Workshop "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Japan"

December 14, 2006 - at the JDZB Berlin (Prof. Dr. Verena Blechinger-Talcott)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goes well beyond corporate governance and corporate citizenship. Indeed, even for many corporations the scope of CSR can be hard to conceive.

Corporations in the United States and Britain, but also in Continental Europe and East Asia are engaged in the development and implementation of CSR policies. In contrast to traditional philanthropic activities or cooperation with local communities in the context of corporate citizenship, CSR instruments integrate the core economic activities of firms with environmental and social standards. Thus, firms strive to demonstrate their commitment to make sustainable contributions to society and to raise trust in corporate activities no longer just on the side of consumers.

Against this background the Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB) and the Institute of East Asian Affairs at the Free University Berlin organized a symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – Perspectives on Japan and Germany on Thursday, December 14, 2006 at the JDZB Saargemuender Str. 2, 14195 Berlin.

This symposium intended to analyse and discuss CSR policies developed and implemented by German and Japanese firms, and aims at providing an overview of CSR concepts and practices in both countries and to compare German and Japanese CSR activities to those of Anglo-American corporations.

"Managing the American Medusa: The U.S.-Japan Relationship in Comparative Perspective"

The four co-organizers for this project are

- Chris Hughes of the Centre for Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick, U.K.

-  Verena Blechinger of the Institute of East Asian Studies and Japanese Studies, Free University, Berlin, Germany

- Ellis S. Krauss of the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, USA and

- Susumu Takahashi, University of Tōkyō, Japan.

There will be three conferences:

- Foreign economical relationships.: Warwick, U.K., March 2006
- Security policy: Sapporo, Japan, September 2006
- Global Governance: Berlin, Germany, appr. 2007