pianomeister
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The purpose of posting this question is two-fold: 1) to merely get your opinions on my interpretation of co-opt's definitions (to review the accuracy of my understanding of this word); 2) to review my understanding of the sentence "the accounting firm is being co-opted by nepotism"?
1) Wikipedia defines "co-option" as follows:
"It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintain the stability of the group. Outsiders are "co-opted" by being given a degree of power on the grounds of their elite status, specialist knowledge, or potential ability to threaten essential commitments or goals ("formal co-optation").[1] Co-optation may take place in many other contexts, such as a technique by a dictatorship to control opposition.[2]
Co-optation also refers to the process by which a group subsumes or acculturates a smaller or weaker group with related interests; or, similarly, the process by which one group gains converts from another group by replicating some aspects of it without adopting the full program or ideal ("informal co-optation"). "
From what I can gather from the aforementioned Wikipedia definition of "co-option", co-opt assumes 3 meanings: 1) to appoint an outside person and induct a said person into the ranks of a private/exclusive organization or group by the recommendations of pre-existing members; 2) to forcibly or connivingly take members of a smaller group or an entire subdivision and absorb them into the ranks of a larger organization/group for the purpose of availing the talents and skills the new members possess to increase their profit margin/accrue more political power; 3) to take something, such the ideas policies,etc, from someone else and use it for your own use, as though the something was originally yours. (e.g. plagiarism).
2) In addition, what does "the accounting firm is co-opted by nepotism" mean? To me, this sentence evokes a sense of a secret agent infiltrating an accounting firm; using his powers to plant ideas into the minds of the workers and subtly alter the policies; and slowly yet assuredly, the accounting firm becomes a place of business that operates on the principles of nepotism (which doles out rewards to people who are either genetically related or really chummy with the owners of the accounting form), not a meritocracy.
Please let me know your opinions down in the comments.
1) Wikipedia defines "co-option" as follows:
"It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintain the stability of the group. Outsiders are "co-opted" by being given a degree of power on the grounds of their elite status, specialist knowledge, or potential ability to threaten essential commitments or goals ("formal co-optation").[1] Co-optation may take place in many other contexts, such as a technique by a dictatorship to control opposition.[2]
Co-optation also refers to the process by which a group subsumes or acculturates a smaller or weaker group with related interests; or, similarly, the process by which one group gains converts from another group by replicating some aspects of it without adopting the full program or ideal ("informal co-optation"). "
From what I can gather from the aforementioned Wikipedia definition of "co-option", co-opt assumes 3 meanings: 1) to appoint an outside person and induct a said person into the ranks of a private/exclusive organization or group by the recommendations of pre-existing members; 2) to forcibly or connivingly take members of a smaller group or an entire subdivision and absorb them into the ranks of a larger organization/group for the purpose of availing the talents and skills the new members possess to increase their profit margin/accrue more political power; 3) to take something, such the ideas policies,etc, from someone else and use it for your own use, as though the something was originally yours. (e.g. plagiarism).
2) In addition, what does "the accounting firm is co-opted by nepotism" mean? To me, this sentence evokes a sense of a secret agent infiltrating an accounting firm; using his powers to plant ideas into the minds of the workers and subtly alter the policies; and slowly yet assuredly, the accounting firm becomes a place of business that operates on the principles of nepotism (which doles out rewards to people who are either genetically related or really chummy with the owners of the accounting form), not a meritocracy.
Please let me know your opinions down in the comments.
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