Financial History Issue 123 (Fall 2017) | Page 24

Whole Foods headquarters. activist entrepreneurs espoused “partici- patory economics”: the idea that citizens could regain power over their lives by making their daily experiences in capital- ist society more humane, authentic and even politically progressive or radical. Although activist entrepreneurs didn’t call themselves such, the term conveys their particular blend of social movement participation and business ownership. Activist entrepreneurs re-envisioned the products, places and processes of Ameri- can business. First, they sought to intro- duce products that promoted progressive and radical politics, as well as cultural pluralism in the marketplace. These busi- nesses grew out of the New Left’s “move- ment of movements,” which included civil rights, Black Power, feminism, pacifism, environmentalism, the hippie countercul- ture and other movements. Second, these entrepreneurs conceived of their storefronts as political places or “free spaces” that incubated a culture of activism and solidarity. Third, many activ- ist enterprises re-conceptualized processes of doing business by promoting shared ownership, limited growth and demo- cratic workplaces. In turn, they rejected capitalist norms of limited proprietorship, profit maximization, rational economic behavior and hierarchical management. Activist businesses accorded varying levels of importance to these three factors. Black-owned bookstores and head shops focused primarily on their products, but they also emphasized places and, to a lesser degree, process. Most natural food stores were con- cerned with products above all else, but co-op groceries were also deeply engaged with process. Feminist businesses came the closest to placing an equal emphasis on process, products and places. Their differences notwithstanding, activist entrepreneurs partook in a shared but largely forgotten experiment in the 1960s and 1970s to create small businesses that advanced the goals of political change and social transformation. Although social movements may be best remembered for marches and mass meetings, activists also eagerly harnessed small businesses as a critical tool for disseminating their ideolo- gies and doing organizing work. A consid- eration of activist enterprises thus forces us to rethink the widespread idea that the work of social movements and political dissent is by definition antithetical to all business and marketplace activity. These businesses furthermore belie the common but mistaken notion that 22    FINANCIAL HISTORY  |  Fall 2017  | www.MoAF.org political activism and counterculture occupied two separate spheres in the 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, activist businesses were both political and cultural institu- tions. Some activist entrepreneurs under- stood social change primarily as political, whereas others understood it primarily as cultural — but these views represented two sides of the same coin. And with their progressive and radical politics, activist businesses provide a sharp contrast to the common narrative of business as an over- whelmingly conservative, profit-making endeavor in post-war America. The title of this article, and the book it is drawn from, highlights a marked tran- sition away from the collective goals of political progress that some, although not most, activist enterprises made between the late 1970s and the end of the 20th century. The most prominent and power- ful retailer to emerge out of the activist business tradition is Whole Foods Market. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, Whole Foods abandoned both its initial enthusiasm for collective political change through socially-minded commerce, as well as its skepticism of unfettered capi- talism. Even though the company selec- tively employs countercultural, spiritual and sustainable business practices, it has