Cooption and elite capture

The world does not lack revolutionary ideas which can rid us of lingering deprivations plaguing the existence of multitudes. Unfortunately, many groundbreaking ideas get hijacked by strongmen, or else they are diluted to the extent of becoming irrelevant, largely due to the phenomena of cooption and elite capture.

It is easy to see how the desire for socio-economic change was manipulated by the likes of Stalin, Mao, and even by Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran, to rule over the populace. However, the way in which cooption and elite capture subvert revolutionary ideals is more subtle and complex.

Co-optation refers to the process of being absorbed or assimilated by a dominant group. Dominant groups often subsume or acculturate smaller and weaker groups so that they can no longer pose a threat. Cooption can also imply winning over converts from the opposing group by offering some enticement or by conceding to some minor demands, without doing anything to jeopardise the status quo.

The notion of elite capture is a form of corruption whereby public resources are usurped by the elites of a given group rather than being allowed to serve the interests of a larger population. Elites can be individuals, or groups of individuals, who owe their position to factors like social class, ownership of assets, political power or economic position.

In his recent book, Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else), the philosopher and academic, Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò, demonstrates how the demand for change can also be co-opted by manipulating identity politics. Táíwò uses concepts like elite capture and cooption to explain how socio-political movements are prevented from threatening vested interests.

Powerful elite have become apt at diffusing the threat posed by mass movements to their vested interest by providing tokenistic power and privileges to select members of marginalised groups. However, the power given to selected representatives from marginal groups is not enough to disrupt existing structures of power. Instead, these coopted individuals can thwart attempts to bring about real change via superficial gestures of accommodation.

Táíwò introduces the notion of ‘deference politics’ which operates wholly within existing structures of power without aiming to defy them. Deference politics, for example, may obsess over the lack of black female CEOs in corporate America as the main problem rather than the systemic oppression of black women. Conversely, constructive politics critiques the very existence of a CEO class which enables some individuals to make exponentially more money than those who work below them. Cooption aims to sabotage constructive politics and make it more deferential.

The appointment of elites belonging to marginalised groups to powerful positions within an existing system of oppression or exploitation is certainly not a cause for celebration for thinkers like Táíwò. This is because appointing a woman of colour as the CEO of a multinational beverage company will do little for the cause of empowering marginalised women, nor will it lessen the health toll of consuming sugary drinks or address the environmental burden of plastic bottles being discarded after these drinks are consumed.

Leaders or prominent members of social and political movements can be similarly coopted by providing them tokenistic accommodations. The global elites have learned to use the language of progressive activism to further their ends. However, as Táíwò points out, endorsing slogans like “Black Lives Matter” does little to prevent the systemic oppression of racial minorities or to compensate them for historical injustices. The cooption of identity politics may somewhat alter what power looks like, but not what power is, what it aims to achieve, and how.

We in Pakistan must pay more heed to this phenomenon of elite capture, and how the manipulation and cooption of socio-political movements continues to enable the perpetuation of glaring inequalities within our midst.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2022.

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