Check back here regularly for the
assigned presentation topics in upcoming weeks.
Note that the presenters are responsible only for presenting
the featured book, not the weekly selection from John Scott's Power.
For instructions on this assignment, click here.
Mills, The Power Elite.
Presenter: Sam Charner
Presentation topic:
Thesis: The theory of the power elite explains America in 2005.
Porter, The Rise of Big Business, 1860-1920.
Scott, Power, chaps. 1-2.
Presenter: Chase Berenson
Presentation topic:
Question: In what ways did big business usher in the social structure of modern society?
FEBRUARY 14
John Scott, "Structures of Corporate Control." Chap. 3, pp. 35-55, in Corporate Business and Capitalist Classes (Oxford, 1997).
Michael Useem, "When Investors Challenge Company Performance." Chap. 2, pp. 38-69, in Investor Capitalism (Basic, 1996).
Scott, Power, chap. 4, pp. 71-86.
Presenter: Paris Smith (Useem)
Presentation topic:
Thesis: Investors are a potent force for reforming corporate power.
FEBRUARY 21
LeRoy, The Great American Jobs Scam.
Scott, Power, chap. 5.
Presenter: Nick Hormuth
Presentation topic:
Question: Do governments have substantial power to resist corporate demands for subsidies and concessions?
FEBRUARY 28
David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism.
Scott, Power, chap. 3.
Presenters: Anita Varma and Emma Wilcox
Presentation topic:
Question: How does neoliberalism benefit a new ruling economic class?
Question: How does social solidarity (of labor, communities, nationalism, etc.) hinder the economic flexibility that neoliberalism seeks?
MARCH 7
Holliday et al., Walking the Talk
Scott, Power, chap. 3.
Presenters: Kristin Mikolowsky and Rosanna Herrera
Presentation topics:
Point: Corporations and the market reforms advocated here can save the environment.
Counterpoint: Corporations and the market reforms advocated here can widen social injustice.
Welch, Jack: Straight from the Gut.
Scott, Power, chap. 7.
Presenters: Sarah Odio and Brooke Skinner
Presentation topics:
Question: What is the value of a charismatic CEO in a turbulent economy?
Question: How does this book contribute to corporate discourse?
APRIL 4
Frank & Mulcahey, Boob Jubilee, chaps. 1-3, 6-14, 16, 18-29.
Scott, Power, chap. 4, pp. 87-91.
Presenters: Olivia Rush and Victoria Gonzalez
Presentation topics
Question: What are the (contradictory) functions of alternative/independent culture in the new economy?
Question: How does the entrepreneurial dream reinforce corporate power?
Beck, Power in the Global Age, chaps. 1, 3-5.
APRIL 18
Rushkoff, Get Back in the Box.
Presenter: Susannah Hook-Rodgers
Presentation topic:
Question: How does the advice given by Rushkoff illustrate genuine challenges facing corporate power today?