When corporations have outsized influence over legislative and regulatory bodies, courts, and elections, they can successfully evade accountability and manipulate the State into putting corporate profits ahead of the public interest. The results of corporate capture are devastating.
For instance, important environmental protections have been gutted to benefit the fossil fuel industry and key labor protections reversed to allow companies to benefit at workers’ expense. It is imperative that we monitor and push back against the corporate capture of our democratic institutions.
News & Features
- Capitol Inc's Latest Installation: Icarus
- ICAR's Capitol, Inc. Campaign
- Fighting Corporate Capture
- Invisible DC Block Party PR
Capitol Inc's Latest Installation: Icarus
The groundbreaking piece, entitled ICARUS, is the work of award-winning artist Peter Wu+, and was commissioned by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) as the latest installation of the Capitol, Inc. project. This new installation is placed at the UN Headquarters in Geneva and is set to be unveiled at the 12th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. ICARUS exposes the ever-present insidious threat of corporate capture across the world. It is created to illustrate the invisible hand of corporate influence manipulating policy, government bodies and systems to serve their interests across industries.
ICAR's Capitol, Inc. Campaign
Corporate capture of our government is invisible by design, enabling powerful companies to manipulate policy and undermine progressive change across a wide variety of issue areas without repercussions. To combat this, the Capitol Inc. Campaign uses digital art as a tool for people to see how the harm that flows from outsized corporate influence shows up in our society.
Fighting Corporate Capture
Corporate abuse of power is intentionally invisible to the public eye. We, at ICAR, advocate for real protections and strong enforcement of the law to protect the public by enacting reasonable safeguards against corporate abuse, protecting those who speak out against corporate wrongdoing, and combating the rise of the corporate state. The point we want to drive home – every progressive issue is at least in part, a corporate power issue. Watch our video to learn more about how we fight against the corporate capture of our public institutions.
Invisible DC Block Party PR
On June 8th, 2022, we threw an “Invisible DC Block Party” on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in order to reinvigorate and draw more public attention to our Capitol, Inc Campaign. With live music and a short program, the event showcased four augmented reality art installations that reveal how deep corporate influence runs in Washington D.C. Read our Press Release for more information.