Corporate social responsibility in the fast fashion textile industry: genuine concern or mere simulation?

Abstract

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) despite being a topic that is booming due to the interest in being studied and applied by companies, the bases of this term are very old. Since ancient Greece and Rome, there were indications of principles such as charity and philanthropy to govern people's actions and do social good. Philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Freud, Sartre and theorists of economic and business sciences such as Pacioli, Smith, Nash, among others, are some of those who studied topics related to Corporate Social Responsibility in their time, for example, the possible improvements to sustain economic growth, the social conditions required for human life, human greed and its effects, etc. (Cancino & Morales, 2008).
But it was not until the 60s where, according to Martínez in (Duarte, 2015), the concept of Social Responsibility emerged
in the United States, due to the Vietnam War, Apartheid, among other conflicts that caused citizen movements where they began to demand changes in international trade and the involvement of companies in social problems. Since then, there are more and more movements and concern on the part of society that have caused companies to see the need to implement Social Responsibility strategies.