Companies are regulated by politics, but they also shape the political arena themselves, whenever they influence politicians and political parties. Moreover, companies fulfill public functions such as providing public goods, regulating their own business activities, or addressing societal problems, like environmental harms. Can this mix of private activity and public responsibility be legitimate, in a democratic society? Aren't corporations given too much political power? Are multinationals different in this respect from other companies? These questions are central in the recently awarded ERC Consolidator Grant project ‘The Business Corporation as a Political Actor’.
The project is based on the hypothesis that a new social contract is necessary to make the public role of contemporary corporations legitimate. This requires transplanting notions traditionally used for legitimizing states – like respecting human rights, democratic procedures, and standards of social justice – to corporations. Is this possible? To answer this question, the project engages in a philosophical reflection on the possibilities to apply existing political theories of legitimacy to corporations. This is combined with practical case studies on different types of regulation of corporate activity: corporate governance regulating, tax policies, and competition law, etc. Home base of the project is Political Philosophy, but its aim is to integrate insights from other disciplines, such as law, economics, political science and history.
You will be working under the supervision of the Program Leader, Rutger Claassen, as part of a research team consisting of two PhD candidates and two Postdoctoral Researchers. You will play an active role in the research team, organize and take part in workshops, public events and other activities. The positions are based at the Ethics Institute, which is part of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University, which provides a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment.
Further details:
2 Postdoc positions in the research program ‘The Business Corporation as a Political Actor’ at Utrecht University