The process of incorporating, assimilating, or bringing someone into a group or system, often implying they lose their independent identity or oppositional stance.
From co- (together) + opt- (to choose), based on Latin cooptare (to choose together). The prefix co- and root optare combined to mean choosing someone into membership. The term gained prominence in sociology and politics to describe how systems absorb potential critics.
Cooptation became a key term in 1960s social theory to describe how the system neutralizes opposition—corporations 'coopt' activists by hiring them, governments 'coopt' rebels by giving them power, and the mechanism reveals how dissent can be absorbed and defanged.
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