Conceptualising investors’ political participation

Politically motivated action by shareholders and other investors is variously labelled as shareholder activism, corporate activism, or socially responsible investment, and recognised as political participation under the banner of political consumerism. However, this inconsistent labelling and categorisation of investors’ activism as political consumerism fails to capture the unique role and diverse political participation of different types of investors. Moreover, while there is a considerable body of work on consumers’ political participation, investors’ political participation has received comparatively little attention. This is despite social movement organisations’ (SMOs) increasing use of investment-based tactics such as divestment campaigns, shareholder resolutions, and boycotts of financial institutions on issues including climate change, labour exploitation, and human rights abuses. This paper seeks to remedy the rhetorical blurring and limited conceptualisation of investors’ political participation by defining and developing the concept of ‘political investorism’ to serve as a cohering term for investment-based political participation. Drawing upon illustrative cases from Australia, we use process-tracing to map the political participation of investors and shareholders, and the mobilisation strategies used by social movement organisations. We find a diverse range of tactics and identify key hallmarks and categories of ‘political investorism’. We argue that situating the discourse around the term ‘political investorism’, as a concept distinct from but related to political consumerism, provides essential clarity to examine the unique role of investors as political actors. Recognising key differences between consumers’ and investors’ political participation will help to guide future examinations of investment-based political participation at a time when shifts in global governance and limitations on more traditional avenues for political participation are amplifying the importance of market-based activism for social change.