Coalitions CAN crush Corporations.
Thursday,22 October 2009 by Nishma
Today, Oxford Uni People & Planet decided to do some undercover investigations into the finance world by asking students some questions about their interests in Corporate Social Responsibility. Surrounded by garish corporate logos, which seemed to be overflowing with absolute colourful positivity (hiding their negative underside). Upon investigation, the Oxford Careers Service showed me the only piece of literature that even discussed Corporate Social Responsibility as an opportunity: a single-paged article in a journal about 200-300 pages long.
Not particularly shocking, but I decided to ask further questions:
Me: I was more interested in investment on a more ethical level…
OCS: We have alternate non-profit fair happening in Hilary term.
Me: Oh, but what about profitable companies that invest ethically?
OCS: You mean ethical investment firms? I don’t they can really afford to have a stall here. These companies pay a lot of money to come to this event.
Me: But couldn’t you give the ethical investment firms any subsidies or benefits to help them out, to promote fair representation?
OCS: What are you studying?
Me: Social Anthropology
OCS: You should really come to the non-profit careers fair. Or you could ask these big companies for opportunities in their Corporate Social Responsibility sector.
So I did, and unsurprisingly the few companies I spoke to (including Shell) referred me quickly to their website, knowing nothing about that side of things - Shell also stated that the issue in Nigeria was because of the government, not Shell. They turned away then. They also did the same when I questioned them (nicely) about their own lack of responsibility. I couldn’t approach RBS as they were often surrounded by people and refusing to look at me - and I even had all my corporate-drone-style clothing on! Maybe I just can’t pull off the ‘I-don’t-care-about-anything’ look.
We also decided to try a form of subtle campaigning - surveying people about their reasons for entering the fair and handing them some information about their corporate choices (particularly relating to investment banking). It’s amazing how so many people aren’t particularly concerned about joining a corporate and seem so unaware about its individual mismanagement. It only makes me want to shake them and ask ‘WHY?!’
I suppose that all of this thinking has only validated why I think that coalitions are so important. If we have to stand up to these massive and overweight bodies (seething with an indescribable stench that only attracted the senseless), we have to work together. We need to show that we are not scatterings of concerned individuals but a mass community that is not only concerned but not scared to show it.
The power is only in our hands if we work together and we work against each big corporation. Remember, they are competing against one another, but we shouldn’t be. Thus I can only hope that Direct Action participants and big NGOs realise this and do not try to recreate a negative cloud/imagination of being against one another.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:48 am
I think you’re absolutely right that we need a plurality of tactics & approaches to successfully fight climate change or protect human rights. Although I guess when it comes to attitudes to corporations, you could argue that some big NGOs are maybe not critical enough. For example I think rather than accepting the current economic system and all that it entails while campaigning for a very slightly fairer outcome for a particular group or groups, we need to tackle the root causes too. Although certainly some NGOs do this, while some of those carrying out direct action don’t!