Corporations dominate our societies. They employ us, sell to us and influence how we think and who we vote for, while their economic interests dictate local, national and global agendas.

Written in clear and accessible terms, this much-needed textbook provides critical perspectives on all aspects of the relationship between business and society: from an historical analysis of the spread of capitalism as the foundation of the 'corporate' revolution in the late nineteenth century to the regulation, ethics and exclusionary implications of business in contemporary society. Furthermore, it examines how corporate power and capitalism might be resisted, outlining a range of alternatives, from the social economy through to new forms of open access or commons ownership.

Kean Birch is an associate professor in the Business and Society programme at York University, Canada. His recent books include: We Have Never Been Neoliberal (2015); The Handbook of Neoliberalism (2016, co-edited with Simon Springer and Julie MacLeavy); and Innovation, Regional Development and the Life Sciences: Beyond Clusters (2016).

Caroline Shenaz Hossein is an assistant professor in the Business and Society programme in the Department of Social Science at York University, Canada. She is the author of Politicized Microfinance: Money, Power and Violence in the Black Americas (2016).

Mark Peacock is professor in the Business and Society programme at York University, Canada. His research interests include the philosophy of economics and the theory and origins of money. He recently published the book Introducing Money (2013).

Alberto Salazar is an assistant professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, Canada. His most recent publications appear in the American Journal of Comparative Law and Osgoode Legal Studies Research Papers.

Sonya Scott is a sessional assistant professor in the Business and Society programme at York University, Canada. She is the author of Architectures of Economic Subjectivity: The Philosophical Foundations of the Subject in the History of Economic Thought (2013).

Richard Wellen is an associate professor in the Business and Society programme at York University, Canada. His recent research deals with the political economy of higher education as well as transformations and alternatives in scholarly publishing markets. His books include Making Policy in Turbulent Times: Challenges and Prospects for Higher Education (2013, co-edited with Paul Axelrod, Theresa Shanahan and Roopa Deesai-Trilokekar).

Introduction: A Critical Introduction to Business and Society1. The Emergence of Capitalism in Western Europe2. The Spread of Capitalism3. The Corporate Revolution4. Corporate Governance5. Corporate Responsibility6. Corporate Power7. Global Economy and Varieties of Capitalism8. Global Governance9. Global Environmental Change10. Markets and Economic Order11. Economics, Capitalism and Business: The Orthodoxy12. Political Economy and Critiques of Capitalism: Heterodox Perspectives13. Business, Regulation and Policy14. Ethics and Business15. Business and Social Exclusion16. Resistance and Alternatives to Corporate Capitalism17. Social Economy18. Rethinking Ownership: The Market vs. the Commons