles Barthold & Peter Bloom, 2020. "Denaturalizing the Environment: Dissensus and the Possibility of Radically Democratizing Discourses of Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 671-681, July.
    28. Oliver Williams, 2014. "The United Nations Global Compact: What Did It Promise?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 241-251, June.
    29. Judith Schrempf-Stirling, 2018. "State Power: Rethinking the Role of the State in Political Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 1-14, June.
    30. Rowe, James, 2005. "Corporate Social Responsibility as Business Strategy," Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper Series qt5dq43315, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa Cruz.
    31. Tana Johnson & Johannes Urpelainen, 2020. "The more things change, the more they stay the same: Developing countries’ unity at the nexus of trade and environmental policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 445-473, April.
    32. Tregidga, Helen & Milne, Markus J., 2022. "Not at our table: Stakeholder exclusion and ant/agonistic engagements," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Javier Lloveras & Mario Pansera & Adrian Smith, 2025. "On ‘the Politics of Repair Beyond Repair’: Radical Democracy and the Right to Repair Movement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(2), pages 325-344, January.
    2. Martin Fougère & Nikodemus Solitander, 2020. "Dissent in Consensusland: An Agonistic Problematization of Multi-stakeholder Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 683-699, July.
    3. Julia Grimm & Rebecca C. Ruehle & Juliane Reinecke, 2024. "Building Common Ground: How Facilitators Bridge Between Diverging Groups in Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 583-608, October.
    4. Stephanie Schrage & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2021. "Addressing Governance Gaps in Global Value Chains: Introducing a Systematic Typology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 657-672, May.
    5. Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee, 2022. "Decolonizing Deliberative Democracy: Perspectives from Below," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(2), pages 283-299, November.
    6. repec:osf:osfxxx:pu2yv_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Damian Bäumlisberger, 2019. "The United Nations Global Compact as a Facilitator of the Lockean Social Contract," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 187-200, September.
    8. Onyeka K. Osuji & Ugochukwu L. Obibuaku, 2016. "Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility: Competing or Complementary Approaches to Poverty Reduction and Socioeconomic Rights?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 329-347, June.
    9. Kristian Alm & Mark Brown, 2021. "John Rawls’ Concept of the Reasonable: A Study of Stakeholder Action and Reaction Between British Petroleum and the Victims of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 621-637, September.
    10. Anna-Lena Maier & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2023. "Deliberating with the Autocrats? A Case Study on the Limitations and Potential of Political CSR in a Non-Democratic Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 11-32, April.
    11. Huw Thomas & Mark Anner, 2023. "Dissensus and Deadlock in the Evolution of Labour Governance: Global Supply Chains and the International Labour Organization (ILO)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 33-49, April.
    12. Plouffe, Michael, 2024. "The Public and the Assembly: Foreign Public Opinion and Voting in the UNGA," OSF Preprints pu2yv, Center for Open Science.
    13. Marie Di Nardo & Franck Brulhart & Marion Vieu, 2025. "Assessing the relevance of the concept of political corporate social responsibility in management research," Post-Print halshs-04837335, HAL.
    14. Cedric E. Dawkins, 2021. "An Agonistic Notion of Political CSR: Melding Activism and Deliberation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 5-19, April.
    15. Christian Voegtlin & Nicola Pless, 2014. "Global Governance: CSR and the Role of the UN Global Compact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 179-191, June.
    16. Mosler, Martin & Potrafke, Niklas, 2020. "International political alignment during the Trump presidency: voting at the UN general assembly," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 481-497.
    17. Pisani, Niccolò & Kourula, Arno & Kolk, Ans & Meijer, Renske, 2017. "How global is international CSR research? Insights and recommendations from a systematic review," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 591-614.
    18. Pincin, Jared, 2012. "Foreign aid and political influence of the development assistance committee countries," MPRA Paper 39668, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Henning Vöpel & Harms Bandholz & Gabriel Felbermayr & Christoph Spengel & Jost Heckemeyer & Martin Mosler & Niklas Potrafke & Henrik Müller & Gabriel J. Felbermayr, 2020. "Die USA vor dem Wahlkampf: Die Spuren Donald Trumps in Wirtschaft und Politik," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 73(01), pages 03-29, January.
    20. Niklas Potrafke, 2009. "Does government ideology influence political alignment with the U.S.? An empirical analysis of voting in the UN General Assembly," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 245-268, September.
    21. Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya & Sumi Jha, 2020. "Explicating micro foundations of corporate social responsibility: a moderated-mediation study of customer, investor and employee roles," International Journal of Ethics and Systems, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(4), pages 619-640, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:197:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05745-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.