An Essay on Corporate Crimes in the Post-Colonial Perspective: Challenging Traditional Literature

Abstract

Objective: this essay aims to theoretically challenge the notions of corporate crimes developed in traditional literature, which understand this phenomenon as a social and organizational dysfunction, focusing on its antecedents and determinants. Argument: the basic premise of the essay is that corporate crimes occur in a corporate dynamic, the main force of contemporary capitalism over the world. We use the post-colonial thinking, more specifically the concepts of necrocapitalism, a version of contemporary capitalism characterized by imperialism, which refers to contemporary forms of accumulation, which involve the subjugation of life to the power of death. Results: corporate crimes occur on a lasting basis in contexts of extremely complex interrelationships, including relationships between corporations and governments. Conclusions: we conclude that it is necessary to argue against the normalization of corporate crimes in the field of organizational studies, when treating them as a dysfunction. Corporate crimes are configured in a chain of agents, including the state, involving a set of violations that attack nations.

Keywords

• corporate crime
• necrocapitalism
• death