© Peter Dicken 2015

Making the World a Better Place

Global Shift

Chapter 11

Review

• Concepts to Review– Corporate social responsibility, global civil society

organizations, inequality, WTO, cyclical volatility, environmental regulation, 2008 financial crisis

• Key Words– Poverty alleviation, alternative forms of global

economic system, the G20, global governance systems, the Bretton Woods agreement

Corporate Social Responsibility• Global Civil Society Organizations

– Vary from the anti-capitalist to the national– Often have contradictory agendas– Force people to engage with the unevenness of globalization

• Corporate Social Responsibility– Milton Friedman: companies only exist to maximize shareholder value– Alternative: stakeholder capitalism– Define: inactive, reactive, active and proactive approaches– Participation may be altruistic or through self-interest

• Codes of Conduct– Four major types

• devised by TNCs• drawn up by coalitions of interest groups• formulated by TNCs in association with stakeholders • established by NGOs

Global Governance

• Finance– Bretton Woods agreement, 1944

• International Monetary Fund and World Bank created– Since 1970s, agreement undermined, leading to a market-led

rather than state-led system– In 1997: Asian crisis, calls for a reformed financial architecture– In 2008: need for a new financial architecture for everyone made

plain– Most important development is the emergence of the G20

• International Trade– Regulated since Second World War by the GATT and since

1995 by the WTO– WTO takes rule-oriented approach to multilateral trade

cooperation– Fundamental basis is non-discrimination, based on

• most-favoured nation principle• national treatment rule

– The Doha Development Round (2001–)

Global Governance (cont’d)

● Transnational Corporations– No international regulatory body like the GATT/WTO– Discuss history of failed attempts to develop an international

framework– Conflicts of interest: TNCs, states, labour bodies, GCSOs– Tax avoidance– Geographies of offshore finance

● Environmental Regulation– 1992: Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC)– 1997: Kyoto Protocol– Problem: developing countries adopting measures that could

prevent their future economic development

A Better World?• Alternative Economies

– Neo-liberals: argue for more openness of markets– Anti-globalizers: argue for the opposite– Environmentalists: need to take environment into account– Development of ‘community economies’ and micro-finance

• Openness Versus Poverty Alleviation– IMF and World Bank encourage openness as cure for all ills– This only works if playing field is level. Opening up a developing

economy will also lead to disaster• hence the need to have means in place to develop robust internal structures

– UN Millennium Development Declaration: to alleviate extreme poverty– Aid programmes failing to meet needs– Prosperity is not just about money: it can also be about happiness, well-

being