Corporate Sovereignty: Law and Government under Capitalism

(Paperback)

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Refinery explosions. Accounting scandals. Bank meltdowns. All of these catastrophes--and many more--might rightfully be blamed on corporations. In response, advocates have suggested reforms ranging from increased government regulation to corporate codes of conduct to stop corporate abuses. Joshua Barkan writes that these reactions, which viewlaw as a limit on corporations, misunderstand the role of law in fostering corporate power.

Reviews

Corporate Sovereignty provides a genealogy of corporate power, and argues that it is historically and ontologically linked to modern political sovereignty. Joshua Barkan takes the reader with care and attention through complex legal debates, and draws out those aspects that are fascinating in the contemporary context. He contributes to the academic debate concerning understandings of corporate power in the age of globalization, and speaks to theoretical debates concerning the theoretisation of the exception, as is done through the work of Agamben and others. The result is a wonderful book that genuinely sheds new light on our current understandings of corporate power.Marieke de Goede, University of Amsterdam

Author Bio

Joshua Barkan is assistant professor of geography at the University of Georgia.