Overview

Treating the corporation as if it were a human person is ubiquitous in contemporary political, cultural and legal constructions of the corporation -- from the creation of 'brands' and the representation of the corporation in fiction, to statutory and common law rules of corporate liability. It dominates both academic approaches and popular representations of the corporation, from discussions of corporate citizenship, corporate social responsibility and 'corporate greed'. This book interrogates the concept of corporate 'personhood' to understand the nature of corporate criminality and the prospects for more effective corporate control. Linking debates in criminology to broader claims around corporate social responsibility, it provides an understanding of the key ideas that explain the role of the corporation in the global economy.

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9780415556361

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Reviews

Few academic books demand the kind of critical attention that The Corporate Criminal demands. This is surely the most powerful and compelling critique of the corporation ever written. Tombs and Whyte pull no punches in this arrestingly accessible but scholarly book. Their argument is simple - its legal and historical construction is such that the resulting corporation is endemically criminogenic and thus beyond reform. Their conclusion is utterly persuasive, 'the goal of corporate opposition must be the abolition of the corporation' - Penny Green is Professor of Law and Globalisation and Director of the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University of London, UK Tombs and Whyte provide a brilliant, unflinching and original account of corporate power in neoliberal capitalism. Their careful analysis - rich in both empirical and theoretical insights - convincingly reveals that corporations cannot balance economic progress with social welfare, but also that the only effective corrective is to disassemble the corporate form. This superb book is a must read for anyone wishing to understand how and why corporations have come to define and destroy our daily lives, and what do about it. - Susanne Soederberg, Queen's University, Canada It is clear that today, everyone is aware of the devastating effects of corporate capitalism on the environment, global inequality, and various other aspects of our societies and daily lives. What is utterly refreshing about Tombs and Whyte's book, is the realisation that none of these effects can be mitigated by legal reform or neoliberal regimes such as 'corporate social responsibility'. What is needed is a revolution in our thinking about, and action towards, corporate capitalism, and Tombs and Whyte's call to 'bring down the corporation' deserves to be carried far and wide. - Grietje Baars, The City Law School, City University London. This book offers readers a provocative brief for the case that corporations are in fact not a sustainable enterprise, and that their inherently criminal and criminogenic nature must be fully recognized.- David O. Friedrichs, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books (Rutgers University)

Few academic books demand the kind of critical attention that The Corporate Criminal demands. This is surely the most powerful and compelling critique of the corporation ever written. Tombs and Whyte pull no punches in this arrestingly accessible but scholarly book. Their argument is simple - its legal and historical construction is such that the resulting corporation is endemically criminogenic and thus beyond reform. Their conclusion is utterly persuasive, 'the goal of corporate opposition must be the abolition of the corporation' - Penny Green is Professor of Law and Globalisation and Director of the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University of London, UK Tombs and Whyte provide a brilliant, unflinching and original account of corporate power in neoliberal capitalism. Their careful analysis - rich in both empirical and theoretical insights - convincingly reveals that corporations cannot balance economic progress with social welfare, but also that the only effective corrective is to disassemble the corporate form. This superb book is a must read for anyone wishing to understand how and why corporations have come to define and destroy our daily lives, and what do about it. - Susanne Soederberg, Queen's University, Canada It is clear that today, everyone is aware of the devastating effects of corporate capitalism on the environment, global inequality, and various other aspects of our societies and daily lives. What is utterly refreshing about Tombs and Whyte's book, is the realisation that none of these effects can be mitigated by legal reform or neoliberal regimes such as 'corporate social responsibility'. What is needed is a revolution in our thinking about, and action towards, corporate capitalism, and Tombs and Whyte's call to 'bring down the corporation' deserves to be carried far and wide. - Grietje Baars, The City Law School, City University London.

Few academic books demand the kind of critical attention that The Corporate Criminal demands. This is surely the most powerful and compelling critique of the corporation ever written. Tombs and Whyte pull no punches in this arrestingly accessible but scholarly book. Their argument is simple - its legal and historical construction is such that the resulting corporation is endemically criminogenic and thus beyond reform. Their conclusion is utterly persuasive, ã `the goal of corporate opposition must be the abolition of the corporation' - Penny Green is Professor of Law and Globalisation and Director of the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University of London, UK Tombs and Whyte provide a brilliant, unflinching and original account of corporate power in neoliberal capitalism. Their careful analysis - rich in both empirical and theoretical insights - convincingly reveals that corporations cannot balance economic progress with social welfare, but also that the only effective corrective is to disassemble the corporate form. This superb book is a must read for anyone wishing to understand how and why corporations have come to define and destroy our daily lives, and what do about it. - Susanne Soederberg, Queen's University, Canada It is clear that today, everyone is aware of the devastating effects of corporate capitalism on the environment, global inequality, and various other aspects of our societies and daily lives. What is utterly refreshing about Tombs and Whyte's book, is the realisation that none of these effects can be mitigated by legal reform or neoliberal regimes such as `corporate social responsibility'. What is needed is a revolution in our thinking about, and action towards, corporate capitalism, and Tombs and Whyte's call to `bring down the corporation' deserves to be carried far and wide. - Grietje Baars, The City Law School, City University London. This book offers readers a provocative brief for the case that corporations are in fact not a sustainable enterprise, and that their inherently criminal and criminogenic nature must be fully recognized.- David O. Friedrichs, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books (Rutgers University)

Author Information

Steve Tombs is Professor of Sociology at Liverpool John Moores University. He has a long-standing interest in the incidence, nature and regulation of corporate crime, and in particular the regulation and management and health and safety at work. His most recent book is Safety Crimes, co-authored with Dave Whyte (2007). He co-edited, with Dave Gordon, Paddy Hillyard and Christina Pantazis, Beyond Criminology? Taking Harm Seriously (2004) and Criminal Obsessions (2005), as well as Unmasking the Crimes of the Powerful: scrutinising states and corporations, with Dave Whyte (2003). Dr David Whyte is Reader in Sociology at the University of Liverpool. His principle research interests are in the field of corporate crime and corporate power. He has published widely on subjects of corporate legal responsibility and accountability, with a particular interest in the use of legal mechanisms to improve corporate accountability. He is a long standing board member of the London-based human rights charity, the Centre for Corporate Accountability. In 2005 he was appointed by the Scottish Justice Minister to the Scottish Government Expert Group on Corporate Homicide. His most recent books are Safety Crimes (2007, co-authored with Steve Tombs) and Crimes of the Powerful: a reader (2008). His article on corporate crime and the rule of law in Iraq won the 2007 British Journal of Criminology Leon Radzinowitz Memorial Prize.

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