At the beginning of the 21st century, it appears the corporation reigns supreme as the most powerful institution in the world. What's so bad about that?This question involves, first, the mechanics of corporate power. With little coordination or motives other thanprofit, the corporation and the market have unleashed dramatic social change across political borders and cultural differences If we understand how corporate power works, could we imagine ways to harness it for the greater good? Second, this question also highlights corporate power’s legitimacy. Many economists and policy-makers argue that corporations' reach stems from the efficiency of capitalist markets (for products, jobs, and capital investment) to which the world’s citizens have largely consented. Is this true? Or does the corporation exert non-market (and thus illegitimate) power over politics, culture, citizenship, the environment, and other spheres of society? |
| To address these issues, we 'll examine various theories and case studies of corporate power. Our sites of investigation include the U.S. government and policy network, local community, the nonprofit sector, and the industrial food system. We'll also spend some time examining how global finance appears to have subordinated the economic and political autonomy of the traditional corporation. |
Learning objectives
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