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Beyond Profit and Politics: Reciprocity and the Role of For-Profit Business

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  • Brookes Brown

    (Clemson University)

Abstract

Standard accounts of reciprocal citizenship hold that citizens have a duty to participate in politics. Against this, several business ethicists and philosophers have recently argued that people can satisfy their obligations of civic reciprocity non-politically, by owning, managing, or working in for-profit businesses. In this article, I reject both the standard and the market accounts of reciprocal citizenship. Against the market view, I show that the ordinary work of profit maximization cannot take the place of traditional political activity. Yet contra the standard political account, I show that a special class of the actions we perform in our work as employers and employees in for-profit companies can fulfill our obligations of reciprocity. Business ethicists must therefore develop a more nuanced account of the relationship between for-profit business endeavors and the debts we owe fellow citizens who undertake burdensome political work to our benefit.

Suggested Citation

  • Brookes Brown, 2019. "Beyond Profit and Politics: Reciprocity and the Role of For-Profit Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 239-251, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:159:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3777-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3777-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gregory J. Robson, 2023. "How to Object to the Profit System (and How Not To)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 205-219, November.

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