FAQs
Who is Critical Takes for?
Critical Takes is a not-for-profit discussion platform for people from civil society around the world who are critical of the power of multinational corporations.
The definition of “civil society” here is broad and includes various groups and people with progressive aims, including non-governmental organisations, coalitions and networks; activists and campaigners; not-for-profit, charitable and voluntary organisations; trade unions; academia, research institutes and think thanks; progressive media organisations, journalists and media commentators. The work of Critical Takes is based on the universality of human rights.
You can use the platform as a source of information and ideas for your own work, and to keep up with what critics of corporate power from different places in civil society are thinking. You can also write for Critical Takes yourself (see "write for us" for details)
What is the purpose of Critical Takes?
Ideas do not enter the political mainstream by themselves. The neoliberal orthodoxy which long dominated mainstream thinking around the world was propagated for many years by an ecosystem of university departments, think tanks, journals and other media, backed by funding from very rich men. The far right has its own version of this ecosystem which promotes ideas of hostility and exclusion.
For a positive vision of justice to become mainstream, it is necessary to strengthen networks of ideas on the progressive side of politics. Critical Takes on Corporate Power is intended to play a useful role in that process by focussing on one particular problem of economic justice, which is the overweening power of multinationals and other very large corporations.
Critical Takes takes a general view that corporate power is a structural problem which calls for a comprehensive and ambitious response from civil society. Beyond that, the platform does not promote its own policy agenda or attempt to say what the end-point of change should be.
The aim is to gather ideas about how to tackle corporate power from across worldwide civil society, make those ideas easily accessible and encourage a patient and inclusive discussion about how they might fit together into a single agenda for transforming the problem, based on points of consensus which people with different starting points can work on together.
Critical Takes is a resource for civil society and does not usually campaign or conduct advocacy towards governments or multinational corporations.
Who owns and funds Critical Takes?
Critical Takes on Corporate Power Limited is a not-for-profit Company Limited By Guarantee in the United Kingdom whose director and member is the Editor, Diarmid O'Sullivan. The company is registered in England (Number 14966786) and its registered address is: Flat 10, 54 Cecile Park, London N8 9AT.
The platform is currently run and funded by Diarmid, who contributes his time on an unpaid basis. The plan is to raise funds from non-profit foundations in future and take on more people.
Can I reproduce material from this website in my own work?
You can quote or refer to material published on this website as long as you cite the name of the author and refer to Critical Takes on Corporate Power as its source, for example via a link or a footnote.
If you want to reproduce most or all of an article from the website, or if you want to republish any material from the website for commercial purposes, you must contact the Editor for permission first.
Please note that Critical Takes does not respond to marketing messages from commercial organisations.
Nothing published on this website may be used for the training of AI or machine-learning software, or for similar purposes.