CPR & Civil Society: The Role of the Private Sector in Protecting Civic Space

Bennett Freeman

Video 1 of 3

On January 27, 2022, we spoke with Bennett Freeman, Author of The Role of the Private Sector in Protecting Civic Space, Senior Advisor to Business for Social Responsibility, and Former Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments.

As US midterm elections get started amidst polarization and foundational questions about civic institutions, businesses will be confronted with increasingly high stakes decisions related to engaging or not engaging in civic and political affairs. Over The past few years, they have faced new expectations to consider stakeholders and align influence strategies with their purpose and values, but urgent questions remain:

In this module, we explore:

• Can you describe the trend of what you call “civic space”? What indicators are you watching?
• Was there actually a broad-based consensus around the goal of a “healthy and open civil society” vs authoritarianism? What were the basic tenets?

The Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce (CPRT)’s Expert Dialogues are in-depth, recorded conversations with academic experts, stakeholder advocates and business practitioners to provide our members and other CPR champions with the expertise and context they need to develop principled, proactive CPR strategies. We invite those interested in a constructive, non-partisan, principles-based discussion.

This dialogue is designed for leaders in government affairs, diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainability, as well as academic experts and stakeholder advocates. We invite those interested in a constructive, non-partisan, principles-based discussion.

The full transcript for this module is available here. 

KEYWORDS: #CorporatePoliticalResponsibility #ESG #CPR_Responsibility #Injustice #Inequality #Inclusion