Think Tanks, Business and Civil Society: The Ethics of Promoting Pro-corporate Ideologies

Abstract

Think tanks became key political and economic actors during the twentieth century, creating and occupying an intellectual and political position between academic institutions, the state, civil society, and public debate on organization and management. Think tanks are especially active in setting frames for what constitutes politically and socially acceptable ways of thinking about economic activity and the rights or obligations of corporations. Their operation and influence has been acknowledged and analysed in political science and policy analysis, but in organization and management studies they are almost entirely ignored. In this paper, we review the existing literature on think tanks to develop an ethical-political framework based on a Gramsci's account of state-civil society relations, referring to historical case materials relating to a significant Brazilian think tank, the Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Sociais (IPES). We show how the IPES was successful in bringing then-controversial neoliberal perspectives on management and organization into mainstream political debate, where they could be discussed and ultimately accepted as morally and intellectually legitimate. We note the importance of management education and business schools with respect to think tanks in the development of a hegemonic pro-capitalist interpretation of corporate responsibility, and suggest this is worth more investigation. We conclude by outlining how think tanks are central to civil society acceptance of pro-corporate ideologies, how they might be researched regarding the ethical implications of the work they do, and how our approach provides a foundation for this.

The Past, History, and Corporate Social Responsibility

“…As an exemplar of this type of study published in this volume, Smith and Johns (2019) use history to contextualize and better understand the current debate over modern slavery. Barros and Taylor's (2018) historical study of a significant Brazilian think tank in the 1960s provides another example. Addressing a gap in business ethics research on the influential role of think tanks on the transformation of social structures, they invoke this historical case to begin filling this gap.…”

Brazilian businessmen movements: Right-wing populism and the (dis)connection between policy and politics

“…Business elites organized themselves in various organizations and used their connections to the Catholic Church and the media to spread their message. The leading organization created to promote these ideas was a think tank called IPES (Barros and Taylor, 2018; Dreifuss, 1980; Starling, 1986). IPES was the ‘main organization for business mobilization [.…”

“…During the 1960s, Brazilian business articulated themselves around a think tank, the Institute for Social and Economic Thinking (IPES) (Barros and Taylor, 2018; Dreifuss, 1980; Starling, 1986). They conquered support of medium classes and framed the entrance of new groups in Brazilian society as a danger to Brazilian culture and Catholic traditions (Dreifuss, 1980).…”

“…New research efforts aim to shed new lights on the role of corporations in the broader political sphere (Scherer et al, 2014). Some authors already highlight the importance of moving this discussion toward making business and their networks accountable (Barros and Taylor, 2018; Salles-Djelic, 2017).…”

“…The potential of engaging with business and politics, including from an ethical perspective, is still not fulfilled (Barros and Taylor, 2018; Prasad and Mills, 2010). In addition, business and businesspeople are relevant agents in the development of populist alternatives around the globe.…”