Communities and Corporations in the Neww Global Capitalist Economy

Abstract

Globalization may be less inimitable than is commonly assumed. The newest iteration of the global capitalist economy has fundamentally altered the power relationships between multinational corporations and localities, but not, as is commonly presumed, overwhelmingly to the advantage of transnational corporations. The change is much more complex with many new loci of power and complex interrelationships among them. The capitalist world economy evolved alongside other social systems for at least three hundred years, allowing for the coexistence of parallel and interconnected, as well as relatively autonomous alternatives (Wallerstein, 1976; Plattner, 1989). Much contemporary discussion heralds the advent of globalization as being a unitary economic force incorporating nearly every sizeable economy into its sphere of influence. While globalization appears to be a dominant phenomenon, it has not entirely superseded all other social systems – and globalization forces themselves may, at times, find it necessary to adapt and modify themselves to conform to local alternatives. Proponents of the articulation of modes of production school have argues this for some time.