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The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power | 
 enlarge | Author: Joel Bakan
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 10636
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0743247469
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7
EAN: 9780743247467
ASIN: 0743247469
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Over the last 150 years the corporation has risen from relative obscurity to become the world's dominant economic institution. Eminent Canadian law professor and legal theorist Joel Bakan contends that today's corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies. In this revolutionary assessment of the history, character, and globalization of the modern business corporation, Bakan backs his premise with the following observations: - The corporation's legally defined mandate is to pursue relentlessly and without exception its own economic self-interest, regardless of the harmful consequences it might cause to others.
- The corporation's unbridled self-interest victimizes individuals, society, and, when it goes awry, even shareholders and can cause corporations to self-destruct, as recent Wall Street scandals reveal.
- Governments have freed the corporation, despite its flawed character, from legal constraints through deregulation and granted it ever greater authority over society through privatization.
But Bakan believes change is possible and he outlines a far-reaching program of achievable reforms through legal regulation and democratic control. Featuring in-depth interviews with such wide-ranging figures as Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, business guru Peter Drucker, and cultural critic Noam Chomsky, The Corporation is an extraordinary work that will educate and enlighten students, CEOs, whistle-blowers, power brokers, pawns, pundits, and politicians alike.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 Interesting but badly flawed January 3, 2009
P. Brooks (Isle of Man, British Isles)
This is a well written work but shallow in analysis. Joel Bakan does identify part of a real problem but offers the unoriginal and tired solution that more regulation is necessary. He misses the point that so-called deregulation of corporations and so-called privatization has been largely illusory and deceptive. Those words have been used to cloak a vast shell game where regulation and oversight have been used in a cosy government-corporate tango to favour the big political, corporate, and financial muscle. You cannot separate the oligarchical interests of big politicians and big bankers and big corporations. A single word describes it: CORRUPTION--albeit often subtle.
No amount of extra regulation helps. In fact, quite the reverse. The more regulation, the more corruption flourishes. Big corporations cope easily with regulation and, by extension, corruption. The small family business and the consumer suffers most.
Bakan gives a passing nod to this but weakly responds that at least the ordinary person has an occasional democratic vote at the ballot box.
It is painfully obvious that democracy (in the sense of governance truly representing the bulk of the population) has failed in the West. The citizen is ignored, even on major issues. (Iraq war? Banker Bailout Scam?) A few weeks before election time a left-right glove puppet charade is conducted. Big corporate funded and very wealthy identi-candidates are sold via the corporate media, while real candidates who might effect real change are censored, sidelined, and denigrated.
Bakan makes passing mention of a much better way the citizen can vote - with their pocket books and with boycott. But he denigrates it by saying no one can be expected to vote against their self-interest. Huh? Is voting for a generally corrupt politician who 'might' do some good for you on one out of a thousand issues, and who 'might' stand up to the financial blandishments offered by Big Business, a better bet than refusing to buy the products of a rogue corporation.
Bakan makes no mention of the real solution--Common Law (CL). Perversely, the very laws and regulations that he is proposing have been steadily diminishing this option. He of all people, a Professor of Law, should know that. For instance, Bakan gives an example of a man whose white shirt is soiled by fallout from a polluting smoke stack. He says we need regulation to stop that kind of damage to the interests of society and individuals. Well, sir, we've had the remedy for centuries. The principles are well established and the remedy is simple. Why neglect CL? One reason might be because corporations and lawyers--and Law Professors--love confusion and the importance it gives the practitioners of regulatory law. They can hide behind thickets of legislation. They profit, the costs are passed on to poor taxpayer and consumer.
Governments everywhere are turning to statute law and regulation to undermine Common Law precisely to protect corporations. It also makes legislators look important and appear to be 'doing something'. The American, British, and Australian governments have all recently passed, or are proposing to pass, laws protecting Big Pharma from claims of negligence and liability from any damage caused by drugs - even if the companies know of them in advance and fail to warn victims. Similar non-liability laws are increasingly applied to protect Corporates. It is a self -fulfilling cycle: The more government interferes, the more the market is destabilized and so the more excuse to interfere. Mr. Bakan wants to give more regulatory powers to these sorts of regimes?
Finally, Mr. Bakan rather stresses the evil pathology of corporations. True, consequences of corporate actions can be evil. Regulation and government protections enhance this pathology. Robust application of CL would diminish it.
He strongly criticizes Risk/Benefit analysis and quotes a harrowing example, implying that there is no place for Risk/Benefit analysis where there is possibility of harm to the public. Well, sorry, but we can do nothing in this life without accepting an element of risk and knowing that some of that risk is going to come home somewhere at sometime. In the British Government Health Service Risk or Cost Benefit Analysis costs the lives of patients every single day. It is a hard fact that you cannot spend millions of pounds to extend the life of a patient for a few weeks - or even a few years. The particular case Joel Bakan examines could not be excused, but--once again--application of rights under Common Law pulled the company back into line, whereas relying solely on Government regulation would likely have failed, and possibly have facilitated a cover-up.
I have long puzzled how to deal with the corporate failings that this book highlights. I did not find any answers here. In describing the Big Corporation Mr. Bakan might just as well have been describing it's pathological crony-on-steroids, Big Government, whom he believes should be given more power. The diagnosis is flawed and the course of treatment proposed would make matters worse--much worse.
The one star reviews by Mr. Manheim and Richard criticize this work from a different perspective. I commend their views as true and very perceptive.
Still, The Corporation is worth reading.
 The Book of Our Time December 20, 2008
William P. Hutt (Coventry, CT USA)
This book is telling of what ails not just American culture but all of modern civilization. It is sweeping and comprehensive in its review of "the dominant institution" of the twentieth century. This book is a must read for anyone with presecience enough to see that something here is not quite right. Bakan points out exactly what that something is.
Corporate greed anyone? December 1, 2008
Uriah E. Hilton
Wow when I first read this book I was blown away. It shows you how corporations have no soul and have one goal in mind, money. The thesis of this book is great but is not supported enough throughout the book. I can't remember how many pages it is but should be much much longer. It singles out a couple corporations like IBM, Monsanto, etc.. but does not go into enough detail (imo) to really back up the thesis. Still a great read and will make you question the intentions of multi national corporations.
 Interesting Book About The History of Corporate America October 26, 2008
Casadejunqueinc (los angeles)
I found this book to be quite interesting, even if I didn't agree with all of the author's opinions. The author does a thorough job of citing his sources - I am planning on buying and reading 'The Plot to Seize the White House,' which the author references frequently in his book.
The author is Canadian, which is perhaps ironic, as he writes about many significant but little-known events in modern American history, including a plot to take over the White House (relax, folks - it happened back in 1932).
This book, despite the subject matter, was very readable and interesting. It could have been dry and boring, but it wasn't, and I recommend this book.
A polarized book in a polarized era - more perspective needed June 18, 2008
Frank T. Manheim (Fairfax VA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
The decade of the 2000s is a good time in which to pose the "criminal corporation thesis". Not since the "Gilded age" has there been such an avalanche of ethical lapses, wrongdoing, and greed in the business world in the United States.
However, I believe that Bakan's book has a faulty and damaging perspective. Since no one else has stepped up to the plate - and that may be a symptom of the times, too, I'll give a try.
I propose a different suggestion about corporations: that they are a product of their times and of the people that join or lead them. What times do we live in?
Consider that the federal government demands taxes on gambling winnings from people who live in states where gambling is illegal - but does not reveal them to the states. In turn states seek taxes from illegal aliens - but commit to not disclose their identities to the fed.
There are innumerable term paper sale and exchange sites on the web that help students plagiarize their course work - and this is considered chic.
Prominent literary media personalities were discovered to have plagiarized literary productions.
The President of the Teacher's Union in Washington DC was indicted for embezzling a million $ in union funds, and a top official in the DC School board misappropriated multi millions of dollars.
A new policy cracking down on internet providers who permitted pedophiles to use their sites was protested as a violation of First Amendment Rights.
There are organizations of virusmakers who celebrate their skills in hacking government computers and crippling hundreds of thousands of personal computers.
The organized gay movement demanded that boy scout troups allow avowed gay scoutmasters - think of the Catholic gay priests or in terms of the girl scouts having virile young heterosexuals as their scoutleaders- When the scouts refused the Human Rights Campain and other activists maneuvered for the scouts be denied churches, schools and businesses to meet - and ultimately went to the Supreme Court to try to force compliance.
Fortunately all of American society isn't like this - and neither is business. Fidelity Mutual, the largest mutual fund brokerage in America, run by Ned Johnson, got raised eyebrows from some people in the financial community when it ruled that clients who churned their holdings would be asked to withdraw their funds (because these were large investors) Apparently none of fidelity's many funds dealt in subprime mortgages. Moreover, in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden corporate scandals of the kinds we have seen are practically nonexistent. That's because the rest of society is that way too. In the last Reader's digest "wallet test" I recall Denmark was tops with nine out of 10 loaded wallets returned.
Now, the attraction point. Google Co.'s founders have a motto: "Do no evil". They have been extremely successful in attracting the brightest, ethical people. Microsoft started life as a nasty outfit that gained dominance through unsavory methods. They have not attracted the same quality and have been unable to overcome Yahoo or even upstarts like Mozilla.
The point is that demonized corporations are not likely to attract the kinds of younger leaders that can improve their behavior
We went into a downward slide after WWII, which is the subject of a book I'm completing. If you are interested in more hang on. There ARE ways to do better but too much cynicism is not a constructive way.
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