Corporate Citizens and Democratic Practice.

Abstract

Yet what are corporations doing and what are the political effects when they claim such the sorts of identity and agency of super citizens and excellent neighbors who persevere in striving on behalf of their communities? Below I examine such questions as well as examine the effects of these rhetorical strategies in masking exercises of power even while emphasizing their responsible actions as good citizens. This entails examining the concept of corporate citizenship, the increasingly common concept by which both scholars and practitioners characterize the social activities that corporations undertake locally and globally. This paper does not focus upon the explicitly political activities of corporations such as lobbying or the newly unleashed capacities to participate in campaigns; rather it considers the political implications of the set of social activities commonly associated with corporate citizenship.