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Are Rawlsian Considerations of Corporate Governance Illiberal? A Reply to Singer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2016

Sandrine Blanc
Sandrine Blanc*
Affiliation:
INSEEC Business School
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Abstract:

Singer has recently argued that questions related to corporate governance are beyond the reach of Rawls’s political conception of justice. This is because justice applies to the basic structure of society, understood as society’s legally coercive structures, and because corporate governance cannot be considered part of this structure in political liberalism. This commentary challenges the second part of the argument. First, it suggests that the criterion used to exclude corporate governance from the basic structure—whether employees can exit economic organizations—is not conclusive for corporate governance, notably as institutionalized in corporate law. Second, even if the focus were on corporate governance, it would still be possible to argue that it legally coerces citizens, if not employees, in a relevant way. Thus, the argument is not successful in demonstrating that political liberalism goes beyond its legitimate boundaries when considering that aspects of corporate governance may be matters of justice.

Keywords

Corporate governancecorporationinstitutionjusticeliberal egalitarianismRawls
Type
Commentary
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , July 2016 , pp. 407 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2016 

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