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The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power
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Manufacturer: Free Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7
EAN: 9780743247467
ISBN: 0743247469
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2005-03-01
Publisher: Free Press
Studio: Free Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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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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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Book About The History of Corporate America
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A polarized book in a polarized era - more perspective needed
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Read this book as soon as possible
Comment: This book has somewhat of a strange style in that it takes about a third of the book to get use to the way it is written and be drawn in. Don't let that fool you though. By the time you get to the end, you will feel like you've read one of the most important books written recently. The book basically covers the history of corporations, discusses what their reason for existence is, and talks about their behavior in society, leading up to the current situation. Since it's a short book written in a popular style, it's more of a summary of all these topics than a detailed academic thesis. I have been thinking about the role of special interests, the costs of things in our society and the place of the middle class. I'm also interested in things like global warming and energy. This book gave me a new perspective and a way to view all of these things as being interrelated. I think that many in our society are stuck in a cold war mentality of capitalism vs. socialism. This book seems to suggest that there is a different dynamic at play in which corporations, which are very undemocratic by nature, are taking over the public domain and taking advantage of the public for their profit-maximizing activities. Once you read this book, you will recognize this encroachement in various aspects of our scoiety, among them, health care, utilities, education, war efforts, energy policy and environmental protection. If every voter read this book, understood what it was saying, and thought honestly about the implications, we might have a much more reasoned and intelligent debate about the future direction of our country.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Comment: I was given this by a friend and I found it very intriguing. Bakan describes in detail how corporations have a mandate by law to maximize profits for shareholders. He goes on further to explain the environmental and sociological effects of profiteering companies. Bakan also reveals to the reader an attempted coup with FDR by Big Business.
As much as this can be considered a *spoiler*
I found the last chapter to be a re-iteration of his previous points. Hence why I gave it a 4 out of 5. Otherwise, very good read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The sober truth we never knew
Comment: We never knew it was this bad. Yes, we had an idea that the corporation was huge, and powerful, and maybe didn't always do the right thing. But with time, and unfiltered news stories here and there Americans are waking up to the fact that corporations, not governments rule the world. Corporations influence government processes, not the other way around. Joel Bakan has written a primer, one replete with endnotes and bibliography, about the monster of modernity.
It is not a fun read. But if all your reading need not be soaked in fun, this is a book I recommend, just for a basic awareness of the scope of the problem. Read about the legal tilt of the corporation, its psychological bent. Fortunately, the reading flows smoothly, and the reader can take information easily, set the book down to comprehend the amazing information, and take up and read again without feeling lost in bureaucratic jargon.
Thank goodness for this work of Joel Bakan, and the opportunity to retreive data which cannot be found on corporate-owned media outlets.
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