Corporate Interest and Trade Liberalization

Abstract

This article examines rhetoric by corporations about the inclusion of environmental issues in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It provides a greater understanding of corporate pressure on regulatory measures by indicating how corporate actions change in relation to social movement and state actions. The author develops a cultural political economy perspective to show how issues are not fixed but are shaped by power relations and ongoing meaning construction. In doing so, he argues for the integration of theories of the firm with theories of the state to reveal the relationship between organizations and their social and political environment. The author shows how corporate rhetoric in the NAFTA debate does not fit neatly into prevailing theories of organizational and political sociology and suggests, instead, a political economy perspective that indicates a dynamic cultural process by which corporations attempt to ensure profit maximization under changing circumstances.