However, I found among the case studies that successful social change was negatively correlated with the use of corporate campaigns and negotiations. For example, the antislavery and children’s rights movements — among the most successful — spent little on corporate campaigns, while the less successful anti-abortion and Fair Trade movements spent relatively more.[26]
Does this correlation also go with when the movements were active and a general increase in corporate tactics over time? At least for your examples, antislavery and children’s rights seem older than anti-abortion and Fair Trade.
I would guess the political and corporate situations today are quite different, with corporate influence stronger, perhaps especially in the US. Getting corporations to commit first should reduce their attempts to undermine legal reform or even get them to join in support to force their competitors to compete on a level playing field. Going through the corporate route first might also reduce the risk that the issue gets split between the political left and right, by preventing the industry from trying to build partisan support against it. This could also therefore reduce issue salience.
I haven’t looked at those sort of over-time trends at the movement level and then compared across movements. I don’t think there’s enough info for that. But otherwise, I agree with all your points here. I didn’t update my views on corporate campaigns very substantially when I noticed this significant correlation, though I did update them a little.
Does this correlation also go with when the movements were active and a general increase in corporate tactics over time? At least for your examples, antislavery and children’s rights seem older than anti-abortion and Fair Trade.
I would guess the political and corporate situations today are quite different, with corporate influence stronger, perhaps especially in the US. Getting corporations to commit first should reduce their attempts to undermine legal reform or even get them to join in support to force their competitors to compete on a level playing field. Going through the corporate route first might also reduce the risk that the issue gets split between the political left and right, by preventing the industry from trying to build partisan support against it. This could also therefore reduce issue salience.
I haven’t looked at those sort of over-time trends at the movement level and then compared across movements. I don’t think there’s enough info for that. But otherwise, I agree with all your points here. I didn’t update my views on corporate campaigns very substantially when I noticed this significant correlation, though I did update them a little.