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The Field of Business Sustainability and the Death Drive: A Radical Intervention

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Listed:
  • Alan Bradshaw

    (University of London)

  • Detlev Zwick

    (York University)

Abstract

We argue that the gap between an authentically ethical conviction of sustainability and a behaviour that avoids confronting the terrifying reality of its ethical point of reference is characteristic of the field of business sustainability. We do not accuse the field of business sustainability of ethical shortcomings on the account of this attitude–behaviour gap. If anything, we claim the opposite, namely that there resides an ethical sincerity in the convictions of business scholars to entrust capitalism and capitalists with the mammoth task of reversing, the terrifying reality of ecological devastation. Yet, the very illusory nature of this belief in capitalism’s captains to save us from the environmentally devastating effects of capitalism gives this ethical stance a tragic beauty. While sincere and authentic, it nevertheless is an ethical stance that relies on an “exclusionary gesture of refusing to see” (Žižek, in Violence, 2008, p. 52), what in psychoanalysis is referred to as a fetishist disavowal of reality. We submit that this disavowal is fetishistic because the act is not simply one of repressing the real. If it was, we would rightly expect that we could all see the truth if we only provide more or better information to fill the subject’s lack of knowledge. The problem is that the fetishist transfers a fantasy of the real as the real. In the case of destructive capitalism, the fetishist disavows that particular reality by believing in another, thus subjectively negating the lack (or gap). Therefore, from the perspective of psychoanalytic theory, we submit that the gap between attitude and behaviour is best understood not only as an ethical flaw, but also as an essential component of an ethics that makes possible the field of business sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Bradshaw & Detlev Zwick, 2016. "The Field of Business Sustainability and the Death Drive: A Radical Intervention," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 267-279, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:136:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2443-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2443-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robin Canniford & Avi Shankar, 2013. "Purifying Practices: How Consumers Assemble Romantic Experiences of Nature," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(5), pages 1051-1069.
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    Cited by:

    1. Georgiana Grigore & Mike Molesworth & Andreea Vonțea & Abdullah Hasan Basnawi & Ogeday Celep & Sylvian Patrick Jesudoss, 2021. "Drama and Discounting in the Relational Dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 65-88, November.
    2. Joel Hietanen & Antti Sihvonen, 2021. "Catering to Otherness: Levinasian Consumer Ethics at Restaurant Day," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 261-276, January.
    3. Georgiana Grigore & Mike Molesworth & Andreea Vontea & Abdullah Hasan Basnawi & Ogeday Celep & Sylvian Patrick Jesudoss, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Liquid Times: The Case of Romania," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(4), pages 763-782, December.
    4. Glozer, Sarah & Morsing, Mette, 2020. "Helpful hypocrisy? Investigating ‘double-talk’ and irony in CSR marketing communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 363-375.
    5. Ivan Montiel & Peter Jack Gallo & Raquel Antolin-Lopez, 2020. "What on Earth Should Managers Learn About Corporate Sustainability? A Threshold Concept Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 857-880, April.
    6. Thomas, Manoj T., 2018. "Developing a capstone course on ecological and social sustainability in business education," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 949-958.
    7. Jean‐Pierre Imbrogiano & Elizabeth Nichols, 2021. "How to serve sustainability performance in businesses? An appetizing recipe to link practices to performance in business sustainability research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1610-1622, May.
    8. Giana M. Eckhardt & Susan Dobscha, 2019. "The Consumer Experience of Responsibilization: The Case of Panera Cares," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 651-663, October.

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