Abstract
This paper introduces the concept of business-related conspiracy theories (BrCTs). Drawing on Aristotelian virtue ethics and undertaking a narratological and ethical analysis of 28 BrCTs found online, I emphasize that BrCTs are narratives with structures rooted in other latent macro- and meta-narratives, including centuries-old myths. In particular, I reconstruct the fictional world (diegesis) of BrCTs – one in which CSR and social contracts have failed – before identifying eight different types of actors as which people can morally situate themselves in their relationships with business. Finally, I elaborate on the actors’ performances and their use of external and legitimate forces to end the story. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential future research to help combat BrCTs, as well as a call for the critical study of political CSR.
Highlights
According to Moscovici (1987, p. 153), “[the twentieth century] established conspiracy as a system of thought and a method of action.” Aaronovitch (2010, p. 3) even states that we have entered an era of “fashionable conspiracism.” how to fight conspiracy theories remains a difficult question as research outside business ethics shows how difficult it is to debunk these theories and how attempts to debunk a theory often become, in the eyes of the conspiracists, evidence that the conspiracy is real (Sunstein and Vermeule 2009)
Regarding the reasons why people would move from a perceived lack of virtue in business to belief in business-related conspiracy theories (BrCTs), I have suggested that the perceived lack of virtue may trigger ethical distress and blindness: Ethical distress would lead to an unwise practice of knowledge, which would lead to ethical blindness
The mise-en-scène enables the creation and presentation of the diegesis, that is, the fictional world that spectators can imagine. This miseen-scène is mainly carried out through description, which has the same role in creating the diegesis and helps readers explain and justify the psychology of the characters, as well as their actions (Genette 1997). In this first section of findings, I draw on the data collected to develop this fictional world, which helps readers ethically make sense of the different events and characters recounted in a BrCT
Summary
According to Moscovici (1987, p. 153), “[the twentieth century] established conspiracy as a system of thought and a method of action.” Aaronovitch (2010, p. 3) even states that we have entered an era of “fashionable conspiracism.” how to fight conspiracy theories remains a difficult question as research outside business ethics shows how difficult it is to debunk these theories and how attempts to debunk a theory often become, in the eyes of the conspiracists, evidence that the conspiracy is real (Sunstein and Vermeule 2009). I argue in this paper that belief in a BrCT is not necessarily the simplistic result of pathological minds engaging with irrational and paranoid ideas (Hofstadter 2008) This assertion is essential because using pathology to explain BrCTs may lead the population and decision-makers to think that it is normal (i.e., the norm) to consider conspiracy theories as totally delusional and that they should, ignore them. Drawing on Aristotelian virtue ethics and using structural narratology, I show that BrCTs are, above all, micronarratives in which people and organizations can play roles that vary based on their ethical positions These roles are inspired by latent macro- and meta-narratives that recount a similar story taking place in the neoliberal economic system and involve a lack of virtue, illegitimate domination, and inequality in society. Navigating Between the Plots: A Narratological and Ethical Analysis of Business-Related
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