Old Wine in New Bottles? Parentalism, Power, and Its Legitimacy in Business–Society Relations

Deliberating or Stalling for Justice? Dynamics of Corporate Remediation and Victim Resistance Through the Lens of Parentalism: The Fundão dam Collapse and the Renova Foundation in Brazil

“…Although the literature has made evident significant shortcomings of MSIs in delivering on PCSR's pledges, very little has been reported about the softer, less-visible mechanisms of power disparities that aim to legitimize power (Gond et al, 2016). To this end, Etchanchu and Djelic (2019) conceived the notion of 'parentalism', conceptualized as a modern version of control that reflects liberal and progressive de-gendered values (Etchanchu & Djelic, 2019). It is defined as 'a set of practices through which an actor (individual, organization or institution) treats another like a parent to a child.…”

“…Parentalism attempts to reconcile two seemingly opposing dimensions-power/control (traditionally masculine) and benevolence and nurturing and care (traditionally feminine) (Etchanchu & Djelic, 2019). The definition of parentalism infers an underlying tension in deciding a child's autonomy and best interests.…”

“…The definition of parentalism infers an underlying tension in deciding a child's autonomy and best interests. Unlike paternalism, wherein the father figure wields more authority and 'always unilaterally knows best for the child', parentalism espouses the traditional maternal characteristics of benevolence, care and nurturing in equal measure while simultaneously influencing and controlling the child's decision-making through seemingly open and frank conversation (Etchanchu & Djelic, 2019).…”

“…Additionally, less-visible forms of power instrumentalized by businesses in instances of deliberative democracy, such as in cases of multi-stakeholder engagement, remain under-examined (Etchanchu & Djelic, 2019;Gond et al, 2016). To this end, Etchanchu and Djelic (2019) invoked the idea of parentalism, where organizations behave and treat stakeholders as a modern-day liberal parent would towards its child, convening them for dialogue (similar to deliberation) and affording them some autonomy, while still gripping on to decision-making power for any outcomes. It is hoped that by examining the remediation process of the dam victims by Renova Foundation through the lens of parentalism, it will be possible to bring to surface the more subtle and dialectical tensions and strategies of power, influence, justifications and resistance by victims.…”

“…Additional testimony was also analysed from video footage. In the interest of verifying my interpretations of events and narratives, I systematically coded the data along the characteristics of deliberative parentalism (comprising egalitarian care, outcome control, convening practice, manipulation power and child's lack of knowledge/resources justification) (Etchanchu & Djelic, 2019), while also engaging in frequent discussions with atingidos, activists and prosecutors.…”