Joel Bakan

Joel Bakan is an author, filmmaker, internationally renowned legal scholar and commentator, professional jazz guitarist and a professor of law at the University of British Columbia.

His critically acclaimed book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, was published in over 20 languages, became a bestseller in several countries and inspired a feature documentary film. The Corporation, written by Bakan and co-created with Mark Achbar, was a critical and box office success and won numerous awards, including best foreign documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

Bakan grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, is a former Rhodes Scholar and holds law degrees from Oxford, Dalhousie and Harvard universities. A frequent recipient of awards for both his writing and teaching, Bakan is also the author of highly-regarded scholarly works, textbooks, edited collections, and numerous articles in leading legal and social science journals. He has worked on landmark legal cases and government policy, serves regularly as a media commentator on national television and radio, and has addressed business, government, academic, and activist audiences in Canada, the United States and abroad.

His recent book, Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children, reveals the callous and widespread corporate exploitation of children – and society’s failure to protect them from it.