Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
The Corporation
The Corporation is a 2003 documentary film which analyses and critiques the modern day corporation as a concept and an institution, and examines its impact on society and the world at large. The film was written by Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott .
The film charts the development of the corporation, from its origins as an institution chartered by governments to carry out specific public functions, to the rise of the modern behemoth entitled to all the legal rights of a "person". One central theme of the documentary is an attempt to assess the "personality" of the corporate "person" by using diagnostic criteria like the DSM-IV; Robert Hare, a University of British Columbia Psychology Professor and FBI consultant, compares the modern, profit-driven corporation to that of a clinically diagnosed psychopath.
Other topics addressed include Smedley Butler and the 1933 attempted coup against Franklin Roosevelt, the tragedy of the commons, economic externalities, suppression of an investigative news story about Bovine Growth Hormone on a FOX News affiliate television station, and the Cochabamba protests of 2000 brought on by the privatization of Bolivia's municipal water supply by the Bechtel Corporation.
The film also features interviews with prominent left-wing voices such as Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Michael Moore and Howard Zinn as well as opinions from company CEOs, the right-leaning viewpoints of Peter Drucker and Milton Friedman, and right-leaning think tanks such as the Fraser Institute
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power is also the title of a book (ISBN 0743247442) written by Bakan during the filming of the documentary.
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