The Tale of two Crises in the Time of Covid-19

We document the challenges faced by a sub-district called Phulbari in Bangladesh during Covid-19 lockdown. We do so using a series of 24 interviews with a wide range of individuals conducted during May 2020. What emerges is a picture of an under-resourced local administra- tion trying their best to cope with the situation. The local administration’s efforts have been complemented by efforts of the civil society. While social distancing policies have potentially helped prevent a Covid-19 outbreak, it has created an economic crisis in its wake. We suggest some specific policy proposals that can help alleviate the economic crisis without risking an outbreak

Toward a Theory of Marginalized Stakeholder-centric Entrepreneurship

The neglect of marginalized stakeholders is a colossal problem in both stakeholder and entrepreneurship streams of literature. To address this problem, we offer a theory of marginalized stakeholder-centric entrepreneurship. We conceptualize how firms can utilize marginalized stakeholder input actualization through which firms should process a variety of ideas, resources, and interactions with marginalized stakeholders and then filter, internalize and finally realize important elements that improve a variety of related socio-economic, ethical, racial, contextual, political and identity issues. This input actualization process enables firms to innovate with marginalized stakeholders and develop marginalized stakeholder capabilities. To this end, firms fulfil both of their moral and entrepreneurial claims to marginalized stakeholders

Microcredit, the corporatization of nongovernmental organizations, and academic activism: The example of Professor Anu Muhammad

Based on an interview with academic-activist Professor Anu Muhammad, this edited transcript illuminates the corporatization of nongovernmental organizations, with specific reference to perpetuating the negative effects of neoliberal microcredit practices in developing countries. It focuses upon how such corporatization is contributing to corruption and the weakened role of the state. The concept of poor-people-led cooperatives is proposed as an alternative as they are more congruent with actively maintaining cultural traditions, protecting social cohesion, and mobilizing collective community-level energy to alleviate misery and reduce poverty

Rana Plaza fieldwork and academic anxiety: Some reflections

The Rana Plaza collapse, which took place in Bangladesh in 2013, killed and injured at least 1135 and 2500 people respectively. Although the structural fault with the building had been identified before the collapse, the owner of the building and five garment factories housed in Rana Plaza had forced workers to continue production for 31 Western multinational corporations (MNCs). It was the deadliest structural failure in modern history, and resulted in a horrific rescue operation. First, the fire brigade did not have the necessary training and equipment to rescue the victims, and so the general public also participated in the rescue operation. Second, when victims were rescued, it was found that many of them had lost their limbs or suffered severe internal injuries, including internal organ failure, due to several days without water. After the completion of the rescue, the victims received neither appropriate compensation nor rehabilitation to overcome their psychological trauma and physical disabilities

(In)sensitive violence, development, and the smell of the soil: Strategic decision-making of what?

Firms may commit aspects of violence in a sophisticated way. To this end, I argue that, as firms and their influential agents (e.g. government bodies and NGOs that often work as third parties and claim neutrality) participate in designing and performing violent activities under an influence of ideological beliefs, certain aspects of violence are difficult to trace. In other words, it is not always easy to point out exactly which powerful actors did what to result in violence such as injury and killing. Because of this limited traceability of actions, certain consequences of such violence remain invisible for a long period of time. However, such violence has devastating effects that go beyond the physical and mental harm suffered by the victim, affecting even the socio-emotional situations of marginalized people. Accordingly, I conceptualize a form of violence with limited traceability and invisible negative consequences, which is termed as insensitive violence. By doing so, I also discuss fundamental flaws of economic and human perspectives of development that encourage recursive use of insensitive violence at the expense of environmental damage and emotional degradation of marginalized communities

The Rana Plaza disaster and the complicit behavior of elite NGOs

"We do not know what NGOs do. Whoever works for NGOs, they are becoming rich. While NGOs receive money to help many victims, they distribute such fund only to two, three or five victims. Rest of the fund go to their pocket."RahimaRahima is one of the victims of the Rana Plaza collapse that occurred on 24 April 2013 in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in which at least 1135 clothing workers died and an estimated 2500 were injured (Star Business Report, 2016). During this catastrophic collapse, the Rana Plaza housed five local garment factories that were producing clothes for 31 Western multinational corporations (MNCs; Clean Cloth Campaign (CCC), 2015). It was the deadliest structural failure in modern history, which was followed by a chaotic rescue operation due to a huge shortage of trained rescue workers and necessary equipment. This prolonged the victims’ suffering during and after the rescue process and led to enduring physical and psychological damage.<br/

Reconceptualizing the dynamics of the relationship between marginalized stakeholders and multinational firms

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From Black Pain to Rhodes Must Fall: a rejectionist perspective

Based on my study of the Rhodes Must Fall movement, I develop a rejectionist perspective by identifying the understanding and mobilization of epistemic disobedience as the core premise of such a perspective. Embedded in this contextual perspective, epistemic disobedience refers to the decolonization of the self and a fight against colonial legacies. I argue that, rather than viewing a rejectionist perspective as a threat, it should be integrated into the moral learning of contemporary institutions and businesses. This approach is important in ensuring colonial legacies and biases do not create further racism or unequal situations for marginalized groups. The implication for critical management studies is that scholars from this camp should be more sensitive to issues of black consciousness and implement an authentic pragmatic ideal to promote black culture and historiographies in universities and curricula. It also highlights a need for the field of business ethics to apply more sensitive theory of marginalized stakeholders in order to prevent any escalation of violence by multinational corporations in the name of shareholder value creation and profit-maximization