Research

As an economic anthropologist, I examine the cultural and political history of the corporation. I analyze this relatively new form of social organization through the lens of colonial historiography, governmentality, and development theory in two distinct locales.

In the Ontario case, I have written extensively on the corporate origins of early Canada’s transition to a capitalist economy. In particular, I have contrasted the economic vehicles created by groups of utopian socialists (the “Children of Peace”) to meet public needs, with the chartered corporations created by “gentlemanly capitalists” as a way of governing the economy. Theories of governmentality and social capital are melded with political economy to provide an alternate interpretation of the emergence of Canada’s democratic traditions. Much of this work provides support for the Sharon Temple, a national historic site, and the sole remaining memorial to the broad utopian socialist tradition in Canada.

In the Indonesian case, I similarly examine the “transition debate” in the light of the development of Dutch Royal corporations as a governmental strategy to manage the "pauper" as well as the "native". Comparative analysis of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia and British colonialism in Canada provide insights into the historic means by which those strategies Foucault called “governmentality” developed in specific political economic and cultural situations. The emphasis again is on the effects of economic governmentality on development and democracy.