So­ci­et­al Act­ors, Is­sues and Agen­das

Course content

This course explores the role of business in society. It does so by exploring perceptions and interactions between corporations and other societal actors such as consumers, citizens, NGOs, media, national government, and transnational institutions of governance (UN, ILO etc).

The course investigates practices of communicative interaction between corporations and stakeholders, and the strategies employed by different actors to protect and further their interests.  A large repertoire of corporate strategies will be explored, ranging from reporting, reputation monitoring, surveillance and lobbyism towards more participatory forms of interaction such as community hearings and multistakeholder forums. Similarly, civil society strategies will be investigated such as sponsorships, partnerships and advocacy towards more antagonistic interactions such as smear campaigns (esp. social media), corporate sabotage, brand terrorism etc.
 
In addition to lectures, which focus on theory, the course consists of case-work and workshops, all of which exemplify stakeholder interactions in a globalized and highly mediated reality. The context (political, economical, cultural) of cases will be explored in depth in order to enable critical analysis and discussion of the communicative responses and strategies of relevant actors for each case. In  workshops, we work with practitioners representing different stakeholders to solve communicative challenges from their practice.
 
During the last month of the semester, groups work with self-selected cases to be developed for their exams, which are presented and discussed in class. A synopsis describing the case, suggesting a theoretically informed analysis of it and suggesting feasible strategic alternatives, will constitute the starting point of an individual oral exam.