New Activism and the Corporate Response – Reviews

One of the Top 100 management books of 2004.

– Australian Financial Review

A book that “every aspiring business leader should read”.

– MIS Asia

‘A thought provoking book that gives useful insights about the so-called “new activism”. Some conventional political movements as well as businesses and campaigning organisations will pick up tips – others will look for warnings about the opposition coming their way! Meanwhile, the activists themselves will be stimulated into thinking about what they are for, as well as against, to whom they are accountable for their passions and actions, what they intend to put in place of the institutions that they oppose, and how they think the change should be achieved.’

– Neil Kinnock, Vice-President of the European Commission and former leader of the Labour Party

The blurb for this collection of essays quotes Neil Kinnock, Vice President of the European Commission and former leader of the Labour Party: ‘A thought provoking book that gives useful insights about the so called “new activism”. Some conventional political movements as well as businesses and campaigning organisations will pick up tips – others will look for warnings about the opposition coming their way! Meanwhile, the activists themselves will be stimulated into thinking about what they are for, as well as against, to whom they are accountable for their passions and actions, what they intend to put in place of the institutions that they oppose, and how they think the change should be achieved.’

With the bin protesters still protesting, you can’t help wondering if this wouldn’t make a useful Christmas present for your local county councillor.

– Accountancy Ireland, December 2003

This Interesting book would have been better if the material was more focused. As it is, New Activism and the Corporate Response sometimes seems unsure about whether its audience comprises the suits or the citizenry, whether it’s a collection of political essays or a primer on corporate PR. Doubtless the editors, who work in the corporate and issues management practice of the global law firm DLA, wanted both sets of readers. But the overall impression is somewhat confusing.

Even so, it’s a must for those in corporations who want to understand their powerful new adversaries: the activists who mobilise using new electronic communication and unorthodox protests. There is very little material around that tells corporations how to fight back against what can be broadly termed the anti-globalisation movement.

Companies, according to John and Thomson, have been slow to appreciate the speed and intensity of these diffuse but committed groups. And they’ve been slow to nurture their own support groups. The book argues that they need to spend more time marshalling employees, customers and suppliers to the cause and less time worrying about who the chairman is networking with over lunch.

However, figuring out how to counter a telephone campaign against your company is one thing, but the bigger issue of managing the uneasy truce between our lives as citizens and our lives as shareholders is another.

– Helen Trinca, Boss magazine (Financial Review), March 2004

Sometimes when you are given a book to review, the topic and the area covered are very familiar to you. There may already be a number of books covering the topic, you may have discussed it at home or with colleagues, you may even have spoken on it yourself. ‘New Activism and the Corporate Response’ is different. There are very few, if any, books which cover the development of activist activity, it’s various forms and importantly how companies have, and should, react.

The editors – Steve John and Stuart Thomson – have bought together writers from business, academia and the activist community to discuss these matters in some detail. The balance works excellently with each author bringing their own insight and making their own distinctive contribution to the debate. Stand out chapters include George Monbiot’s description of the corporate takeover of Britain, Jordan and Stevenson’s examination of how business and activist groups can and have worked together, and Nichols’ aggressive defence of the rights of business to defend themselves vigorously against activist attacks.

As well as introducing the topic and showing clearly why activism needs to be considered seriously, John and Thomson, take an innovative approach to concluding the work. Effectively they divide the conclusion into two sections, each being a ‘how to’ which build on the chapters continued in the book. The first, is how businesses should defend themselves, whilst the second describes how activists should attack – hopefully aimed, so that each can learn from the other!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, but one which really gets to grips with a topic which is now at the heart of business and politics. Ignore it at your peril!

– Joe Brice, Public Affairs Newsletter, October 2003

The editors of this collection straddle the boundary between the academic study of interest representation – or corporate political activism – and its practice. Both are lobbying consultants in a public affairs unit of a multinational corporate law firm, and both have undertaken applied and academic research on lobbying. This volume offers a snapshot of current thinking on anti-corporate activism and corporate strategy with chapters from several leading academic commentators and consultants. Regrettably, the editors were not as successful in soliciting contributions from the new activists (a key subject for the collection) as they were from those more familiar with the corporate response: as such the book is somewhat diminished. Nevertheless, the range of topics addressed gives a good sense of the issues and agendas facing corporate strategists in formulating responses to the contemporary ‘generational shift in how governments, businesses, interest groups and citizens interact’ (p. 1). The chapters dealing with the inter-related phenomena of governance, social dialogue, corporate-activist engagement, and the new globalised communications environment provide a useful set of ideas and questions about the possibilities of the ‘new activism’. These should be read in conjunction with Charles Miller’s grounded account of the evolution of the (UK) business lobby which neatly captures an important tension within this book (and indeed in wider debates): namely the problematic distinction between the public and private in ‘public’ affairs and ‘public’ relations. The volume is well written and will appeal to readers across business and social science disciplines. Though primarily Anglo-American and European in focus (i.e. a western-centric take on political activism and globalisation), the book is accessible and grounded in contemporary public affairs. This should recommend it to those interested in conceptually and empirically coming to grips with the dynamics of governance, protest and corporate political action in advanced political economies

– William Dinan, Political Studies Review (Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages 52-161)