This book proposes a political theory of the business firm, and by doing so, it offers new perspectives on social justice, neoliberalism, and conservatism. It challenges usual interpretations of neoliberalism by reconstructing the philosophical grounds of a form of conservatism of commerce based on a powerful aesthetics of inequality. More precisely, this book makes two key claims. First, it argues that corporations “see” in a conservative way. From this point of view, the “normative tunnel vision” of the corporation is that of hierarchy and inequality, and the great simplification of the corporate optic is to set aside the demands for equal standing. Second, it argues that we need a relational conception of equality and justice to think about corporations. From a relational perspective, a commitment to equality implies more than advocating the fair distribution of goods and resources, it aims to build a true society of equals and to fight against unjust hierarchies, various forms of subordination and social stratification. Consequently, the key normative claim of the relational approach regarding the corporation is this: what is so unique about the firm, and worrisome given its centrality within our societies, is precisely its capacity to undermine the very foundations of a society of equals. It does so because the big normative simplification of the corporate “optic” is to set aside the demands for equal standing. Relational egalitarians should try to deconstruct it, argue against it, and find ways to tackle it.
