There is a way of thinking about business corporations which sees them as inherently enemies of social progress.\u00a0 On this view, inspired by Marxist analyses of class conflict and antagonistic capital-labour relations, the actions of businesses are inevitably oppressive.\u00a0 In this blogpost I want to argue for a more nuanced view \u2013 that corporations are a powerful tool of human agency which hold the potential for a much more diverse range of uses than the Marx-inspired view allows.\u00a0 This is not to deny that certain corporate actions have obstructed human progress \u2013 for example the funding of climate change denialism by oil companies or underplaying the health impacts of cigarettes by tobacco companies.\u00a0 However, what I want to argue is that the range of possible corporate purposes and goals should not be underestimated by simply focusing on the structural conditions of market competition under capitalism.<\/p>\n
Structure isn\u2019t destiny \u2013 the role of agency<\/em><\/p>\n The Marxist-inspired view emphasises the structural determinants of business activities \u2013 the constraints imposed by their role in the capitalist mode of production (Marx 1886).\u00a0 \u00a0Ironically, this point overlaps with mainstream orthodox economics which models businesses as necessarily constrained by market competition to compete solely for profit as a matter of survival (Friedman 1970).\u00a0 While all action is necessarily exercised under some structural constraints, this kind of high-level abstract theorising misses the very real practical scope for human agency.\u00a0 Because ultimately that is what businesses are \u2013 a particular tool for organising human activities.\u00a0 And like all tools their usage in practice depends on the humans wielding them.<\/p>\n Take, for example, that other dominant mode of human organisation \u2013 the modern state.\u00a0 While it exists under a variety of structural constraints \u2013 the need to extract revenue from citizens to survive, international anarchy, and so forth \u2013 it is unquestionable that the possible uses of its power are incredibly wide-ranging, from helping the meekest of its residents to carrying out horrific injustices.\u00a0 The state is a locus of power, and the greater its power the greater the range of possibilities it can carry out.\u00a0 It is indicative of this potential when one observes how much energy is expended by those who seek to harness and retain the state\u2019s power \u2013 whether in democracies or elsewhere.<\/p>\n Business and social change<\/em><\/p>\n Similarly, there are battles on multiple fronts to shape businesses\u2019 possibilities and powers which go far beyond their profit-making capabilities.\u00a0 One of the most obvious of these is climate change.\u00a0 For example, hedge fund Engine No.1 wanted to force Exxon Mobile Corporation to adopt more green policies. \u00a0And so, despite owning only 0.02% of the company and in the face of opposition from Exxon itself, convinced other shareholders to support it in forcing its own green-focused nominees onto the company\u2019s governing board (Levine 2021).\u00a0 This is just one example of the myriad of ways in which governments and civil society are seeking to pressure businesses into being more environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n Going beyond the environment businesses take positions and wield influence on issues which are not directly related to their bottom line (Hollinger 2023).\u00a0 For example, see Florida Governor Ron De Santis\u2019s ongoing fight with Disney over the latter\u2019s criticism of Florida\u2019s restrictive LGBT+ school curricula legislation.\u00a0 Disney has threatened to move investment out of Florida and has in turn been threatened with punitive tax measures and restrictions on its self-governance (Perry 2023). \u00a0Businesses also take positions on matters of wider constitutional importance.\u00a0 For example, business leaders lining up on both sides \u2013 although predominantly for Remain \u2013 of the UK\u2019s Referendum to leave the European Union in 2016 (BBC 2016).\u00a0 More recently the Israel Business Forum \u2013 with executives from 150 of Israel\u2019s largest companies \u2013 announced widespread strike action in protest against the government\u2019s judicial reform\/overhaul program (BNN Newsroom 2023).<\/p>\n Ideology, ideas, and influence<\/em><\/p>\n An orthodox Marxist understanding holds that ideas and ideology are mere superstructure whose primary role is to justify and consolidate the existing means and relations of production.\u00a0 What I suggest here inverts this emphasis back onto ideas.\u00a0 The ideologies held by those who hold the reins of corporate power matter, just as the policy outlook of politicians does.\u00a0 For example, a number of technology CEOs \u2013 with Elon Musk perhaps being the most obvious example \u2013 use their corporate power to instantiate their version of the good world.\u00a0 Elon Musk \u2013 despite headwinds of consumer and customer backlash harming revenue and profits \u2013 has doggedly pursued political and social goals through his ownership of \u201cX\u201d, the company formerly known as Twitter, with respect to speech regulation and socio-political culture wars.<\/p>\n Some might argue that these socio-political activities constitute mere advertising, cheap talk, or are fact in the long-term interests of the firm themselves.\u00a0 However this is overly simplistic in trying to reduce every explanation to a materialistic one.\u00a0 While the role of profit and incentives is ever-present, it would be foolhardy to deny the agency of the actors at the helm of companies and the role ideas and values play in their decisions, for good or for ill.\u00a0 For example, to date it is hard to see most of Elon Musk\u2019s activities as value-generative for \u201cX\u201d.\u00a0 While corporations lack the check of regular democratic elections, they and the people who run them still act in light of their personal beliefs, which may be influenced by reasons, protests, and campaigns, just as politicians\u2019 beliefs might.<\/p>\n The fight is on<\/em><\/p>\n There are important normative questions about the legitimate purposes corporate power may be put to \u2013 certainly some otherwise legal corporate activities can readily promote injustice (Berkey 2021).\u00a0 For now I simply want to conclude with a call to action and avoidance of despair at the hegemony of capitalism.\u00a0 Just as the state can alternatively achieve great strides to support human welfare and progress as well as backslide, so can that other great mode of human organisation \u2013 the corporation \u2013 be responsible for great progress as well as harm.\u00a0 In both instances the power to determine outcomes lies in the hands of human agents.\u00a0 While we do not make history under circumstances chosen by ourselves, we do make our history \u2013 and an over-emphasis on the telos or inevitably of corporate purpose misses this.\u00a0 \u00a0Corporations, for good or ill, represent a nexus of power and possibility which lies within the scope of human agency to shape into the future.\u00a0 It behoves us to harness it for good.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\n BBC News. (2016). \u201cEU referendum: More than 1,280 business leaders sign letter.\u201d BBC News<\/em> 22 June 2016. Available at https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-36592782<\/a>.<\/p>\n Berkey, Brian. (2021). \u201cSweatshops, Structural Injustice, and the Wrong of Exploitation: Why Multinational Corporations Have Positive Duties to the Global Poor.\u201d Journal of Business Ethics<\/em> Vol.169, pp.43-56.<\/p>\n Friedman, Milton. (1970). \u201cA Friedman doctrine– The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.\u201d The New York Times<\/em> 13 September 1970.\u00a0 Available at https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1970\/09\/13\/archives\/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hollinger, Peggy. (2023). \u201cAnnual reports are fast becoming political treatises.\u201d The Financial Times<\/em> 26 July 2023.\u00a0 Available at https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/b69dbcff-50f7-4ded-87ef-869ff8ed66f5<\/a>.<\/p>\n Levine, Matt. (2021). \u201cMoney Stuff: Exxon Lost a Climate Proxy Fight.\u201d Bloomberg Newsletters Money Stuff<\/em> 27 May 2021.\u00a0 Available at https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2021-05-27\/money-stuff-exxon-lost-a-climate-proxy-fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marx, Karl. (1886) [1906]. Capital: a critique of political economy<\/em>. Chicago: Kerr.<\/p>\n BNN Newsroom. (2023). \u201cIsraeli Opposition\u2019s Boycott Threat Over Controversial Reasonableness Bill.\u201d BNN <\/em>24 July 2023. Available at https:\/\/bnn.network\/politics\/israeli-oppositions-boycott-threat-over-controversial-reasonableness-bill\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perry, Sophie. (2023). \u201cRon DeSantis\u2019 attacks on Disney have Republicans claiming he\u2019s \u2018not a conservative\u2019.\u201d Pink News<\/em> 25 April 2023.\u00a0 Available at https:\/\/www.thepinknews.com\/2023\/04\/25\/ron-desantis-disney-feud-florida-lgbtq\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo by BoliviaInteligente<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a way of thinking about business corporations which sees them as inherently enemies of social progress.\u00a0 On this view, inspired by Marxist analyses of class conflict and antagonistic […]","protected":false},"author":1319,"featured_media":1769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Kasim Khorasanee \"Corporations: the power of possibility and the possibilities of power\" on Open for Debate","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[412,411,44],"custom_author":[410],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-for-debate","tag-agency","tag-corporations","tag-social-media","custom_author-khorasanee-kasim"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KPlM-sv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1194,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/with-the-intent-to-defraud-or-mislead-opioids-corporate-propaganda-and-epistemic-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":0},"title":"\u201cWith the intent to defraud or mislead\u201d: Opioids, corporate propaganda, and epistemic rights","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"May 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In May 2007, Purdue Frederick Company Inc., an af\ufb01liate of Purdue Pharma, along with three of its top executives, were ordered to pay fines totalling $634 million after pleading guilty to criminal charges of misbranding in relation to the opioid-based painkiller, OxyContin. Among other things, the company falsely claimed that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2021\/05\/Opioids_02-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":413,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/the-heart-of-justice\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":1},"title":"The Heart of Justice","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"June 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The ancient Greeks all thought of morality in terms of the virtues: justice, courage, temperance, and wisdom. And they all thought of the virtues as if they are like skills that can be learned. As Aristotle said, \"\u2026we become builders by building and lyre players by playing the lyre. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/06\/heart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":624,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/epicurus-on-losing-arguments\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":2},"title":"Epicurus on Losing Arguments","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"March 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Epicurus\u2019s Vatican Saying #74 runs: \u201cthe one who loses in a philosophical dispute gains more the more he learns.\u201d\u00a0 I remember reading that line as an undergraduate, thinking it curious and perhaps a bit perverse.\u00a0 How would Epicurus himself apply this to his own views, after critique from the likes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/03\/Epicurus-BW.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/03\/Epicurus-BW.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/03\/Epicurus-BW.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1625,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/truth-and-the-facebookians\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":3},"title":"Truth and the Facebookians","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Imagine a community\u2014call them the \u201cFacebookians\u201d\u2014whose politics is deeply polarized. Their political discourse reflects this divisiveness, but to a very unusual extent. For in making political claims, Facebookians are guided by just one rule: only say (or post) what is liked by your friends and which you are willing defend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neon sign with zero \"likes\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1459,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/the-internet-never-forgets-how-google-shapes-and-cements-our-identities\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":4},"title":"The Internet Never Forgets: How Google Shapes and Cements Our Identities","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"June 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember sneaking downstairs to use the computer. I was 11, personal computers weren\u2019t really a thing yet. I couldn't use the computers at school because I was afraid a teacher would discover my search history. We had a computer at home, but it was in the hallway. That\u2019s why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2022\/06\/google.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2113,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/values-and-virtues-in-philosophy-and-psychology\/","url_meta":{"origin":1767,"position":5},"title":"Values and Virtues in Philosophy and Psychology","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"During the recent general election campaign in the UK, I received a flyer through my door from a local independent candidate who claimed to value, among other things, humanitarianism. He also wanted to repurpose the entirety of the UK\u2019s foreign aid budget to fix potholes on Britain\u2019s apparently neglected roads.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Puddle on the ground reflecting a plane in the sky","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/09\/boliviainteligente-Oy3uODf99k0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1319"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1767"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1772,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions\/1772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"custom_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom_author?post=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}