It is a truism that corporations have come to dominate economic life. They also command political heft unimaginable a century ago, enjoying formal political rights in some places and political influence everywhere. Corporations are also important in society, in ways that are increasingly recognized. Where the state is unwilling or unable to provide basic citizenship rights such as housing or education, corporations may do so under the rubric of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Shareholders like superannuation funds see themselves as stewards ‘in it for the long term’. They often apply pressure on boards to manage so that business strategies are sustainable and create long-term value for all stakeholders. The latitude to invest earnings for a sustainable future or in the interests of crucial stakeholders acknowledges that fostering the social connections of corporations may be as valuable to their legitimacy as the economic or political facets of their existence. It is also contested and paradoxical. For these reasons, there remains much to be done in the socio-legal understanding of corporations and our conference theme warmly invites papers on these foundational topics.

Recently new ideas about corporate purpose have emerged. Surprising interventions by company management have occurred on contested social issues. These have illuminated the social role of corporations and emphasised their wide-spread effects on social life. Understanding the power effects of CEO activism and visibility on social questions such as respect at work, same sex marriage, climate change and indigenous constitutional recognition is work in progress. We have barely started to analyse the legal obligations of directors in the context of these new company facts, the social leadership by management in the formation of public opinion. Beside this activism the apparent turn to values and ethics in corporate internal regulation and external projection, raises yet further questions. How real are such values and ethics in shaping corporate culture, and why might ethical leadership be a function of business?

Leaving the oldest and most contested question until last, there has been a reinvigoration of the question of corporate purpose. Earlier approaches saw corporate purpose as a limit on business (nothing outside corporate powers; only for maximising profit or prioritising shareholders). Now, it is argued corporate purpose is to earn profits while solving problems for human benefit and doing no harm. This describes a clear line between the business activities of corporations and their social utility to the future of humanity and the planet. How should we respond – legally, empirically and theoretically? How do we regulate and enforce the law in this area? What should we say to those who come after us, our students?