cooptation

American  

[koh-op-tey-shuhn] / koʊˌɒpˈteɪ ʃən /

Also cooption, or co-optation

noun

1. the act or process of being elected or selected into a body by the existing members.

   Investigators and judges are selected via cooptation, not recruited through a public selection procedure.

2. the act or process of being assimilated or taken over by a larger or more established group.

   The revolutionaries declined to make specific demands as a defense against cooptation by established political parties or the labor unions.

3. the act or process of taking possession or making use of something without permission.

   At the heart of punk ideology lies a harsh condemnation of modern society combined with a self-conscious sense of irony about the commercial cooptation of the message of this supposedly antisocial music.

4. the act or process of being bribed or manipulated into changing sides.

   In order to prevent cooptation of their delegates, the organization changed representatives every few months.

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Etymology

Origin of cooptation

First recorded in 1530–40; coopt ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )