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"Capitalism's agenda is the endless pursuit of private accumulation of socially produced wealth. In this system, the corporation is created by law; the corporation is meant to hide, to distract so that flesh and blood capitalists can do what they like. When the workings of the corporation are examined, they reveal a betrayal of the very values and norms that, for their legitimacy's sake, capitalists in our parts of the world purport to share. This book sets out to highlight one of capitalism's potentially weak spots, namely, the perverting economic, political and ethical roles played by the prime instrument of private wealth accumulation; the legal corporation. Once the corporate mask is ripped-off, those who hide behind it become visible. Stripped of their protective garb, the few capitalists who own the means of production will be just as naked as the rest of us we are when we face their corporations. Class Privilege sets out to humanize capitalism and help citizens rid themselves of a seemingly inevitable system while helping activists identify their antagonists and troubleshoot viable solutions."--

Statutory collective bargaining has been the linchpin of Canadian industrial relations since World War I. It yielded benefits to large segments of workers, although its reach and impact were always exaggerated. As the economic entente which underpinned the scheme is unravelling, workers fight desperately to hang onto a system which, in retrospect, looks even better than it did before. But the narrow, male-centred, economic premises of collective bargaining make statutory collective bargaining reform a poor vehicle with which to offset employer attacks on the working classes. An agenda which seeks to link the economic and the political, men and women, must be developed. This can be done, in part, by exploiting some of the claims (contrast realities) of the existing industrial relations system. But, more is needed; some suggestions are offered.

The proponents of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are fighting a mighty battle to show that, despite what are disappointing results from their perspective, judicial review can, and will be used to advance the causes of the disadvantaged and democracy. This forces them to make a series of incoherent and implausible arguments to rationalize what, to them, seem to be inconsistent and capricious decisions. Yet, if the Charter is put in its true political economic context, the courts look better. They turn out to be focussed and rational in their attempts to attain the objectives which that context demands. But, those objectives are not the protection of the underclasses or the perfection of democracy. The historical function of the judiciary has been to protect the status quo. The Charter was not meant to alter this. Armed with it, Canadian courts are better equipped than ever to protect the dominant classes.

Based on a two-year project launched by the Journal. Its goal was to engage students, faculty, and all members of the wider Osgoode and professional communities in an ongoing discussion about the nature and limits of law, seen through the lens of civil disobedient conduct in a legal polity that had developed mature democratic and civil liberty enhancing institutions. To this end, a variety of panels, seminars, and lectures were organized, beginning in the Fall of 2001. They were interpellated into the law school's curriculum. A culminating event was a conference in the Fall of 2002, to which a select number of scholars, professionals, and activists were invited. The contributions in this collection were generated from this project's activities.

Les contributions à cette collection proviennent des activités d'un projet de deux ans. Son but consistait à inviter les étudiants, la faculté, tous les membres de la communauté d'Osgoode et de la communauté juridique dans leur ensemble, à s'associer à un débat permanent sur la nature et les limites du droit, vues à travers le prisme de la conduite de désobéissance civile dans une politie juridique qui avait de longue date développé des institutions démocratiques et propagé les libertés civiques. À cette fin, divers panels, séminaires et conférences ont été organisés dès l'automne 2001. Ils sont évoqués dans le curriculum de la faculté de droit. L'événement culminant fut une conférence à l'automne 2002, à laquelle un certain nombre d'érudits, d'hommes de loi et de militants ont été conviés.

The paper will proceed as follows. It tells the Westray story in two parts, first, the decision to set up the mine and, second, the operation of the mine. These events illuminate the salience of the broader political economic context to an understanding of what happened. Further, the story gives the lie to the assumptions which underpin health and safety regulation. Next, the paper details the implications of the political economy and the prevailing ideology for the enforcement of health and safety regulation. The paper then critically examines a component of, or prop for, the consensus theory which postulates that workers and capitalists share, in some roughly comparable way, the risks of production. In part this is done by examining the proposition that the corporate form is a neutral, facilitating device.

"For nearly fifty years, Professor Harry Glasbeek has been at the forefront of legal scholars and public intellectuals challenging assumptions and understandings about the injustices embedded in the economic, social, political and legal orders of Western capitalist democracies. His writings and teachings have influenced generations of law students, academics and activists."--