Published
Oct 5, 2020Page count
416 pagesISBN
978-1529213171Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Oct 5, 2020Page count
416 pagesISBN
978-1529213164Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Oct 5, 2020Page count
416 pagesISBN
978-1529213188Imprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Oct 5, 2020Page count
416 pagesISBN
978-1529213188Imprint
Bristol University Press
Property, Power and Politics
Globalization is an extraordinary phenomenon affecting virtually everything in our lives. And it is imperative that we understand the operation of economic power in a globalized world if we are to address the most challenging issues our world is facing today, from climate change to world hunger and poverty.
This revolutionary work rethinks globalization as a power system feeding from, and in competition with, the state system. Cutting across disciplines of law, politics and economics, it explores how multinational enterprises morphed into world political organisations with global reach and power, but without the corresponding responsibilities.
In illuminating how the concentration of property rights within corporations has led to the rejection of democracy as an ineffective system of government and to the rise in inequality, Robé offers a clear pathway to a fairer and more sustainable power system.
"An analysis of the modern world synthesising law, history and politics in a way that no one else has tried before. Practically every page presents some new facts, historical insight or conceptual innovation. Robé is interested in solutions as much as in analysis. This is a real tour de force by one of the most original deep thinkers today." Ronen Palan, City University London
“To say that this work is multidisciplinary does not do it justice. It uniquely integrates the dynamics of state sovereignty, corporate globalization, property rights, and public as well as private law, to illuminate the workings of a multidimensional world power system that needs to be understood before it can be democratically governed.” John Ruggie, Harvard Law School
"Offers a Copernican revolution of the property right doctrine at the heart of our contemporary conception of corporate governance ... brilliantly shows why we fail to tame corporate giants and offers a range of original solutions to transform corporate governance practices suited to the grand challenges of the Anthropocene era." Bertrand Valiorgue, Université Clermont Auvergne
“This compelling work’s core arguments deeply challenge conventional economics and transform how we understand the global economy and the power of enterprises. It will cause a great deal of trouble, and rightly so.” Philip Scranton, Rutgers University
"Robé’s wide-ranging analysis outlines what he calls the “World Power System,” which in his view has both integrated and transcended the bounds of the traditional nation-state." Journal of Law and Political Economy
Jean-Philippe Robé is a member of the Paris and New York Bars. He teaches law at the Sciences Po Law School in Paris and is an equity partner in one of the largest US law firms.
General Introduction;
Part 1 ~ Property;
Introduction to Part 1;
The Meaning of Property;
The Modern Constitutional Mode of Government;
Sovereignty and Property;
From Political Enterprise to the Modern State;
The Mixing of Democracy and Despotism;
Part 2 ~ Firms in the World Power System;
Introduction to Part 2;
Firms;
The Features of Business Corporations;
The Spreading of the Corporate System and Its Consequences;
Coping with Firms;
Towards a Sustainable World Power System.
