“Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Polycrisis”

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Polycrisis”

Journal: Journal of Business Research
Publisher: Elsevier
Submission deadline: 30 September 2026

Overview

The global landscape is increasingly defined by a "polycrisis"—a cluster of interrelated issues including climate change, biodiversity loss, social inequality, and socio-political polarization. This special issue critically examines the current state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research, arguing that existing frameworks are often ill-equipped to address these systemic, ongoing crises. The guest editors seek to "reset, redirect, and reframe" CSR literature, inviting research that moves beyond firm-centric models to prioritize society-centric and impact-oriented approaches capable of addressing the complex realities of the polycrisis.

Key Research Themes

• Polycrisis-Focused Research: Theorizing the role of business, government, and civil society in attending to interrelated crises. Papers should address how CSR communication influences the normalization or contestation of social and environmental crises.

• Society-Centric Perspectives: Accelerating research that centers the experiences of those most acutely affected by polycrisis, including subaltern voices, indigenous peoples, migrants, and marginalized communities.

• Impact-Oriented Scholarship: Inviting "engaged scholarship" that crosses disciplinary boundaries (e.g., sociology, geography, earth sciences) to propose real-world solutions. Studies should explore how to define and measure positive societal impact in the context of ongoing crises.

Submission Details

• Submission window: 01 September 2026 – 30 September 2026.

• Submission portal: https://www.editorialmanager.com/JOBR/default.aspx

• Article Type: Select “VSI: Polycrisis” from the dropdown menu during the submission process.

Guest Editors

• Sarah Glozer, University of Bath, UK (s.glozer@bath.ac.uk)

• Diletta Acuti, University of Bath, UK (da621@bath.ac.uk)

• Charles H. Cho, York University, Canada (ccho@schulich.yorku.ca)

• Mette Morsing, University of Oxford, UK (mette.morsing@smithschool.ox.ac.uk)

Why This Issue Matters

Standard CSR research is often criticized for being "de-radicalized" or disconnected from the lived realities of global crises. This issue seeks to rectify this by fostering a scholarly community dedicated to creating meaningful, actionable insights that move the field toward tackling the most pressing challenges of our time.

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