Corporate Law versus Social Autonomy: Law as Social Hazard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article argues that corporate law has become the legal platform upon which
is erected a social process impeding society’s capacity to lucidly reflect on its primary ends; in this sense, corporate law is in conflict with social autonomy. This process is described here as a social feedback loop, in the structural centre of which lies the corporation which imposes its own purpose as an irrational social end, i.e. irrespective of its potentially catastrophic social consequences. The article argues that resolving the conflict between corporate law and social
autonomy is impossible, because it presupposes a change of social paradigm towards one where corporate law as business organisation law has no obvious fit. This questions the social legitimacy of corporate law, signifies its non-permanence and thus opens up the field for seeking radical alternatives in the future.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1
Pages (from-to)1-32
Number of pages32
JournalLaw and Critique
Volume32
Issue number1
Early online date26 May 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2021

Keywords

  • Bureaucracy
  • Capitalism
  • Corporate law
  • Managerialism
  • Social autonomy

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