(Mis)representing the figure of the woman in corporate social responsibility (CSR): an analysis of gendered circumstances in Malaysian organisations

Abstract

Influential accounts of women’s empowerment and gender equality, originally developed in the Global North, increasingly regulate women’s behaviour in the Global South. Drawing specifically – but not exclusively – upon discussions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this dissertation demonstrates how the figure of the Malaysian woman must often internalise an account of oneself as both highly productive and intensely monitored. It is claimed that CSR normalises a narrow yet hegemonising idea of neoliberal feminism which assimilates the local context through a misrepresentation of the figure of the woman. I contend that Malaysian women must often negotiate impositions from the Global North while also navigating local cultural and political influences. Their failure to conform to either – often contradictory – set of demands leads to a silencing of their voices, a dismissal of their anxieties and an intensification of their responsibilities. Management thereby absolves itself of accountability. I develop my arguments by examining the case of a transnational corporate women's advocacy group, the 30% Club Malaysia, and through interviews with women working in the Malaysian corporate sector. The dissertation develops and applies a postcolonial feminist methodology of reading the power structures affecting women’s circumstances both up and otherwise. Specifically, the feminist solidarity model of Chandra Talpade Mohanty and the transnational literacy approach of Gayatri Spivak enable a complication of the normative discourse of neoliberal feminism. The dissertation indicates the extent to which the empowerment of women in Malaysia, and the achievement of gender equality within Malaysian organisations, often masks a pernicious agenda. I explicate how contemporary Malaysian organisations privilege a certain figuration of woman while deviants become excluded. This research suggests that organisational initiatives aimed at achieving gender equality and empowerment of women require taking into serious consideration the effect of Global North ideologies and power structures that are imposed onto transnational contexts.