Woke Capitalism

In the past few years, most notably following Australia’s Black Summer bushfires, businesses have begun signalling their support for traditionally progressive ideas like marriage equality and environmental sustainability. This has been called woke capitalism, where multinational corporations enter the public sphere by taking and amplifying political positions. Corporations talk a good game on social credibility, but can we rely on them when the going gets tough? Or are they just following public sentiment to profit? And how does this newfound corporate morality impact on liberal democracies?

This week, Toby Hemmings was joined by Carl Rhodes. Carl is Professor of Organisation Studies and Dean of the UTS Business School. He’s also written a new book called Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy.