Considering the Corporation

Took a night out to watch the first half of the documentary, The Corporation -- an indictment of the "corporation" defined as "a legal person under the law." This classification, the film explains, allowed for the business entity (and all its constituents) to be protected by the 14th Ammendment, which was instead designed to free and enfranchise African-Americans from the devastations of slavery. The film likens this "corporate" body to a psychopath and features many brilliant minds giving commentary. It is a must-see. http://www.thecorporation.com/

Watching it made me long for the days of active theoretical discussions about Foucault, about power structures and about "exposing the apparatus." It made me squirm a bit to find myself back inside the corporation; and, at the same time, asked me to consider how Coldwater Creek is attempting (to the extent possible given its corporate imperatives) to create structures to give back to it employees. HOWEVER, and this is one big however, I am disquieted this morning in my imaginations of the environments in which our clothes are being sewn, the cottons are being harvested, the dyes are being processed...it recalls the Sweet Honey and the Rock song, "Are My Hands Clean?" Listen here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000MF5/qid=1123775115/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/103-7925046-0377421?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

Of course, my hands are not clean -- for even if I am not working here, training managers to sell more of our clothes and serve the customer with grace -- I still wear products produced by corporations, still eat foods manufactured by corporations, buy gas, pay utilities, purchase cds, drive a car...so you see the ubiquitousness of it all...right back to Foucault's "subtle madness of Western institutional logic."

Have a nice day!