Corporate civil disobedience: Be careful what you wish for

Given authoritarianism’s resurgence, defenders of democracy are scrambling to identify political antidotes. Corporate civil disobedience (CCD), or politically motivated lawbreaking by business corporations that is civil (or public-minded), morally conscientious, nonviolent, public, and respectful of the law, seems to offer one useful political tool. This article sketches the strongest case for CCD before moving to consider its normative and political perils. Despite its many strengths, CCD’s proponents sideline harsh organizational realities of (especially) large for-profit business corporations, many of which are best characterized as more-or-less authoritarian private governments. As such, it is unlikely that CCD can meet the relatively demanding conditions of civil disobedience, as standardly conceived. Given liberal democracy’s necessary commitment to political equality, it does not make sense to provide space for CCD, though the case of small business may be an exception. However, democratic backsliding complicates matters. With reference to John Rawls, I posit that the problematic case for CCD becomes less so when democracy faces severe authoritarian challenges. CCD may be permissible in the context of democratic backsliding to an extent that is not the case under more-or-less ordinary democratic conditions.