When
Join us for an engaging talk titled “The Morality of Market Activism,” by Saura Masconale, Freedom Center Associate Director, Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science, and James E. Rogers College of Law Affiliated Faculty.
This event will take place in SBS 224 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and participate in a stimulating discussion!
Abstract:
Are individuals morally permitted to use their purchasing power for social change—engaging in market activism? Existing accounts defend market activism as liberty (common good anarchists) or reject it as undemocratic (proceduralists), but each contradicts the widely accepted Dual Commitment of just societies to both markets and democracy. This essay develops a rights-based analysis that avoids this contradiction by clarifying how our market and democratic rights can be made compossible under the Dual Commitment, thereby precisifying when market activism is morally permissible. Ultimately, we connect market activism to defensive ethics, arguing that when firms engage in unjust takings—exploiting market failures and local justice deficits to harm citizens—market activism may be justified as a form of defensive harm. As such, it must meet the conditions of liability, necessity, and proportionality that ground permissible defense. We conclude that not all forms of market activism are alike, nor are they equally permissible.