Woke Capitalism

Considers how corporate governance and other aspects of business law have responded to pressing issues in society, such as changing political ideology

• Traces the origins and current status of ‘woke captialism’
• Clarifies the connection between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and woke capitalism
• Examines the critique that capitalism has turned ‘woke’
• Analyses the most recent legislative backlash against ESG

The question of whose interest corporations should serve is fundamental to the field. Over the past half century, it has appeared in different forms. This book traces this development and is the first book to analyse the most recent framing of this debate as ‘woke capitalism’.

Bringing together leading scholars from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and continental Europe, this book traces the evolution of the shareholder/stakeholder debate and goes further connecting CSR, ESG with ‘woke’ capitalism in the context of the current economic and political climate. It addresses cornerstones of the ESG debate and covers key topics such as gender, employees and social media, human rights and environment, effects of COVID -19, legislative backlash and inclusivity in personal banking.

This cutting-edge collection examines the critique that capitalism has turned ‘woke’, analyses the most recent US, EU and US backlash against ESG and suggests that this development may help us to recentre the debate and go back to drawing the boundary between shareholder and stakeholder concerns afresh.