FAQs
Who is Critical Takes for?
Critical Takes is a not-for-profit discussion platform for people from progressive 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.
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.
Will Critical Takes campaign or carry out advocacy?
Critical Takes is a resource for civil society, rather than a campaigning group, so it will not normally campaign or conduct advocacy towards governments or multinational corporations.
How can I use Critical Takes?
You can use our website, online events, newsletters and social media presence as a source of information and ideas for your own work, or just as a way of keeping up with what other critics of corporate power around the world are thinking and doing.
You can join the discussion by posting comments on the website, taking part in our online events and writing for Critical Takes yourself (please see “Write for Us”).
Who owns and funds Critical Takes?
The website is owned by Critical Takes on Corporate Power Limited, a not-for-profit Company Limited By Guarantee whose director and member is the Editor, Diarmid O'Sullivan. The company is registered in England (Company Number 14966786) and its registered address is: Flat 10, 54 Cecile Park, London N8 9AT, United Kingdom.
The platform is currently funded by the Editor, who also contributes his time on an unpaid basis. The plan is to raise funds from non-profit foundations in future.
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, then 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.