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Corporations as Partners: “Connected Capitalism” and The Coca‐Cola Company
Author(s) -
Foster Robert J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
polar: political and legal anthropology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1555-2934
pISSN - 1081-6976
DOI - 10.1111/plar.12073
Subject(s) - capitalism , corporate governance , shareholder value , coca cola , shareholder , ideology , criticism , big business , politics , corporate social responsibility , harmony (color) , government (linguistics) , public relations , market economy , business , economics , political economy , management , law , political science , art , linguistics , philosophy , advertising , visual arts
For‐profit corporations increasingly promote themselves as potential partners with government (state actors) and community (NGOs and civil society groups) in addressing social problems. These partnerships enact what the former CEO of The Coca‐Cola Company, Neville Isdell, calls “connected capitalism”—collaborations in which businesses must do good in order to maximize shareholder value. How should we understand the self‐qualification of corporations as responsible partners and thus the corporate rejection of Milton Friedman's famous claim that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits? I address the question by considering how the partnerships currently advocated by The Coca‐Cola Company enhance the value of corporate‐owned brands and deflect criticism of business operations. I argue that these partnerships perform what Garsten and Jacobsson call “post‐political governance” in which cooperation with business displaces regulation of business by government. I argue furthermore that these partnerships represent what Nader calls “harmony ideology,” in which the concern for polite consensus displaces any interest in addressing social inequality.