The social construction of an industry

Patrick Kenis

"The systematic study of collective action by business is an "enfant industry" in the scholarly enterprise. Compared to the thousands of volumes devoted to describing, explaining, and (often) extolling the action of trade unions, those devoted explicitly to trade and employer associations could barely fill a single library shelf. Compared to the heroics of worker demonstrations, strikes, and uprisings, the efforts of capitalists to defend their interests collectively are bound to appear prosaic. If fashion and emotion were not enough, theory has also conspired to discourage the study of cooperation and collusion among consenting capitalists. Liberals try to convince us that only the competitive interaction of individuals as producers/ consumers and citizens/voters leads to social choices and determines societal outcomes; Marxists assure us that capitalists do not need to act...

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