Power Of Transnational Corporations Research Articles

Forced Labour, Global Supply Chain and TNCs: Recent Trends and Practices

The abolition of forced labour is a fundamental element of contemporary international human rights law, but the idea has undergone a protracted and complex history, and the scope of the various international mechanisms that handle different aspects of it is not always precisely defined. Slavery, forced labour, and related practices are strictly prohibited under international law. Forced labour is a longstanding and complex obstacle in global supply chains, frequently associated with the desire for inexpensive products and the outsourcing of manufacturing processes to nations with lax labour regulations. The growing power of transnational corporations (TNCs) poses significant challenges to workers at the bottom of supply chains. However, disagreements have made it unclear how to deal with new forms of forced labour, or modern forms of slavery. This confusion highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to combating these issues. Efforts to stop or restrict forced labour will be made easier with a clear legal definition at both the national and international levels, particularly with an emphasis on the human rights perspective.

Corporations and positive duties to fulfil socio-economic rights: developing international human rights law

ABSTRACT There is much contestation about the nature and scope of corporate human rights obligations under international law. Some maintain that corporations have a basic responsibility to avoid human rights violations in their operations; others argue for a wider scope of accountability, including a more active duty to protect human rights. I argue that corporations should have positive duties under international law to fulfil all human rights, especially socio-economic rights. I ground my argument in the staggering inequality that exists between the wealthiest corporations, on the one hand, and the poorest parts of the global population, on the other. This is entrenched by a perfect storm of global economic inequality, international trade, and transnational corporate power. This creates structural poverty, which enables conglomerates to generate profits that, promises notwithstanding, do not reach people living in indigency. This results in the anomaly whereby indigent communities actually subsidise corporate profits. It is this inequity and concomitant benefit, that justifies the imposition of positive duties on corporations to fulfil socio-economic rights. However, this duty is limited. I identify a series of interlocking factors, the coalescence of which creates a reasonable and justifiable imposition of human rights duties onto corporations.

The making of the Philippines as a Neoliberal Nation-State: Dissecting the global-local nexus and their implications for social change

AbstractThe neoliberal globalization project of expanding and maintaining capitalism globally requires the shaping of neoliberal nation-states that will entrench its ideology, political structures, and practices. In that sense, the neoliberal nation-state provides an appropriate conceptual site for investigating the local-global nexus in the dynamics of global capitalism. Using the Philippines as an example, this paper investigates the various factors or dimensions in the making of the Philippines as a neoliberal nation-state from the colonial era to the supranational structures that exert external control on the Philippine political economy: the global power of transnational corporations, the IMF, American and Chinese imperialism, including the American military aid that supports militarization and counter-insurgency against movements that challenge the neoliberal agenda of the past and current regimes. In addition, this paper offers implications for policy changes and strategies for global resistance that anti-globalization movements can consider.

Intimate exclusion and pastoralist elites' role in large scale-land acquisition in Kenya

ABSTRACTMany large-scale land acquisition studies focus on the role of powerful transnational corporations, foreign and domestic governments. Instead, we shift the focus to the role of local actors, in this case, pastoralists in Samburu County, Kenya. Here, we apply the concept of ‘intimate exclusion’ and show that pastoralist elites' desire and ability to maximise productive and financial gains from customary land, coupled with their privileged understanding of land-related laws and regulations and ability to use or threaten others with violence, enables the control of extensive customary lands and the exclusion of weaker pastoralists. These processes, we find, are rooted in the country's capitalist development trajectory traceable to colonial rule. Overall, the paper highlights local ‘homegrown’ actors’ role in large-scale land acquisition, how social intimacy provides space and opportunity for unequal benefits and how historical gains offer unique opportunities to gain from new political and economic developments.

Using System Dynamics to Understand Transnational Corporate Power in Diet-Related Non-communicable Disease Prevention Policy-Making: A Case Study of South Africa.

Complex interactions between political economy factors and corporate power are increasingly recognized to prevent transformative policy action on non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. System science offers promising methods for analysing such causal complexity. This study uses qualitative system dynamics methods to map the political economy of diet-related NCD (DR-NCD) prevention policy-making aiming to better understand the policy inertia observed in this area globally. We interviewed 25 key policy actors. We analysed the interviews using purposive text analysis (PTA). We developed individual then combined casual loop diagrams to generate a shared model representing the DR-NCD prevention policy-making system. Key variables/linkages identified from the literature were also included in the model. We validated the model in several steps including through stakeholder validation interviews. We identified several inter-linked feedback processes related to political economy factors that may entrench different forms of corporate power (instrumental, structural, and discursive) in DR-NCD prevention policy-making in South Africa over time. We also identified a number of feedback processes that have the potential to limit corporate power in this setting. Using complex system methods can be useful for more deeply understanding DR-NCD policy inertia. It is also useful for identifying potential leverage points within the system which may shift the existing power dynamics to facilitate greater political commitment for healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system transformation.

Labour Rights in the Wake of the WTO

One of the most contentious issues surrounding globalization includes trade and labours rights. In the real world, trade and labour circumstances have an impact on one another. Trading nations should be subject to significant labour standards. It was believed that enforcing labour standards via trade agreements helps to improve the working conditions and income in poor countries, and minimize wage inequalities between rich and poor countries. The World Trade Organization’s (WTOs) establishment has resulted in the liberalization of trade and investment. Transnational corporations (TNCs) have become more economically powerful than many countries around the world in today’s era of globalization and free trade. These powerful TNCs are violating labour rights and are not accountable for that because of the lack of a legal framework. This calls for a look at issues that arise at the interface of international trade and labour standards, including a brief historical review of labour rights and the, as well as the impact of TNCs on labours and accountability. World Trade Organization, Labour Rights, International Labour Organization, Globalization, Trade, Transnational Corporations, International Labour Rights, Free Trade, Labour standards

Investors versus Workers: A Class‐Based Critique of International Investment Treaties

ABSTRACTBilateral investment treaties constitute an important instrument to facilitate global investment. Recent discussions in political theory have highlighted several normative concerns raised by bilateral investment treaties. One worry is that investment treaties undermine national self‐determination as they grant investors far‐reaching protections that can be legally enforced. Another worry is that the benefits and burdens entailed in bilateral investment treaties are distributed unfairly in a way that benefits investors at the expense of states and disadvantaged groups within states. Instead of critiquing bilateral investment treaties from a perspective of global (distributive) justice, in this article I develop a class‐based critique. This involves a twofold departure. First, the article shifts the focus from distributions to the power relations that are built into the global capitalist economy and that come into sharp relief in the practice of global investment. Second, rather than focusing on the relation between states and investors, I claim that in a class‐based critique the relation between workers and investors should take centre stage. I argue that bilateral investment treaties are effectively an instrument of class domination, insofar as they reproduce and increase the power of transnational corporations while at the same time decreasing the power of workers.

Varieties of food democracy: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT The concept of food democracy has been developed to articulate norms and ideals of democracy as a counterpressure to ‘food control’ from concentrated and transnational corporate power in the agri-food system. Yet to date, a comprehensive overview is missing to identify the various elements and dimensions of food democracy conceptualizations and to reflect on what exactly is democratic about food democracy. To address this gap, a systematic literature review was conducted to assess consensus, common and outlying dimensions of food democracy conceptualizations and the epistemological synergies and struggles around different understandings of democracy in the research field. Analysis uncovers more than 20 different food democracy dimensions, the most common of which (deliberation, knowledge democracy, food choice, civic co-planning, rights protection) diverge along two predominant schools of thought, epistemological positions and strategies for change: first, food democracy as a process of open and inclusive public deliberation in participatory settings; second, food democracy as the protection of individual rights, liberties and private (consumer) freedom. Through the lens of varied democracy perspectives, we discuss implications for further development of food democracy in research, policy and agri-food systems interventions.

Political Power of Digital Transnational Corporations: To the Problem of Research

The spread of digital technologies in the everyday life of citizens (social networks, streaming video, messengers) and in the socio-political sphere («smart city», e-government) has led to an increase in the power of transnational corporations specializing in the development and launch of these products and services on the market - digital TNCs. Thanks to the increase in financial power, such firms became actors that were able to influence the political sphere, for example, by influencing the views and attitudes of voters during electoral campaigns or mass protests, collecting confidential user data and providing it to intelligence agencies, etc. The purpose of the article is to characterize digital TNCs as actors with political power. To analyze the activities of digital TNCs at the present stage, the author applied the approach of Marius Busemeyer and Kathleen Thelen, who proposed to consider business representatives as actors with instrumental, structural and institutional sources of power. It is concluded that at the present stage, digital TNCs implement an instrumental and structural type of power, and also have the potential to implement institutional power, which involves the replacement of a number of government functions.

ТРАНСНАЦІОНАЛЬНІ ВАЖЕЛІ ГЛОБАЛІЗАЦІЇ: ТЕОРЕТИКО-МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

The article is devoted to the scientific view’s systematization on the globalization’s processes and forms in the context of the role of the levers of transnationalization in ensuring global economic development. It was established that modern socio-economic changes that take place in the world indicate the formation of systemic manifestations of interconnection and interdependence at the global level. In the conditions of strengthening globalization processes, not only the global space is being formed, but also the corresponding global mechanisms that regulate their activities are developing: the formation of the global labor market, global scientific and educational space, etc. Based on the systematization of scientific views on the processes and forms of globalization, the multivariate approaches to the interpretation of this concept are defined. It is emphasized that modern theories and concepts of the globalization processes’ development rely on various aspects of the countries’ inclusion in global processes and structures. It is emphasized that today there are signs of transformation of the existing globalization paradigm. This is because of the fact that existing economic theories do not cover the latest trends of non-linear development of globalization processes - manifestations of hyperglobalization (expansion of social processes into new forms of spatiality) and deglobalization (reduction of spatiality of social processes). It was determined that the processes of economic activity’s transnationalization play a special role in the development of globalization: globalization, that creates prerequisites and incentives for the development of intra-sectoral international division of labor, also led to the creation of powerful transnational corporations as an independent economic force. It is substantiated that at the current stage, not only the global space is being formed, but also the corresponding global mechanisms that regulate its functioning is also forming. A prominent place among them belongs to the processes of transnationalization. The dominant role of TNCs is accompanied by the formation of systemic relationships and interactions, the essential understanding of which is a condition for the equal inclusion of national economies in the world economy. Key words: globalization, transnationalization, internationalization, global sociality, transnational corporations, transnational interactions.

Development for whom?: an Indigenous environmental justice movement in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Indigenous peoples around the world tend to be disproportionately affected by resource extraction activities having access to fewer technical, legal and other resources to participate effectively in the decision-making process. Taking a resistance movement concerning the Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh, through qualitative research, this paper examines how Indigenous peoples frame their claims in a mining conflict situation. The Phulbari resistance movement took place more than a decade ago in Bangladesh, however, local Indigenous peoples, Bangalee farming communities, and activists still bear the spirit of the movement. As such, this study seeks to test the claims of how the Indigenous and farming communities, and the actions of national and transnational environmental justice organisations in the Phulbari resistance movement form part of an environmental justice movement. The paper argues that various components of Indigenous resistance and claims may contribute to the overall goals of the environment justice movement against powerful transnational corporations in the global South.

Transnational Corporate Power: From Lomé to the CARIFORUM-EU EPA

The post-Lomé era, from the turn of the twenty-first century, marks a shift from an epoch of non-reciprocal preferential trade under successive Lomé Conventions to one of reciprocal trade within a free trade area under a neoliberal international economic order. Post-Lomé thus constitutes a new age in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. In this context, there are several factors that distinguish the Lomé period of preferences from twenty-first century agreements between the EU and ACP states, and which have influenced this development in the Europe-ACP relationship. This article focuses on the influence of one particular factor on the evolution of relations between Western Europe and ACP states that is often overlooked or undertheorized in the predominantly state-centric analyses of same. It therefore investigates and demonstrates the connection between transnational corporate interests and the dramatic shift to the post-Lomé framework for engagement between the EU and ACP states, as well as the progressive neoliberalization of Lomé era agreements even before the dramatic shift in this relationship. The study establishes that the agenda for and outcome of negotiations on the Cotonou Agreement of 2000 largely reflects transnational corporate interests, and that the CARIFORUM-EU EPA of 2008 is also consistent with the pattern of their neoliberal pursuits.

Come and see Guatemala at Macy’s! Indigenous aesthetics and informal empire on display in the heart of the American home

ABSTRACT During the 1920s and 1930s, a new wave of mass consumer culture swept through the United States, fueling a fad for modern and exotic objects to display at home. Department stores stuffed their massive showrooms with new home decor styles, such as the exciting textile patterns industrial designer Ruth Reeves created following her ethnographic collecting trip to Guatemala in 1934. Although scholars have shown how powerful transnational corporations, such as the United Fruit Corporation, shaped exploitative large-scale neocolonial economies in Central America, I argue that individual consumption of indigenous culture transformed middle-class white women into stakeholders in new destructive patterns of U.S. imperial expansion in Latin America. This article historicizes the development of racial capitalism and shows how individual acts of cultural appropriation and consumption of indigenous material culture were transformed into collective practices of racial and gendered exploitation to restore U.S. cultural and economic vitality through empire during the Great Depression.

Problematising the ‘governance gap’: corporations, human rights, and the emergence of transnational law

ABSTRACT The problem of transnational corporate responsibility as it relates to human rights has been conceptualised as arising from a ‘governance gap’ (or gaps). Such a framing focuses attention on efforts to bridge that gap, including through expansion of private regulation, typically identified with the work of transnational law. This paper problematises that framing. It argues first, that the notion of ‘gaps’ in law (or governance more broadly) is inapt and second, that their invocation facilitates responses conducive to, rather than constraining of, transnational corporate power and authority. The argument is developed through analysis of decisions issued in the 1950s concerning oil concessions in Middle Eastern states that were formative of a postwar order enabling such power. The problem of (transnational) corporate human rights violations and impunity as it concerns law, the paper concludes, is better understood as arising not from any gap in law’s rule, but from how law rules.

Flags of Convenience in Cruise Tourism: Is It an Opportunity or an Exploitation of Developing Countries?

The purpose of this article is to highlight the power relations between transnational corporations and developing countries due to the application of the Flags of Convenience (FoC) system in the cruise tourism industry. The focus is to answer whether the FoC in global cruise tourism is a good opportunity or actually a system that exploits developing countries. This article uses literature review method by referring to the concept of power of transnational corporations as an analytical framework. This study found that the FoC system strengthens the position of non-state actors in the international system through its regulations and by achieving its business goals through its power over the country, particularly developing countries.

The significance of intellectual capital in strategies of transnational corporations

Abstract Objective This study is an attempt to identify crucial assets of intellectual capital (IC) of transnational corporations (TNCs). The author identifies key assets each of the IC layers: organizational, innovative, and institutional. Examining these complex constructions of IC and its comprehensive influence on achieving competitive advantage is justified as the topic has been investigated rarely till now. Methods The paper presents literature review and the results of an authorial survey (252 corporations). The author used the following methodology concepts: the Grounded Theory Method, the Social Network Analysis, and the Multidimensional Statistical Analysis. Findings The results of the conducted analysis do sustain the postulated hypothesis that the main pillars constituting the intellectual capital of the most powerful transnational corporations (leaders) are the same in terms of the core irrespective of the type of industry. Based on the conducted research, the author points to the three key requirements for each of three IC layers (organizational, innovative, and institutional). Practical implication The proposed model of layers of intellectual capital may be used to identify the relationship in question, or its lack of relationship, in other types of international business. Furthermore, the study results provide guidelines for executives of corporations with respect to intellectual capital management. Originality/value It is a new, original proposal for measurement and presentation of the relationship between international competitiveness of transnational corporations and their intellectual capital efficiency (pillars of IC-layers).

Guiding principles on business and human rights: The important attempt to address corporate human rights abuses

The rapid increase of power of transnational corporations and other business enterprises prompted initiatives for the international legal regulation of these entities with regard to human rights. This paper provides a critical overview of the first globally accepted standard that regulates human rights responsibilities of transnational corporations, namely the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) - an international instrument consisting of 31 principles implementing the United Nations 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework on this issue of human rights and transnational corporations, and other business enterprises. The paper examines the UNGPs' three pillars: a) the state duty to protect human rights; b) the corporate responsibility to protect human rights; and c) access to remedy for victims of corporate violations of human rights. It also provides a brief introduction to initiatives that preceded the UNGPs. While presenting the advantages of addressing the business-related human rights abuses through the soft law instrument, the paper also addresses a number of shortcomings of the soft law approach that underlie the UNGPs.

Nation-states, transnational corporations and cosmopolitans in the global popular music economy

This article assesses changing debates about globalisation in light of the growth of digital media. It stresses how popular music is shaped by enduring tensions between nation-state attempts to control territorial borders, the power of transnational corporations aiming to operate across these borders and emergent cosmopolitan practices that offer a cultural challenge to these borders. It outlines how popular music is influenced by physical place and highlights the cultural and political importance of the nation-state for understanding the context within which musical creativity occurs. It explains how transnational corporations use financial power to work across and to gain entry to national boundaries, and assesses claims that cosmopolitanism musical encounters offer more inclusive and alternative spaces to that of bounded state control and unbounded capitalist competition. It concludes by arguing for a more music-centred approach to the powers and pluralisms through which popular music moves at the meeting of states, corporations and cosmopolitans.

Human Capital and Intellectual Capital in Modern International Business –Based on Studies of the Strategies of Transnational Corporations

The main objective of the article is to discuss the direction of changes in the strategies of the most powerful transnational corporations as a result of adjustments to the new challenges created by the growing role of human capital in contemporary international business. Based on the concept of Grounded Theory Methodology, the author will indicate the main pillars of the strategy which can be considered effective for new challenges. The study has been divided into three parts. The first part discusses the most important theoretical issues concerning the place of human capital in the strategies of contemporary enterprises. In the second part, the author characterizes new trends in international transfers of human capital. In the next part, based on the research, the author discusses the impact of changes on the organizational and management system of enterprises – on the example of the most powerful transnational corporations. The studies have shown that all the most powerful transnational corporations notice the growing role of intellectual capital in contemporary business. The basis of corporations’ strategies is the emphasis put on the development of subsystems of intellectual capital, which refers to the activation of international transfers of human capital. In consequence, the strategies of the development of the most powerful transnational corporations are based on three pillars: networking, orchestration, and coopetition, and they are based on the three subsystems of intellectual capital: organizational capital, innovations, and the institutional environment.

Globalization and health: political grand challenges

The central task of any critical social science is speaking truth about power. After a brief review of ‘glass half full’ and ‘glass half empty’ perspectives on recent developments in global health, I argue that such a critical perspective need not answer the question about the glass, but rather ask what more could have been achieved under different social arrangements. I continue with a discussion of how globalization has re-scaled distributional conflicts so they need no longer be resolved within national borders, and enhanced the power of transnational corporations and the ultra-wealthy to the probable detriment of national policy space. I then examine the structural adjustment programs of the 1980s and the 1990s as an early step in the normalization of austerity, and the associated human collateral damage. I conclude by arguing that the constraints in improving health and reducing health inequalities associated with globalization are substantial, while suggesting that they should not be overstated – a point underscored by the selective nature of the policy choices comprising austerity.