Berle VII: The Modern Corporation and A Theory of Fields

On May 26-27, 2015, scholars disparately trained in law, anthropology, economics, political science, history and sociology gathered in Seattle for the seventh annual Berle Symposium. As with prior symposia, a principal aim of Berle VII was to shed light on the nature of the modern corporation. As with prior symposia, the voices participating represented numerous disciplines. What sets Berle VII apart from its forerunners, however, was the decision to make social scientists the dominant voices, and to select a theory propounded by sociologists—field theory—as the focal point and backdrop for the symposium.

This choice reflected a second principal aim of Berle VII—to introduce field theory not only to participants at the live event, but through the published version, to the large community of legally trained scholars to whom the theory has not yet spoken. Our goal with this is to assist these scholars as they continue the never ending task of better understanding the nature of both the modern corporation and the society in which we live and work.