A book talk by Professor Matteo Gatti
Over the past decade, corporations have moved in the political sphere well beyond traditional lobbying. Many took public positions on climate change, racial justice, voting rights, immigration, and reproductive healthcare, redesigning internal policies and publicly opposing or supporting political developments. These interventions blurred the boundary between economic activity and political authority, raising a fundamental question: when corporations act as political and governing actors, what happens to democratic decision-making?
In Corporate Power and the Politics of Change, Matteo Gatti offers a comprehensive account of this phenomenon, which he terms “corporate governing.” The book traces the legal, strategic, and institutional forces that pushed firms into public-policy roles—from regulatory gridlock and political polarization to reputational pressures and market dynamics. It also explains why this period of heightened corporate visibility is now giving way to silence and retrenchment under more openly transactional political conditions.
Drawing on corporate law and insights from economics, finance, marketing, and political science, the book assesses the risks corporate governing poses to democratic accountability while questioning the assumption that firms can—or should—substitute for public institutions. The talk will explore these dynamics and consider what the rise and retreat of corporate political engagement reveal about power, responsibility, and governance in contemporary capitalism.