The US chamber and chambers of commerce respond to Black Lives Matter: Cheap talk, progressive neoliberalism, or transformative change?
Date
2022-10-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Business and Politics
Abstract
This article examines the responses of the US Chamber of Commerce and state- and local-level chambers of commerce to Black Lives Matter (BLM). The US Chamber of Commerce's Equality of Opportunity Initiative stresses the business case for racial equity and the economic benefits that can be attained by overcoming race-related inequalities. Many chambers are adopting racially progressive positions, often at some cost to themselves. This article contributes a typology of stances and actions and draws on interviews with American business leaders to characterize American business organization responses to BLM. There is some movement beyond a progressive neoliberal vision of nondiscrimination to acknowledge that it is necessary to “level the playing field.” And the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives of state- and regional-level chambers suggest that they are making genuine and, in some cases, bold and meaningful attempts to advance the cause of racial equity. The evidence suggests that popular mobilization and social pressure following George Floyd's brutal murder played a critical role in enabling this progress. However, the parallels and similarities between current chamber and business DEI efforts and business stances in the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s raise the question: Can current efforts succeed where previous efforts have failed?
Description
This article was originally published in Business and Politics. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2022.17. Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of V.K. Aggarwal
Keywords
Black Lives Matter, business, chambers of commerce, racism, US Chamber of Commerce
Citation
Kinderman, Daniel. “The US Chamber and Chambers of Commerce Respond to Black Lives Matter: Cheap Talk, Progressive Neoliberalism, or Transformative Change?” Business and Politics 24, no. 4 (2022): 491–516. doi:10.1017/bap.2022.17.