This 90-minute workshop dives into the history of how corporate power is organized in the United States and contemporary cases of how growing corporate power has rolled back successful gains in democratic rights, environmental justice, migrant justice, and economic justice both in the U.S. and abroad. The workshop includes activities, videos, and case studies that will help participants assess corporate power in their own communities and build visions for public and collective power.
With organizers and members of power-building organizations as a primary audience, we hope participants of this training will gain the following:
- Participants will be able to describe examples of how corporations have gained power and the role they play in democracy, the environment, the economy and racial justice.
- Participants will be able to assess the balance between corporate, public, and private rights in different cases of corporate overreach.
- Participants will be inspired to apply a corporate power analysis into their organizing agenda.
This curriculum was developed as part of the Blueprint for Belonging project, a collaborative initiative of over 50 organizations united in achieving transformative change in California through the development of strategic narrative that underpins all our collective work across communities, movements, issues and policies. We thank the individuals at Take On Wall Street, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and the Global Campaign for Corporate Accountability for their feedback and review of the curriculum. The PDFs and slides were designed by Jake Tompkins.
- Full Facilitator’s Guide: Rebuilding Public Power: Stopping Corporate Power
- Slides: Rebuilding Public Power: Stopping Corporate Overreach
- Case Studies: Case Studies on Corporate Power and Community Response
