The Corporation

'Baars and Spicer have compiled the best collection of critical interrogations into corporations. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from leading experts and a wide-ranging coverage of highly topical themes, Baars and Spicer have brought together an outstanding collection of essays that lucidly dissect the complexity and omnipotence of corporations in contemporary capitalism. This volume will quickly become a standard reference for understanding corporations.' Susanne Soederberg, Queen's University, Ontario, and author of Corporate Power and Ownership in Contemporary Capitalism

'This is a remarkable collection of original essays. The thorough introduction by the two authors is stunning in itself, challenging the conventional interpretations of corporations in our history and resetting the basis for evaluation. The chapters draw from a large variety of disciplines that must be incorporated in a critical appraisal. The collection provides a new starting place for inquiry - multidisciplinary, and refreshingly critical.' Charles Perrow, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Yale University, Connecticut

'The publication of this collection of critical studies of the corporation could not be more timely and relevant. The role of the corporation is being questioned as never before in a changing climate of political populism. Assembling contributions by leading thinkers from across the spectrum of the social sciences, the editors have created the 'go to' place for scholars and policy makers wishing to debate the past, present and future of the corporate form in contemporary societies.' Michael Power, London School of Economics and Political Science

'This is a fantastic volume. Unprecedented in the interdisciplinary way it contextualises the corporation socially, historically and politically. An unavoidable reference point for every student and scholar that is interested in the conspicuous role of this institution.' Dirk Matten, Hewlett-Packard Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility; Director, Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business (COERB); and Associate Dean of Research, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto; and Co-Editor of Business and Society

Grietje Baars is a Senior Lecturer at the City Law School, City University London. Andr Spicer is Professor of Management at Cass Business School, City University London.

Introduction; Part I. Disciplinary Overviews: 1. The corporation in history; 2. The corporation in legal studies; 3. The corporation in economics; 4. The corporation in sociology; 5. The corporation in anthropology; 6. The corporation in political science; 7. The corporation in geography; 8. The corporation in accounting; 9. The corporation in management; Part II. Interdisciplinary Thematic Chapters: 10. The evolution of the corporate form; 10a. Between company and state: the Dutch East and West India Companies as brokers between war and profit; 10b. Early modern business projects and a forgotten history of corporate social responsibility; 10c. Finance and the origins of modern company law; 11. The multinational corporate group; 11a. The multinational as a corporate form: a critical contribution from organization studies; 11b. Embedding the multinational corporation in transnational sustainability governance; 11c. Banks as global corporations: from entities to 'ecological habitats'; 12. The financialization of the corporation; 11a. The structure and agency of financialization; 11b. Financialized business models and the corporation; 11c. Transnational corporations and the international tax haven and offshore finance system; 13. Corporate value chains; 13a. The nature of the firm in global value chains; 13b. The corporation and the global value chain; 13c. Global production networks and the changing corporation; 14. Corporate citizenship; 14a. The functions and dysfunctions of corporate social responsibility; 14b. Reconsidering the critical corporate social responsibility perspective through French pragmatic sociology: subverting corporate do-gooding for the common good?; 14c. Certification schemes and labelling as corporate governance: the value of silence; 15. The corporation and crime; 15a. The criminal corporate person; 15b. The FBI on corporate crime: examining the influence of corporate culture; 15c. Mental blockades in the recognition of mens rea in corporations; 16. The corporation and ideology; 16a. Bad parresia: CSR and corporate mystification today; 16b. Capital, corporate citizenship and legitimacy: the ideological force of 'corporate crime'; 16c. Corporate foundations and ideology; 17. Corporation and communities; 17a. Articulating and disarticulating corporation and community; 17b. Communities within and without of the corporation: control, power and interests; 17c. Coercion and corporate power: notes on class struggle in an Indian city; 18. Corporations and resistance; 18a. Organizing in the nervous system: global trade unions and global production networks; 18b. Rethinking workplace resistance: between revolt and co-optation; 18c. Anarchist versus corporate ethics; 19. Alternatives to the corporation; 19a. Resisting and regulating corporations through ecologies of alternative enterprise: insurance and electricity in the US case; 19b. The psychological crisis of the corporation: employee-owned alternatives and futures; 19c. Organizat...