We hear a lot about "identity politics," but very little about its most powerful beneficiary: corporations. In her latest book, historian Kathleen J. Frydl looks at how, in the recent past, corporations claimed new and different attributes of identity to shield themself from government regulations. She shares the highlights of her research in this talk that will venture beyond the courtroom to examine Congress as the surprising sources of the identity-based rights and privileges bestowed on the modern corporate entity.

 

Kathleen J. Frydl holds a Ph.D. in history and specializes in the twentieth century. Her published work includes the award-winning The GI Bill (2009) and The Drug Wars in America: 1940-1973, named one of Vox's "Best Books We Read in 2014." Writing for a general audience, her work has appeared in Vox, Dissent, The American Prospect, StatNews, and the Washington Monthly. Her next book, Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation, will be published in 2026 by Oxford University Press.