ClassInfo

Corporations are perhaps the most powerful actors in the global political economy. They employ millions of people, produce a wide variety of goods, and have massive effects on the ecological and social environments in which they do business. Although considered to be "legal persons," corporations are not living beings with a conscience. Milton Friedman is famously known for his view that the only moral obligation of corporations is to maximize shareholder returns. Yet maximizing financial returns may result in behavior that negatively affects humanity, other living beings, and the planet. This potential conflict between profit and ethics is at the heart of this course.

We will think carefully about what it means for corporations to behave ethically. Doing so necessarily means that we will also think about our own values and the extent to which markets and politics should be employed to change corporate behavior. Are sweatshops immoral? Do corporations have ethical obligations to their employees and to the communities in which they do business? How do corporations exploit racial hierarchies and immigration status in their pursuit of profit? Should there be limits to what corporations can own or to the services that they supply? How do we balance costly labor and environmental regulations with our economic dependence on corporations? Does imposing our moral values on corporations risk killing the goose that lays the golden egg?