Anti-corporate activism
Encyclopedia
Anti-corporate activists (see activism
) believe that the influence of large business corporation
s poses a threat to the public good and democratic authority. These corporations, they believe, are invading people's privacy
, manipulating politics
and governments, and creating false needs in consumers.
) and that lawbreaking companies and executives are routinely caught and punished usually in the form of monetary fines. Factually, most amount to a small proportion on their gross annual revenue. However, the Tobacco Industries loss as defendants of a multi-state and Federal legal suit in the 1990's cost them billions of dollars and permanently distrupted their traditional marketing in the U.S.
In addition, from the perspective of business ethics
it might be argued that chief executives are not inherently more evil than anyone else and so are no more likely to attempt unethical or illegal activity than the general population. Large multi-national corporations do continue to peck away at governmental regulations through in-house or contracted lobbyists that work closely with State and Federal legislators. So as corporate laws continue to lean in their favor, corporate members have improved portals to drive up company profits.
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books (Naomi Klein's 2000 No Logo being a well-known example) and films such as The Corporation which have to a certain extent supported anti-corporate politics.
.
released an article entitled "The Secret Seven" which it listed the top seven anti-corporate web sites which include: wikileaks
, Mini-Microsoft
, Brenda Priddy and Company , Wal-Mart Watch
, HomeOwners for Better Building and finally Apple Rumor Sites AppleInsider
and MacRumors
.
Email lists, web pages, and open editing software have allowed for changes in organization. Now, actions are planned, information is shared, documents are produced by multiple people, and all of this can be done despite differences in distance. This has led to increased growth in digital collaboration. Activists can presently build ties between diverse topics, open the distribution of information, decentralize and increase collaboration, and self-direct networks.
The experiences from the protests were distributed throughout the internet via emails and websites. Anti-corporate globalization movements have also expanded through the organization of mass mobilizations, including the anti-WTO protests, which were remarkably successful. In the United States, these movements reemerged after less attention was given to the war in Iraq, resulting in an increase in mass mobilizations.
The use of networking through technology is unevenly distributed amongst the organizations and movements. The groups with more available funds are able to incorporate newer technologies into the existing communication techniques. Smaller organizations with fewer resources, therefore, look for more innovative methods in order to take advantage of the low cost. Though the anti-corporate globalization movements may be viewed as unified, there exists numerous movements. Their goals may overlap with one another, but each differs on their targeted issues, political subjectivity, ideologies, culture, and organizational structure.
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
) believe that the influence of large business corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s poses a threat to the public good and democratic authority. These corporations, they believe, are invading people's privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
, manipulating politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and governments, and creating false needs in consumers.
Disagreements with corporations
Activists argue that corporate globalization corresponds to a displacement in the transition from a highly industrial-based economy to one where trade development is connected with the financial deregulation on the basis of circulation of capital. An increasing number of diverse societies have been pushed into a market structure, leading to displacement. As this expansion has occurred, market-governed regulation has outrun the grasps of the state. The government cannot control the markets, widening inequalities have developed, and the corporations have gained strength. Activists have been recently pushing for a sort of globalization that claims to promote equality.Counter-arguments
The defenders of corporations would argue that governments do legislate in ways that restrict the actions of corporations (see Sarbanes-Oxley ActSarbanes-Oxley Act
The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 , also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act' and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act' and commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002, which...
) and that lawbreaking companies and executives are routinely caught and punished usually in the form of monetary fines. Factually, most amount to a small proportion on their gross annual revenue. However, the Tobacco Industries loss as defendants of a multi-state and Federal legal suit in the 1990's cost them billions of dollars and permanently distrupted their traditional marketing in the U.S.
In addition, from the perspective of business ethics
Business ethics
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.Business...
it might be argued that chief executives are not inherently more evil than anyone else and so are no more likely to attempt unethical or illegal activity than the general population. Large multi-national corporations do continue to peck away at governmental regulations through in-house or contracted lobbyists that work closely with State and Federal legislators. So as corporate laws continue to lean in their favor, corporate members have improved portals to drive up company profits.
Alliances
Anti-corporate activists may often ally themselves with other activists, such as environmental activists or animal-rights activists in their condemnation of the practices of modern organizations such as the McDonald's Corporation (see McLibel) and forestry company Gunns Limited (see Gunns 20).In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books (Naomi Klein's 2000 No Logo being a well-known example) and films such as The Corporation which have to a certain extent supported anti-corporate politics.
Art activism
Political artist Billy Knows posted his "Greed" posters all across America and Europe in 2004 proclaiming Mickey the Rat as the new American icon. Another artist critical of socio political agendas in business is conceptualist Hans HaackeHans Haacke
Hans Haacke is a German-American artist who lives and works in New York.- Early life :Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany. He studied at the Staatliche Werkakademie in Kassel, Germany, from 1956 to 1960. He was a student of Stanley William Hayter, a well-known and influential English printmaker,...
.
Anti-corporate web sites
In June 2008, Condé Nast PublicationsCondé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
released an article entitled "The Secret Seven" which it listed the top seven anti-corporate web sites which include: wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, Mini-Microsoft
Mini-Microsoft
Mini-Microsoft is the name of a blog maintained by an anonymous author who appears to be a Microsoft employee. The term is also generally used as a pseudonym for the author of the blog, although on the site the author is listed as "Who da'Punk"...
, Brenda Priddy and Company , Wal-Mart Watch
Wal-Mart Watch
Walmart Watch, formed in the spring of 2005, is a joint project of the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, a non-profit organization studying the impact of large corporations on society and its advocacy arm, Five Stones.-Backers and funding:...
, HomeOwners for Better Building and finally Apple Rumor Sites AppleInsider
AppleInsider
AppleInsider is a news and rumor website that includes a forum for discussion of news stories and other community news.-Legal issues:In the late 1990s Apple successfully sued a John Doe from AppleInsider's boards with the username "Worker Bee" for revealing information on what would eventually...
and MacRumors
MacRumors
MacRumors.com is a website that aggregates Mac and Apple related news, rumors, and reports. The site was launched in 2000, and is owned by Arnold Kim.By consolidating reports and cross-referencing claims, MacRumors attempts to keep track of the rumor community...
.
New digital media
Media and digital networking have become important features of modern anti-corporate movements. The speed, flexibility, and ability to reach a massive potential audience has provided a technological foundation for contemporary network social movement structure. As a result, communities and interpersonal connections have transformed. The internet supports and strengthens local ties, but also facilitates new patterns for political activity. Activists have used this medium to operate between both the online and offline political spectrums.Email lists, web pages, and open editing software have allowed for changes in organization. Now, actions are planned, information is shared, documents are produced by multiple people, and all of this can be done despite differences in distance. This has led to increased growth in digital collaboration. Activists can presently build ties between diverse topics, open the distribution of information, decentralize and increase collaboration, and self-direct networks.
Rise of anti-corporate globalization
Close to fifty thousand people protested the WTO meetings in Seattle on November 30, 1999. Labor, economic, and environmental activists succeeded in disrupting and closing the meetings due to their disapproval of corporate globalization. This event became a symbol as anti-globalization networks emerged and became strengthened.The experiences from the protests were distributed throughout the internet via emails and websites. Anti-corporate globalization movements have also expanded through the organization of mass mobilizations, including the anti-WTO protests, which were remarkably successful. In the United States, these movements reemerged after less attention was given to the war in Iraq, resulting in an increase in mass mobilizations.
The aid of technology
Globally oriented and planned protests have benefited from the cheap, quick, efficient means of e-mail. This has also led to the creation of a global connection between alternative transnational counterpublics. Web sites created for mobilizations may not be designed to exist or be used permanently, but their use allows for easy access to resources and contact lists. Face-to-face coordination was also found to be complemented through internet use and has not replaced this aspect. The use of the telephone remains vital, particularly during conflicts that required interactive communication.Technology and cultural politics
For anti-corporate globalization movements, flexible local and global networks make up the most important forms of organization. Activists have preferred this flexible coordination between groups within a small formation. This includes intervallic meetings, commissions discussing concrete tasks, and project areas. Participation that is open is seen as more productive than representation. In some organizations, there are even no formal members. Instead, any person is allowed to participate as long as they agree with the networks basic beliefs, which includes a personal removal from capitalism and systems seen as similar to it.The use of networking through technology is unevenly distributed amongst the organizations and movements. The groups with more available funds are able to incorporate newer technologies into the existing communication techniques. Smaller organizations with fewer resources, therefore, look for more innovative methods in order to take advantage of the low cost. Though the anti-corporate globalization movements may be viewed as unified, there exists numerous movements. Their goals may overlap with one another, but each differs on their targeted issues, political subjectivity, ideologies, culture, and organizational structure.
See also
- Anti-consumerismAnti-consumerismAnti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against the equating of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions...
- Anti-globalizationAnti-globalizationCriticism of globalization is skepticism of the claimed benefits of the globalization of capitalism. Many of these views are held by the anti-globalization movement however other groups also are critical of the policies of globalization....
- McLibel caseMcLibel caseMcDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris [1997] EWHC QB 366, known as "the McLibel case" was an English lawsuit filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a pamphlet critical of the company...
- Multinational MonitorMultinational MonitorThe Multinational Monitor is a bimonthly magazine founded by Ralph Nader in 1980. It is published by Essential Information. Although its primary focus is on analysis of corporations, it also publishes articles on labor issues and occupational safety and health, the environment, globalization,...
- POCLADPOCLADThe Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy is an activist collective of a dozen-or-so members, who research the history of corporations in the United States. They are some of the main circulators of the notion that corporate personhood--which gives corporations some of the same legal rights...
- The Program On Corporations, Law, and Democracy - Public CitizenPublic CitizenPublic Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
- Sweatshops
- Ralph NaderRalph NaderRalph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
- Union OrganizerUnion organizerA union organizer is a specific type of trade union member or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers....
- When Corporations Rule the WorldWhen Corporations Rule the WorldWhen Corporations Rule the World is an anti-globalization book by David Korten. Korten examines the evolution of corporations in the United States and argues that corporate libertarians have 'twisted' the ideas of free market economist Adam Smith's view of the role of private companies.Korten...
- CorporationCorporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
- Criticisms of corporationsCriticisms of CorporationsThe notion of a legally sanctioned corporation remains controversial for several reasons, most of which stem from the granting of corporations both limited liability on the part of its members and the status and rights of a legal person...
External links
- Farewell to the End of History: Organization and Vision in Anti-Corporate Movements by Naomi KleinNaomi KleinNaomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization.-Family:...
, Socialist Register, 2002