The Means of Value Production: Translating Social Causes into Business Concerns

Abstract

This dissertation examines the intersection of social movements and business, including the availability and use of business-based frames and tactics, the targeting of businesses by movement actors, and the participation of businesses in cause-based efforts. It primarily draws upon social movements literature, which is supplemented by management and organizational literature. The first, qualitative study analyzes why a pro-LGBTQ business-based framing tactic emerged in Mississippi. It draws upon documentary and interview data and uses narrative analysis in a theory-driven case study to identify the discursive opportunity structure and resonant frame that fostered the availability of a framing tactic for the campaign’s founders, supporters, and participants to enact in the midst of a closed political opportunity structure. The second, quantitative study analyzes why large firms are receptive to and aligned with the workplace equality movement. It models the relationship between corporate opportunity structures – internal firm characteristics and external firm contexts – and movement receptivity and alignment when all firms are targeted by the same persuasive movement tactic. The study finds that existing ideological and structured commitment to a related cause, attentiveness to meeting expectations, and predisposition to act on issues are all positive significant predictors of firms’ likelihood of receptivity to and alignment with the workplace equality movement. The results of both studies provide support for the malleability of meaning making; the dynamic interaction among movement contexts, targets, and tactics; the utility of persuasive tactics; and the potence of business as a site of social change. Ultimately, this dissertation explores how social causes are translated into issues that are viewed as meaningful and valuable within business.