Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK is the product of many minds. Karl Mannheim, one of the founders of the sociology of knowledge, perhaps said it best in his 1936 work Ideology and Utopia: “Strictly speaking it is incorrect to say that the single individual thinks. Rather it is more correct to insist that he participates in thinking further what other men have thought before him.” If writers like John Locke, Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine had the original thoughts of democracy, others today are carrying this stream of thought into economics. For opening the channels in which my own thought has flowed, I would particularly like to acknowledge a handful of contemporary writers who have deeply influenced me—David Korten, Ralph Estes, Richard Grossman, David Ellerman, and Margaret Blair. Korten and Grossman both offered key ideas foundational to this work as well as valuable feedback on the manuscript. Estes provided the seminal insight that stockholders today are not funding corporations. Ellerman clarified my thinking on employees’ right to a voice in corporate governance. And Blair’s writing opened up to me the world of progressive corporate governance scholarship.
Other writers and thinkers mentioned in this book, whose names are too numerous to repeat here, have also had a great and apparent influence on my thinking. I feel particularly indebted to Richard Ashcraft, Peter Barnes, Robert Benson, Robert Beyster, John Boatright, Edward Carberry, Robert Dahl, John Kenneth Galbraith, Jeff Gates, Hazel Henderson, Andy Law, Thomas Linzey, Jane Mansbridge, Carl Mayer, Teresa Michals, Lawrence Mitchell, Marleen O’Connor, Eric Orts, Lynn Stout, Gordon S. Wood, William Wynn, and Alan F. Zundel.
My publisher, Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler, had the original idea of building this work around a half-dozen core principles, and thus played a vital role in giving the book its shape. He and Alis Valencia generously gave me the early opportunity to publish the four opening chapters of the book in a pamphlet entitled “Is Maximizing Returns to Shareholders a Legitimate Mandate?” as part of the Beyond the Bottom Line series. They helped me to begin getting these ideas out into the world in 1999 via that pamphlet, which led to fruitful feedback that influenced the rest of the book. For opportunities to present the work publicly in its early stages, I am grateful to Donna Wood (and the wolf pack), George Brenkert, Jim Tarbell, Teresa Yancey Crane, and Michael Lerner. I want particularly to acknowledge feedback from Heidi Von Weltzien-Hoivon at a Society for Business Ethics meeting; she persuaded me that the book would be incomplete without addressing the issue of money in politics. Some research and ideas from the book first appeared in different form in Business Ethics, and I wish to thank the many people who contributed in various ways to those early articles (many of which can be found on the Web site www.DivineRightofCapital.com).
I wish to offer very warm and deep thanks to Karen McNichol of the Business Ethics staff, who contributed to this book in so many ways—creating the Web site, finding out-of-print books and articles, researching facts, tracking down individuals, arranging travel, doing publicity, and in general keeping Business Ethics running with smoothness during my long absences while working on the book. She is one of those once-in-a-lifetime colleagues who has created the underlying structure of order that makes all of my work possible. I also wish to thank my brother Bradley Kelly for research assistance and much-needed emotional support. And I’m grateful to editorial intern Tom Klusmann, whose excellent work at Business Ethics bought me precious time for work on the book.
A number of individuals generously took the time to read an early draft of the entire manuscript and offer many constructive comments, including Leslie Christian, Allan Paulson, Peter Rachleff, Maggie Stuckey, and Donna Wood. For assistance with certain portions of the manuscript in various stages I am grateful to Kent Greenfield, John Logue, Deborah Groban Olson, and Terry South. Some of these individuals helped read the work for accuracy in historical, legal, and other areas, but any errors remaining in the work are of course my own. I also wish to thank the many individuals who generously provided endorsements for the work, and in the process offered me welcome reassurance.
A book that simply sits on the shelf is only half complete. Energetic work in getting this book out to the public was provided by publicist Pat Rose, marketing director Kristen Frantz, and by all the members of the Berrett-Koehler staff, who in a tangible sense are partners in this book. Special thanks to Jeevan Sivasubramaniam for his words of encouragement and enthusiasm. For the design of the cover, I’d like to thank Pat Thompson of Triangle Park Creative in Minneapolis, who for many years has been both a colleague and a friend. As one of those rare designers gifted with words as well as images, she crafted the final subtitle of this work—which took her only a moment, after countless others had wrestled with it for weeks. The tasteful interior design of the book was done by Beverly Butterfield.
For the final flow of the manuscript I am indebted to copyeditor Sandra Beris, with whom it has been a rare pleasure to work. She elegantly slashed out redundancy and overkill, and like a sculptor brought forth the natural shape of the manuscript. William Greider graciously provided a foreword for this work, as well as ideas used in the writing of it.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the skillful wordsmithing of Miriam Kniaz, my partner and the cofounder of Business Ethics. She participated at every stage of this book, contributing both key ideas and moral support. She wrestled with me paragraph by paragraph through difficult chapters and insisted on clarifications that—despite my initial obstinacy—proved enormously beneficial. She was with me in the antiques store when I found Whitaker’s Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage and encouraged me to splurge on this seemingly ridiculous purchase. I am grateful for her support, which in countless ways made this book possible, and vastly more fun.