Book contents
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- 37 Disclosure Regulation and Sustainability
- 38 Sustainability Reporting in Africa
- 39 Global Supply Chains and Sustainability
- 40 Aligning Social Investing with Nature’s Timescales
- 41 Shareholder Stewardship
- 42 Green Bonds and Beyond
- 43 Conflicts and Coalitions
- 44 Gender as a Catalyst for Corporate Reform
- 45 Amenable Controls
- 46 Social Enterprise Law
- 47 Certifying ‘Good’ Companies
- 48 The Cooperative as a Platform for Sustainable Business Operations
- 49 Realising the Potential of the Board for Corporate Sustainability
- Conclusion
- Index
44 - Gender as a Catalyst for Corporate Reform
from Part IV - Potential Drivers for Change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2019
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- 37 Disclosure Regulation and Sustainability
- 38 Sustainability Reporting in Africa
- 39 Global Supply Chains and Sustainability
- 40 Aligning Social Investing with Nature’s Timescales
- 41 Shareholder Stewardship
- 42 Green Bonds and Beyond
- 43 Conflicts and Coalitions
- 44 Gender as a Catalyst for Corporate Reform
- 45 Amenable Controls
- 46 Social Enterprise Law
- 47 Certifying ‘Good’ Companies
- 48 The Cooperative as a Platform for Sustainable Business Operations
- 49 Realising the Potential of the Board for Corporate Sustainability
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
Women have become increasingly central to initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable development and changing corporate practice. Global gender empowerment projects have allowed corporations to expand into new markets, while increasing the number of female leaders is thought to bring business advantages. These initiatives reveal a preoccupation with offering women more opportunities to participate in shareholder-centric corporate life but fail to address the real reason for women’s exclusion and subordination within companies: deep-seated structural barriers and biases. This Chapter explores how gender might be a catalyst for change towards sustainability. It suggests three reforms: changing conceptions of the ideal corporate worker to recognise companies’ dependence on unpaid caring labour; recognising how the process of globalisation is creating fresh patterns of inequality; and replacing the social norm of shareholder primacy with a corporate purpose based around principles of proportionality that may act in pursuit of strong sustainability.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019