Joel Conrad Bakan (born 1959) is an American-Canadian writer, jazz musician, filmmaker, and professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...

. Born in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and raised for most of his childhood in East Lansing, Michigan, where his parents, Paul and Rita Bakan, were both long-time professors in psychology at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. In 1971, he moved with his parents to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. He was educated at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public Research university, research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and Vancou ...

(BA, 1981),

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(BA in law, 1983),

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offe ...

(

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

, 1984) and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

( LLM, 1986). He served as a law clerk to Chief Justice

Brian Dickson Robert George Brian Dickson (May 25, 1916 – October 17, 1998) was a Canadian lawyer, military officer and judge. He was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973, and subsequently appointed the 15th Chief Jus ...

in 1985. During his tenure as clerk, Dickson authored the judgment ''

R v Oakes ''R v Oakes'' 9861 SCR 103 is a case decided by the Supreme Court of Canada which established the famous ''Oakes'' test, an analysis of the limitations clause (section 1) of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' that allows reas ...

'', among others. Bakan then pursued a master's degree at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...

. After graduation, he returned to Canada, where he has taught law at

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law. He joined the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in 1990 as an associate professor. Bakan teaches constitutional Law, contracts, socio-legal courses, and the graduate seminar. He has won the Faculty of Law's Teaching Excellence Award twice and a UBC Killam Research Prize.

Personal life

Bakan has a son from his first wife, Marlee Gayle Kline, also a scholar and Professor of Law at the

. Kline died of leukemia in 2001. Bakan helped establish the Marlee Kline Memorial Lectures in Social Justice to commemorate her contributions to

Canadian law The legal system of Canada is pluralist: its foundations lie in the English common law system (inherited from its period as a colony of the British Empire), the French civil law system (inherited from its French Empire past), and Indigenous l ...

and

feminist legal theory Feminist legal theory, also known as feminist jurisprudence, is based on the belief that the law has been fundamental in women's historical subordination. Feminist jurisprudence the philosophy of law is based on the political, economic, and socia ...

. He is now married to Canadian actress and singer Rebecca Jenkins. His brother,

Michael Bakan Michael Bakan is a professor of ethnomusicology at Florida State University and director of the Balinese gamelan ensemble ''Sekaa Gong Hanuman Agung'' ("Gamelan Club of the Great Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called An ...

, is an

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Works

Bakan authored ''The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power'', a book analyzing the evolution and modern-day behavior of corporations from a critical perspective. Published in 2004, it was made into a film '' The Corporation'' by directors Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott the same year and won 25 international awards. His book ''Childhood Under Siege'' was published in August 2011. Joel Bakan writes in ''The Corporation'': He is the author of a number of books on

Canadian constitutional law Canadian constitutional law () is the area of Canadian law relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Canada by the courts. All laws of Canada, both provincial and federal, must conform to the Constitution and any laws ...

, including ''Just Words: Constitutional Rights and Social Wrongs''. Bakan and his wife Jenkins released a jazz album, ''Blue Skies'' in 2008, an album of Jenkins' original songs, ''Something's Coming'', in 2012, and ''Rebecca Jenkins: Live at the Cellar'' in 2014. In 2020, he was codirector with Abbott of '' The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel'', a sequel to the original film version of ''The Corporation''.Pat Mullen
"‘Inconvenient Indian’, ‘New Corporation’, ‘No Ordinary Man’ Rep Canadian Docs in TIFF Line-up"
''

Point of View Point of view or Points of View may refer to: Concept and technique * Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something * Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronou ...

'', July 30, 2020.

References

External links

* *
"The Beast with No Name: Mark Achbar and Joel Bakan with Williams Cole"
''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

'' (Summer 2004)
Joel Bakan discusses The Corporation and Childhood Under Siege on The Extraenvironmentalist podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakan, Joel 1959 births Living people Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian legal scholars Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian Rhodes Scholars Film directors from Michigan Film directors from Vancouver Clerks of the Supreme Court of Canada Schulich School of Law alumni Harvard Law School alumni Writers from Lansing, Michigan People from East Lansing, Michigan Writers from Vancouver Simon Fraser University alumni Peter A. Allard School of Law faculty Osgoode Hall Law School faculty Canadian documentary film directors