the Corporation

This book by legal scholar Joel Bakan is a ruthless & rigorous analysis of the corporation, the institution that has more & shadier power than perhaps any other in our neoliberal status quo. In chapter one he uncovers its history & how it became what it is today, in chapters two & three he assesses the nature & implications of its pathological character, in chapters four & five he looks at the mechanisms by which it exercises control of society, and in the final chapter he considers ways we can challenge & curb its power & prevent further harm.

   This is a very readable book, academic & well-referenced but light on jargon; it's not an easy read though, as the blunt truth of the corporation's nature & power is difficult to stomach. Corporations are not merely incidental in their evil dealings toward the maximisation of profit; they are legally-obligated to behave thus - behaviours which in a regular human would qualify them as a psychopath, but are rewarded, indeed mandated, in these gross institutions. I would highly recommend this as a book for anyone remotely interested in contemporary political power & the corporate challenges it faces.