{"id":4069,"date":"2025-03-11T13:53:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/mancept\/?page_id=4069"},"modified":"2025-09-03T15:57:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T14:57:47","slug":"the-shifting-politics-of-commercial-culture","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/mancept\/mancept-workshops\/list-of-panels-a-z-2025\/the-shifting-politics-of-commercial-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shifting Politics of Commercial Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ next_background_color=”#000000″ global_module=”322″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=”322″ menu_id=”8″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” module_class=”main-navigation” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_layout=”dark” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ module_class=”header-image-section” _builder_version=”3.0.74″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_css_main_element=”padding-top:0px” transparent_background=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_margin=”||0px|” parallax_method_1=”off” module_class=”header-image” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/mancept\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/257\/2022\/02\/Oxford-Roadcrop.jpg” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ border_color_all=”#ffffff” custom_margin=”0px|||” animation_direction=”left” use_border_color=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.74″ custom_padding=”||0px|” transparent_background=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#1d1d1d”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_margin=”||0px|” parallax_method_1=”off” module_class=”breadcrumbs-row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Breadcrumbs (do not remove)” module_class=”breadcrumbs” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” module_alignment=”left” custom_css_main_element=”border-bottom: 1px solid #ececed;” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\nMANCEPT<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n

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The Shifting Politics of Commercial Culture<\/h1>\n

Room – HBS G34<\/em><\/p>\n

Roxan Degeyter (KU Leuven)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent years, corporations have increasingly taken political stances on divisive issues such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. The practice has been termed\u00a0corporate political advocacy (CPA) (Baur and Wettstein 2016), corporate social advocacy (Abitbol et al. 2018; Dodd and Supa 2014),\u00a0brand activism (Cammarota et al. 2023),\u00a0or CEO activism (Branicki et al. 2021; Chatterji and Toffel 2019; Feix and Wernicke 2024). Academic debate focusses on defining the criteria for legitimate CPA emphasizing the need to avoid \u201cwoke-washing\u201d (e.g. Vredenburg et al. 2020) and ensure\u00a0integrity (e.g. Wettstein and Baur 2016).<\/p>\n

Last months, a growing\u00a0backlash\u00a0against progressive CPA has emerged. Conservative figures like\u00a0Robert Starbuck\u00a0and investors like\u00a0Vivek Ramaswamy have pressured major corporations, including\u00a0Disney, Apple, and McDonald\u2019s, to\u00a0roll back ESG and DEI policies.\u00a0What began as resistance to progressive engagement could escalate into demanding corporations to adopt overtly conservative positions, which has become more plausible now that business leaders like\u00a0Elon Musk started to use openly\u00a0endorse conservative policies and candidates.<\/p>\n

As it becomes more prominent, conservative advocacy cannot be treated as an afterthought, as nothing more than a reactionary market correction excluded from CPA definitions. The shift raises key questions about how CPA legitimacy is assessed: if both progressive and conservative activism are ideological expressions of the same phenomenon, frameworks must evaluate CPA through procedural and deliberative criteria rather than ideological content.\u00a0 This panel welcomes theoretical, normative, and empirical approaches from political theory, philosophy, law, economics, and communication studies that critically examine CPA beyond ideology and assess implications of both its forms for democratic governance.<\/p>\n

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Wednesday 3rd<\/sup> September<\/p>\n

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11:00-12:30<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Registration<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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12:30-13:30<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Lunch<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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17:45-19:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Wine Reception<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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19:30<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Conference Dinner<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Thursday 4th<\/sup> September<\/p>\n

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10:30-11:30<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Session 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saura Masconale: Economic and Political Objections to Moral Capitalism<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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11:30-12:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Tea and Coffee Break (optional)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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12:00-13:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Session 2 (continued)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elettra Repetto: From Greenwashing to NOwashing. The Corporate domination of politics<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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13:00-14:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Lunch<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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14:00-16:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Session 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roxan Degeyter: Beyond ideology: a content-neutral analysis of CPA<\/p>\n

Aaron Ancell: Could Corporations be Political Representatives?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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16:00-16:30<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Tea and Coffee Break<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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mancept-workshops@manchester.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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