Entering 6
Chapter 1: What is the Critical Business Paradigm? 13
Chapter 2: Critical Business Stakeholders 45
Chapter 3: The Social Resource of Rebellion 73
Chapter 4: Background of the Critical Business Paradigm 91
Chapter 5: Critical Business Practices and Diversity That Transformed Society 115
Chapter 6: Ten Bullets for Activists 153
Chapter 7 Future Tasks 195
In conclusion 216
Book Guide for Activists 223

Business Essay on Corporate Social Responsibility

Over the past century, our average lifespan has nearly doubled, infant mortality has fallen to a hundredth of its pre-existing level, medicines for deadly diseases have been developed, and food, clothing, and shelter have improved dramatically, enabling many people to meet their basic material needs.
And it is a well-known fact that most of these achievements were realized through productivity improvements and innovations in business.
In this way, business is more than just a means of providing goods or services; it has a profound impact on our lives, values, and the very nature of society.


However, now that the basic material conditions for survival, a long-held desire of mankind, have been met in abundance, business seems to be losing its social significance.
The author argues that business may have already fulfilled its historical role in creating a safe, comfortable, and convenient society.
So what is the social significance of business now? The author's answer to this fundamental question is "critical business."
According to the author, critical business has the potential to solve dilemmas in all three areas: economic, social, and environmental.


In fact, the issue of the social significance of the business conducted by for-profit companies is being adopted as a major agenda in various conferences, including the World Economic Forum.
In this situation, the author argues that business can still have social significance if there is the beginning of a new paradigm, which the author calls "critical business," a business that has the character of a social movement or social criticism.

Critical Business Creates Social Innovation

People often think that a vision that excites people moves society forward, but the trigger for that vision is often a strong sense of discomfort at what is unfolding before our eyes.
While social business aims to solve problems that are already recognized as 'problematic' in society at large, critical business begins by 'presenting a new problem'.
That is, the concept is that 'all problems do not exist unless they are cognitively created.'
Problems are not discovered through observation, but are created only when we critically examine the values ​​and ideas that we have taken for granted and accepted until now, and present an ideal image different from the present.

If everyone adheres to existing norms and values ​​and no one rebels against them, society will be stable and orderly, but change and creation will not occur, and history will stop there.
In that sense, society changes not through the claims of the majority, but rather through the claims of the minority.
When a small number of deviant or rebels rebel against the dominant values ​​or norms of society, the previously stable environment and system are shaken.
Such conflicts between the minority and the majority eventually lead to the creation of a stable state, and this is how society changes.


This article specifically describes what the new concept of 'critical business' is, why this new paradigm is necessary, and how it works.
Using examples from well-known global brands such as Tesla, IKEA, Patagonia, and Brunello Cucinelli, the book explains the various patterns of critical business and presents the technologies and values ​​needed to move toward this paradigm.


Shu Yamaguchi, author of "How Philosophy Becomes a Weapon for Life"
A business philosophy book for understanding and practicing business with a strong social movement and social criticism aspect.

“Uneducated experts are the greatest threat to our civilization.
“We need liberal arts now more than ever to rebuild the basic human values ​​that are being lost due to the constant pursuit of specialization, segmentation, functionalism, efficiency, and short-term profit.” _Robert Hutchins, former president of the University of Chicago Philosopher Albert Camus, in his book “The Rebel,” says that the act of rebellion establishes an individual’s existence and becomes the driving force for social change.
Critical businesses can embody this rebellious spirit, be socially responsible, and empower people to make improvements.
By applying Camus's philosophy to critical business, companies can play a significant role not only as subjects of economic activity but also in promoting social justice and ethics.

In the existing world, those who have sounded the alarm in each era by taking a critical view of the original attitude of society have mainly been philosophers and artists.
They have cast a critical eye on the concepts and social aspects that everyone took for granted in their respective eras, and have proposed a future that is not an extension of the current situation, a future that no one could have imagined at that time.
And now, this way of thinking, which philosophers and artists have always had, is also being demanded from people in business.