Governments and NGOs vis-à-vis Corporate Social Responsibility

Myriam Cardozo Brum

Two decades ago, it was still hoped that social problems could be resolved through, almost exclusively, government actions. Subsequently, the government's social role was reduced, whilst non-governmental organizations' (NGOs) role increased. In this way, the social field came to depend on its management by these two actors.

Nevertheless, a third actor must assume its inherent responsibility in social matters: the corporation. This work will briefly review the recent changes suffered by social policy, as well as the insertion of new concepts such as social capital. It will argue about the need for businesses to also contribute to avoid and solve social problems, it will review experiences that have been developed, it will analyze the situation in the case of Mexico and will present preliminary conclusions.