Author(s) :

Emi J. Ruijs.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

In reaction to escalating regulatory, commercial, and social pressures, corporations have increasingly framed firm interests as matters of national security. Yet, their role as securitizing actors remains undertheorized. This paper develops the concept of corporate securitization to bridge Securitization Theory and research on Corporate Political Activity (CPA). It proposes a four-step framework in which firms (1) experience commercial or regulatory failure, (2) shift strategy and reframe from their enterprise through a security lens, (3) amplify such discourse towards a specific enabling audience, and (4) seek discursive authorization through concrete policy outcomes. Empirically, the paper employs this framework in two distinct qualitative case studies between 2020 and 2025: The Metals Company (TMC) in deep-sea mining and Meta in digital media platforms. Drawing on corporate updates and releases, lobbying disclosure forms, and congressional records, the paper traces how the two corporations employed national security to advance firm-specific goals – in TMC’s case, adequate licensing for polymetallic nodule extraction, and in Meta’s case, resisting antitrust enforcement and influencing artificial intelligence and technology policy. Although neither campaign achieved uncontested success, both demonstrate the influence that corporations have in constructing security narratives to reorient policy debates, justify exceptional measures, and blur the line between private commercial interests and national security priorities. This study expands securitization theory by including private corporations as core actors in securitization. Through the conceptualization of corporate securitization, this paper suggests the specific process by which corporations can exploit security narratives to forward firmspecific interests in an increasingly corporate security environment.