566A.01 Corporation and International Law: Past, Present, and Future

From politics to popular culture, the corporation has become one of the most critical economic, political, and cultural institutions of the modern era.  It has also been one of the most controversial.  Are corporations people, societies, or even governments? Do they have rights? If so, what are their civic, social, ethical, and political responsibilities? If such questions are vexing within municipal and national contexts, they have been downright confounding for international legal regimes.  Corporations have a global footprint and influence on our conceptions of sovereignty and governance, the functioning of international markets, the nature of interstate relations, wealth distribution, international development, and, at a basic level, the lives of people around the world. Yet modern international law has generally been understood to apply almost exclusively to states and to touch only lightly on corporate institutions, with profound consequences for everything from human rights to the global environment. This course will address these questions and many others, both through our own readings and discussions, as well as frequent guest speakers, panels, and workshops, in conjunction with a year-long Mellon Foundation funded Sawyer Seminar.

A limited number of JD students may be permitted to use their paper to satisfy the JD upper-level writing requirement with prior approval of Professor Brewster.

Fall 2017

Course Number Course Credits Evaluation Method Instructor
566A.01
Course Credits
Reflective Writing
Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
Class participation
Rachel Brewster, Philip Stern
Sakai site: https://sakai.duke.edu/portal/site/LAW.566A.01.F17
Email list: LAW.566A.01.F17@sakai.duke.edu
Course
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements - JD
Course Requirements - LLM
Course Requirements - LLM-ICL
Course Areas of Practice