Agency Dictionary

Corporativism

nounPronunciation: /ˈkɔːr.pər.ə.tɪ.zəm/

What does “Corporativism” mean?

The defence of the interests of a business class or professional group above the general interest, and the culture built around it. The word also names a political and economic system organized through corporations of employers, workers and professions.

Etymology

Formed from corporative with the suffix -ism; the commoner English form is corporatism, from corporate. Both go back to Latin corporatus, past participle of corporare, "to form into a body", from corpus, "body". The term gained currency in the first half of the 20th century as the name of the doctrine that organises society and the economy through corporations of employers, workers and professions under the state, a model adopted by Italian Fascism. Political science later extended it to systems in which large interest groups negotiate policy with governments.

Usage note

Corporatism is the usual English form; corporativism is rarer and close to the Portuguese corporativismo. Both are often applied loosely to the power and habits of large business corporations, which is not the meaning in political science.

Synonyms

corporatism

Often confused with

corporate culture: The life and habits of companies are called corporate culture or the corporate world; corporativism is the defence of a group's interests or a political and economic system, not a word for office life.

Word family

corporative
corporativist
corporate
corporation
incorporate

Usage examples

A profoundly ironic comedy show with valuable lessons about corporativism but also painful truths about the pursuit of power.

Concept

Corporate PowerCorporate power denotes the extensive economic, informational, and political influence concentrated within large multinational enterprises and media conglomerates. This…

Source editions

Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.

issue.0 - Row Your Boat, Sailor.March 3, 2023Read the edition

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