Corporate ‘action that matters’: How Black Lives Matter activists perceive the role of corporations in the movement’s fight against racism in the Netherlands

While the BLM movement in the Netherlands (BLMnl) in 2020 catalysed the public debate on systemic racism in the country, less is known on the movement’s view of the role that the corporate sector plays in the movement’s cause. By means of 13 qualitative interviews, this study therefore set out to explore how Black BLM activists in the Netherlands perceive the role of corporations in the movement’s fight against racism, in an effort of gaining insight into the collective action frames of BLMnl. The thematic analysis of the interviews reveals that BLMnl activists view corporations as (1) contributing to systemic racism, (2) powerful, influential and resourceful entities, and (3) beneficiaries of the movement. This positions corporations as elite actors in the eyes of the movement and assigns them responsibility to actively respond to BLMnl, just like the political sector. Participants put a stronger emphasis on the role that corporations play to internally contribute to tangible and intangible changes than external expressions of solidarity which was how corporations were currently predominantly responding to BLMnl. The perception that corporations need to be publicly transparent with their internal actions was shared, as such a practice would ensure that corporations can be held accountable and racial equity norms can be procured. The patterned findings further point towards the movement’s shared collective action frames which are beginning to stir desired change within the Dutch corporate sector. Overall, the research shows that corporations are perceived as instrumental within the BLMnl movement, which brings corporate practice in further proximity with contemporary activism and social movements.