Name: Isabelle Chen's review of The New Corporation by Joel Bakan
Item: The New Corporation
Rating: 4
Author: Isabelle Chen

Joel Bakan

"A very important book, an arresting study directed to a central issue of the times." —Noam Chomsky From the author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power comes this deeply informed and unflinching look at the way corporations have slyly rebranded themselves as socially conscious entities ready to tackle society's problems, while CEO compensation soars, income inequality is at all-time highs, and democracy sits in a precarious situation. Over the last decade and a half, business leaders have been calling for a new kind of capitalism. With income inequality soaring, wages stagnating, and a climate crisis escalating, they realized that they had to make social and environmental values the very core of their messaging. There is just one small problem with their new conscientious pitch: corporations are still, first and foremost, concerned with their bottom-line. In lucid and engaging prose, Joel Bakan lays bare a litany of dangerous corporate actions and documents how increasing corporate freedom encroaches on individual liberty and democracy. Through deep research and interviews with both top executives and their sharpest critics, he exposes the inhumanity and destructive force of the current order—profit-driven privatization subverting the public good, business-pressured governments neglecting duties to protect the environment and citizens’ rights, the increasing alienation we experience as every aspect of life is economized, and how the novel Coronavirus pandemic reveals the unjust fault lines of our corporate-led society. Beyond diagnosing major problems, in The New Corporation Bakan narrates a hopeful path forward. He reveals how citizens around the world are fighting back and making gains in ways that bolster democracy and benefit ordinary citizens rather than the corporate elite.

How "Good" Corporations Are Bad for Democracy

The New Corporation

Sarah Eadie

A heavily researched profile of the modern corporation theorizes that businesses are essentially pathological in nature and place profits above accountability, citing the flaws of such practices as deregulation and privatization while outlining a program of democratic control and social responsibility. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power

The Corporation

Isabelle Chen

A haunting delve into the omnipotence of corporations and how they came to be the dominant institution within our society, far so more than our governments and religious organisations. The book has stood the test of time and remains applicable, if not even more so in the current climate. Would love to read a revisit and analysis in the wake of a myriad of corporate scandals that have occurred since, whether that be the GFC or the likes of Theranos.

It really hammers home a corporations existence to drive profits and brings into question the pursuit of initiatives of corporate social responsibility or the perpetuation of a family-like environment at corporations as a subtle tactic in the ultimate pursuit of self-interest and thus, profit. Reading the book definitely exacerbated a sense of cynicism and powerlessness I felt, especially when it honed into the tangible impact on people's livelihoods. The book drives home a fear I feel for the future generations and as a future parent, where dissemination of the corporate's aims start at such early ages.

Sarah Eadie &
The New Corporation by Joel Bakan

Reviews

Join the club

Sarah Eadie &The New Corporation by Joel Bakan

Reviews

Join the club

Sarah Eadie &
The New Corporation by Joel Bakan