The problematic and contestable nature of discourses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has driven the commissioning of this special issue on discourses, narratives, and communication about CSR. While CSR may be seen as sharing normative goals with the concept of sustainable development, there are fundamental questions to be asked about the nature and purpose of CSR, how it has been constructed and framed, and whether it promotes the normative goals of sustainable development in order to effect change to the business-as-usual model. The teasing out of the different discourses of CSR has become an important theme in academic research in recent years. In this issue, that discourse is developed. The authors discover gaps between CSR as understood by civil society groups and radical non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the CSR norms promoted at corporate level. The latter fail to impact on business-as-usual, even though the same lan- guage may be used. The link between Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting and market-value is explored; and CSR principles and actions promoted by business are cri- tiqued from the perspective of the norms of sustainable development, one conclusion being that the parameters of sustainable development as a concept need to be extended to include the dimension of culture.