Legal "personhood" has granted corporations increasing powers while citizens and national governments face diminishing powers in the expanding global economy. As a result, corporate decisions undermine and even nullify legal decisions made by democratically elected governments designed to protect citizens, both nationally and internationally.

Laura Westra, Ph.D. (1982) in Philosophy, University of Toronto, and Ph.D. (2005) in Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, currently teaches environmental law at the University of Windsor, international law at the University of Milano (Bicocca). She has published twenty-eight monographs and collections on environmental justice and human rights issues and international law, and over 85 articles and chapters.