Corporate Relations

A look at the constitutional history of corporate personhood in the United States. Although the Supreme Court Case Citizens United vs. United States has recently brought this issue into the spotlight, the concept of granting Constitutional rights to corporate entities began soon after the Civil War. CORPORATE RELATIONS tracks the constitutional rights granted to corporations, culling language from landmark Supreme Court cases. At the same time it investigates a shaky analogy: if corporations are persons, what are persons? machines? 

Jena Osman's recent books of poetry include CORPORATE RELATIONS (Burning Deck, 2014),Public Figures (Wesleyan Press, 2012) and THE NETWORK (Fence Books, 2010), which was selected for the 2009 National Poetry Series. Other books include AN ESSAY IN ASTERISKS (Roof Books) and The Character (Beacon Press). She co-edits the CHAINLINKS book series with Juliana Spahr, and teaches in the MFA Creative Writing program at Temple University in Philadelphia.