EIRP Proceedings, Vol 7 (2012)

Abstract

Society’s expectations regarding the performance of major corporations could not really have been examined before now. This is to say that, within the political context of the modern world, society had no expectations of corporations, which were considered as one social construct among others. From a broad political perspective, societal expectations could be seen expressed in the exercise of representative democracy. The political context (the ‘liberal moment’ herein), which has developed since the early 1980s actually changed the general perspective. (1^st argument) The main consequence is a shift in the dominant representation of the corporation, so that it is currently considered a vector of profit rather than a ‘socio-technical’ system. (2^nd argument). Of course, the ambiguity of the very notion of performance did make it possible to integrate expectations beyond just profits (3^rd argument); nonetheless, these expectations must be judged both in terms of hope and reality. (Conclusion)