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John Murray
Senior lecturer
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Corporate populism: How corporations construct and represent ‘the people’ in political contestations
Author
Summary, in English
Business implications of the recent surge in populism in societal and academic discourse have been relatively neglected. This is surprising, considering that corporations provide financial support (e.g., donations and political action committees), intellectual resources (e.g., think tanks and public relations firms) and informational channels (e.g., social media platforms) that populist parties and movements depend on. In this article, we develop a conceptualization of corporate populism as a distinct form of firm or industry practice to theorize how corporate political involvement influences democratic processes. The concept of corporate populism problematizes the prevailing treatment of corporations as political actors in corporate political activity (CPA) scholarship by attending to the democratic implications of business mobilization efforts. The practice of corporate populism is significant in that it influences democracies by constructing and reifying divisions in society, legitimizing de-politicization, and repressing representative democratic deliberations.
Publishing year
2023
Language
English
Publication/Series
Journal of Business Research
Volume
162
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Business Administration
Keywords
- Corporate populism
- Democracy
- Corporate political activity
- Populism
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0148-2963