Canadian Scholars' Press Corporate Wrongdoing in Canada: A Harm-Based Approach

Corporate Wrongdoing in Canada offers a comprehensive and critical examination of the widespread harms caused by corporate activity in Canadian society. From polluting the environment and unsafe working conditions to consumer exploitation, wage theft, and the erosion of democratic accountability, corporations inflict profound harm that often falls outside traditional legal definitions of crime. Drawing on a social harm or "zemiological" framework, Dowler and Antonowicz challenge students to rethink how wrongdoing is defined, regulated, and permitted to persist. Grounded firmly in the Canadian context, this book presents the historical, theoretical, and regulatory foundations of corporate wrongdoing while highlighting how corporate power is produced, protected, and normalized. Through a range of real-world Canadian case studies and examples in popular films and media, the authors examine the strategies corporations employ to evade accountability and highlight the roles of media, government, and advocacy in both enabling and resisting harm. Organized around a unique typology of harm encompassing environmental, consumer, worker, economic, and democratic harms, the authors expand the scope of corporate wrongdoing to include areas often excluded from conventional analyses, such as long-term care, housing markets, and the privatization of healthcare and education. Written in clear, accessible language and offering a wealth of critical analysis, Corporate Wrongdoing in Canada is a thorough, engaging, and accessible text for criminology, law, and sociology students in courses focused on corporate crimes, white-collar crimes, and social harms.