Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
One of the most common assumptions about American business associations is that they are simply political interest groups. This chapter discusses sociological arguments for this assumption and shows ...
More
One of the most common assumptions about American business associations is that they are simply political interest groups. This chapter discusses sociological arguments for this assumption and shows how the evidence of political orientations and activities in the association census and the focal groups challenges these arguments as partial and unrepresentative. Then, focusing on that minority of associations that are indeed active in conventional politics, it examines what exactly they do and the terms in which they understand their political action. The chapter argues that they are mostly involved in routine policy monitoring as peripheral players in policy domains. Then, extending recent arguments about American political discourse, it shows how they express their political interests in terms of a democratic code stressing technical reason and the stewardship of the common good. These arguments are demonstrated with illustrations drawn from the focal sample and an extended case analysis of the political work of the Irrigation Association.Less
One of the most common assumptions about American business associations is that they are simply political interest groups. This chapter discusses sociological arguments for this assumption and shows how the evidence of political orientations and activities in the association census and the focal groups challenges these arguments as partial and unrepresentative. Then, focusing on that minority of associations that are indeed active in conventional politics, it examines what exactly they do and the terms in which they understand their political action. The chapter argues that they are mostly involved in routine policy monitoring as peripheral players in policy domains. Then, extending recent arguments about American political discourse, it shows how they express their political interests in terms of a democratic code stressing technical reason and the stewardship of the common good. These arguments are demonstrated with illustrations drawn from the focal sample and an extended case analysis of the political work of the Irrigation Association.
Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of ...
More
This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of disinterested solidarity, as well as self-interest, are intrinsic in orientations to economic action even of capitalist business. Solidarity grounded in the technical division of labor exists as a critical potential within capitalist economic activity. This is what critical theorists used to call a “cultural surplus,” a shared normative grounding for claims-making in favor of institutions of production and exchange that might turn self-interested strategy to more encompassing solidarity. In view of this cultural surplus, assuming that economic action grounded on a norm of strategic, self-interested exchange is a transparent and immutable fact of life is ultimately more dangerous than investigating disinterest and exploring the conditions of its creation in solidaristic institutions.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of disinterested solidarity, as well as self-interest, are intrinsic in orientations to economic action even of capitalist business. Solidarity grounded in the technical division of labor exists as a critical potential within capitalist economic activity. This is what critical theorists used to call a “cultural surplus,” a shared normative grounding for claims-making in favor of institutions of production and exchange that might turn self-interested strategy to more encompassing solidarity. In view of this cultural surplus, assuming that economic action grounded on a norm of strategic, self-interested exchange is a transparent and immutable fact of life is ultimately more dangerous than investigating disinterest and exploring the conditions of its creation in solidaristic institutions.
