Enlightenment or Resistance? Promoting Sustainability Through Corporate Law and Governance in Mauritius

Despite various international initiatives and soft/hard law reforms over the last two decades, concerns abound as the extent to which the sustainability agenda has become embedded in emerging economies. This chapter focuses on Mauritius, specifically the emergence of a sustainability discourse as part of corporate governance reforms, the enactment of a national sustainable development agenda, and the implementation of the first corporate social responsibility legislation in the world, requiring companies to finance related projects. Our empirical analysis, primarily focused on corporate settings, and informed by the country’s socio-economic and political contexts, reveals wide variation in corporate engagement and the advent of a form of state control over the execution of projects. Overall, our implications seek to identify lessons for other emerging economies, particularly in terms of state-level attempts to mandate corporate social responsibility.