The truth is that they are a return to the past. Although the movements are centred in the UK and the US, their ideas are based on a corporate ethos common to Europe and Asia. The irony is that these movements are gaining strength at the time when European and Asian companies are rapidly adopting the Anglo-American model. These new movements do differ in some areas from the approach in the past. First, the old socialist ideal that government must occupy the commanding heights of industry has been jettisoned.
Overt socialism is dead.
Instead, the aim of these movements is not to nationalise the corporation but simply to control it. Their aim is not to throw-out the accountability mechanisms but to use them to obtain and enforce control. Indeed, the ultruistic, general-interest mien of the NGOs is one of the most seductive aspect of these movements. The view put forward is that in the past, companies may have been captured by groups seeking selfish, personal gain, but the new movements are different, as they focus on doing good for the greater good. This is, however, at best simplistic.