Summary:
Side-taking, a much-studied form of corporate sociopolitical activism, can help organizations align with their stakeholders but also fuel polarization, a pressing risk that can destabilize their operating environments. How can organizations thus respond to their stakeholders’ pressures to take a position on sociopolitical issues while simultaneously addressing this risk? We conceptualize an alternative strategy, discursive mediation, which differs from side-taking and peace brand activism in terms of how, when, and why it is carried out. We find evidence of this strategy by conducting a historical case study of the conflict over Catalan independence. We show that employer organizations strategically positioned themselves as mediators with explicit calls for negotiation and with discourse that changed the hostile representation of factions and that proposed solutions that could de-escalate the mounting tensions. These strategies set the stage for a rapprochement of the factions while protecting organizational interests.
Spanish layman's summary:
Se propone la mediación discursiva como una estrategia sociopolítica para manejar la polarización en conflictos destructivos.
English layman's summary:
Discursive mediation is shown as a sociopolitical strategy to manage polarization in destructive conflicts.
Keywords: Sociopolitical positioning; Sociopolitical conflicts; Critical discourse analysis; Polarization; Diplomacy; Peacemaking
JCR-JIF Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 11,100 - Q1 (2025)
DOI reference:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115857
Published on paper: February 2026.
Published on-line: November 2025.
Citation:
C. Valor, E. Aracil, C. Bellón, L. Fernández-Méndez, "Corporate activism in conflict escalation: The strategy of discursive mediation", Journal of Business Research, Vol. 204, pp. 115857, February 2026. [Online: November 2025] doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115857
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