Supervisory Committee
Dr. Claire Cutler, Department of Political Science
Supervisor
Dr. Marlea Clarke, Department of Political Science
Departmental Member
This thesis provides a historical overview of the conventional business model for CSR as
well as a more critical political economy perspective. It draws on critical scholars to help
advance the understanding of the legitimating role that CSR plays in advancing private
authority as a significant method of regulating corporations and the global political
economy through flexible and nonbinding regulations as an alternative to state
legislation. This thesis explores the development and implementation of Nike’s Codes of
Conduct in contract apparel factories in the Maquiladoras in Mexico. Specifically, it
investigates the application of Nike’s Code of Conduct to determine if the company is
adhering to its own CSR policies and initiatives by focusing on Nike’s internal reports. It
concludes that corporate self regulation produces limited results for alleviating poor
working conditions for Nike apparel contract workers in the Maquiladoras