Modalities of Corporate Power in Carboniferous Capitalism: An Overview

Based on a six-year interdisciplinary research partnership that brings together academics and activists in a program of critical knowledge production and mobilization, this paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding the structures and practices of corporate power within contemporary fossil capitalism.  Our focus is on the carbon-extractive resource sector of Canada, but from that vantage point we map relations of power and influence, nationally and transnationally, while also attending to relations of struggle that interrupt flows of power and commodities at key flashpoints. The project examines a variety of modalities through which corporate power is expressed, including elite networks, networks of capital ownership, policy-planning groups, mass media influence and corporate social responsibility advertising, and commodity chains. Preliminary findings are offered, along with reflections on the implications of our work for democratic movements and progressive political alternatives.