“NO CRIME, NO PUNISHMENT”: BRASKEM’S CORPORATE SOCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY IN MACEIÓ

Abstract

Purpose/Objective(s): This study examines Braskem’s strategic responses to the damages caused in Maceió (AL), identifying recurring patterns of evasion regarding its responsibility for a public and criminological issue.

Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative, interpretive methodology was applied to analyze Braskem’s responses to the 2018 environmental crime in Maceió. The corpus consisted of 229 pages of socio-environmental reports, corporate communications, and company documents, treated as organizational narratives and subjected to hermeneutic content analysis.

Results and discussion: Braskem’s responses revealed three distinct patterns: silencing (withholding information about the damages), denial (rejecting responsibility for negative impacts), and self-correction (emphasizing internal corrective actions). Collectively, these strategies operate as defensive mechanisms that obscure public recognition of accountability and reduce the likelihood of sanctions.

Contributions: This study advances the Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSIR) literature by examining the Maceió case and demonstrating how corporations may strategically evade scrutiny and sanctions for socially harmful actions. It contributes to critical management studies on corporate accountability by systematically identifying patterns and categories of responsibility avoidance. The implications of the study are both theoretical and practical: the findings contribute to the literature on attempts to evade responsibility and to the formulation of public policies, and support civil society organizations and regulatory bodies in identifying effective ways to prevent corporate irresponsibility. Additionally, the study highlights the social and environmental consequences of irresponsible corporate behavior, enforcing the importance of accountability and justice in cases of collective harm.