The Constitutionalization of the Global Corporate Sphere?

• Provides a clear and concise account of what 'constitutionalization' means both in general terms and to corporate matters
• Sets forth a detailed and innovative account of the legal characteristics of corporations in an international environment
• Critically assesses the nature of corporate globalization and its consequences
• Provides thorough analysis of global corporate citizenship and differentiates it from CSR
• Outlines a clear framework for assessing forms of global corporate governance

Readership: Academics, researchers, and graduate students across the social sciences interested in globalization and international business, political economy, regulation, international and public law, and organizational sociology.

Grahame F. Thompson, Professor, Copenhagen Business School and the Open University

Grahame F. Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, and Emeritus Professor at the Open University in England. His research and teaching interests have been in international political economy matters, particularly in respect to the issue of globalization. Recently he has re-focussed on the role of business organization in the context of international economic matters, dealing with questions of international law, global corporate citizenship, and the future of corporate governance.

"Grahame Thompsons book is a challenge to all those concerned with the role of global corporations in the current era. He asks fundamental questions about the nature and status of corporations and how they can be subjected to an international regime of accountability and transparency ... The result is a book brimming with stimulating ideas, concepts, and theories, together with radical, yet practical, policy suggestions built on a deep understanding of the global context, the role of law, and the nature of corporations. At a time when concern about the role of corporations, their leaderships, and their impact on inequality and the environment is so current and relevant, this book should be required reading for researchers in business and management and the social sciences more generally, as well as those claiming to be informed policy makers." - Glenn Morgan, Professor of International Management, Cardiff Business School

"A work of great importance. As we might expect from one of our leading experts on globalization the book throws an invaluable light on the corporation as a global political and legal entity. Technically it is an extraordinary accomplishment: a crystal clear mobilization of material from many disciplines, notably law, political science, and applied economics. The argument is of great subtlety, summed up in Thompsons remark that not all companies are alike. The book is a must read for scholars and for policy makers." - Michael Moran, Professor of Government, University of Manchester Business School

"Thompson deftly examines the development of an increasingly effective functional structure of constitutional law that persists in the face of a stubborn resistance to develop equally compelling coherent formal systems. In crafting this constituting universe of form and function, Thompson skilfully weaves a complex set of law and governance rules to produce a compelling picture of a fluid and fractured system that begins to outline the constitution of a system in which the key elements of public law constitutionalism, and principally rule of law principles, can be imported. Thompson's work should be required reading for anyone interested in the development of constitutional structures for corporate actors in the transnational sphere." - Larry Catá Backer, W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law, and Professor of International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University

1: Setting the Scene
2: The Contours of Constitutionalization
3: Global Corporate Citizenship Examined
4: The Politics of the 'Citizenly Company' and Global Corporate Governance Reform
5: Global Administrative Law, the OECD, and International Investment
6: Consequences of Quasi-Constitutionalization for the Global Regulatory Agenda and the Fate of the Rule of Law