Multinationella företag som demokratifrämjare. Illustrerat av H&M:s CSR-arbete i Bangladesh

Sammanfattning: The main argument of the thesis is that multinational companies (MNCs) can promote democracy through corporate social responsibility (CSR). MNCs hold some prerequisites giving them the means to create positive changes. But they lack one important prerequisite: knowledge about local conditions. Therefore the best CSR result is reached through partnerships with local NGOs. H&M's CSR-work in Bangladesh, including a partnership with the Bangladeshi women's rights organisation Karmojibi Nari, serves as an illustrating case. It is argued that the CSR-work promotes democracy through strengthening the civil society, through indirectly implementing national laws concerning labour legislation and human rights and through raising awareness about rights and legislation among the workers. The CSR process changes the terms for both NGOs and MNCs. NGOs get access to the factory, which makes a partnership with the MNC attractive. The possibility to reach more people strengthens NGOs, but a political uniformity could be an undesired result. The CSR behaviour of the MNC can be understood through the logic of path dependency, which not always corresponds to a strictly economic logic. The Bangladeshi dependence on the textile industry limits the range of possible actions for the MNC.