Capitalism and the Semiotics of Corporate Personhood in a Law of Natural Persons
**This event is open to those of the anthropology community ONLY**
The semiotic construction of corporate persons in law is key to the contemporary organization of global capitalism. The economic capacities enjoyed by corporations stem significantly from how the semiotics of corporate personhood work within domestic and international legal orders fundamentally designed for natural persons. The act of incorporation is a translation that creates one unified legal actor from one or more individuals. At the same time, corporations multiply themselves into independent legal actors, translating themselves into the form of incorporated subsidiaries that are governed like parts of themselves. Unlike human offspring, these corporate offspring are easily created, may take up citizenship in almost any jurisdiction, and always obey their parents. The talk will discuss these issues with respect to tort liability, international trade, and taxation.
