Big Business, Poor Peoples : The Impact of Transnational Corporations in the World's Poor

by John Madeley

• ISBN13: 9781856496711
• ISBN10: 1856496716
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 1999-09-04
• Publisher: Zed Books

Summary

Are Transnational Corporations the solution to poverty in the Third World or, alternatively, are they part of the problem? This is John Madeley's central concern in this exploration of a little-investigated aspect of large corporations. TNCs are usually promoted as bringing rapid economic growth, jobs, and development generally. Yet inequality between North and South, and within countries, continues to grow. So what really is happening? The author examines the impact on the poor of TNC activities in the main economic sectors where the invest and sell their products--agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining, oil extraction, manufacturing and tourism. He charts how natural resources are being ceded to TNCs at the expense of local communities. He shows how weak are the productive links that much TNC activity actually makes with national economies. He documents how the power of governments to control these corporations is declining. Yet the news is not all bad. Producers, consumers, local communities, even shareholders are beginning to demand that large corporations behave in ways where profits are only one of the obligations incumbent upon them.

Author Biography

J. Madeley has been a writer and broadcaster specializing in Third World development and environmental issues for the past twenty years. He has written for the Observer, the Financial Times and the Sunday Independent.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii	(9)
Acknowledgements	xvi
1 Introduction: The Corporate Spread	1	(15)
Foreign direct investment	2	(3)
Why TNCs are different	5	(1)
The poor	6	(1)
Size	7	(1)
Gain or loss?	8	(2)
Employment	10	(1)
Dual economies	11	(1)
Transfer pricing	12	(1)
Services	13	(2)
Conclusion	15	(1)
2 Why Poor Countries `Want' the Corporations	16	(10)
Globalisation and liberalisation	17	(1)
Privatisation	18	(2)
Debt	20	(2)
Subtle pressure	22	(1)
The aid connection	23	(2)
Conclusion	25	(1)
3 The Agri-corporations: From Production to Trade	26	(22)
Seeds	27	(2)
Patents	29	(2)
Protests in India	31	(1)
Genetic engineering	32	(2)
Bio-piracy	34	(2)
Trade	36	(2)
Cereals	38	(1)
Land	39	(1)
Pesticide effects	40	(2)
Bhopal	42	(1)
Questioning pesticides	43	(3)
Health problems	46	(2)
4 Agri-commodities Take Their Toll	48	(23)
Tobacco	48	(9)
Babyfoods	57	(7)
Non-traditional export crops	64	(3)
Floriculture	67	(2)
Del Monte in the Philippines	69	(2)
5 Extracting Logs and Fish	71	(16)
Forests	71	(9)
Fisheries	80	(7)
6 Mining the Poor	87	(15)
The companies	89	(2)
Effects	91	(1)
Grasberg	92	(2)
Bougainville and Lihir	94	(1)
The impact of mining around the world	94	(1)
Gold	95	(2)
Culture	97	(1)
Women: the impact	98	(1)
Philippines: government action	99	(1)
Responsible mining	100	(2)
7 Manufactured Goods: Poverty amid the Glitz	102	(13)
Toys	103	(3)
Footwear	106	(2)
Clothes	108	(3)
Carpets: child labour	111	(1)
Exporting processing zones	112	(3)
8 Energy: No Force for the Poor	115	(13)
Damming	115	(5)
Coal-fired and gas-fired power plants	120	(1)
Oil	121	(7)
9 Tourism: The Great Illusion	128	(17)
Three branches	129	(4)
Boosting business	133	(1)
Based in the UK	134	(1)
Foreign exchange	135	(1)
Employment	136	(2)
But is it development?	138	(1)
Culture	139	(1)
Environmental damage	140	(1)
Eco-tourism	141	(2)
Regulation	143	(2)
10 Health: The Poor Take the Corporate Pill	145	(13)
Promotion	147	(1)
Antibiotics	148	(2)
Vitamins and stimulants	150	(1)
Donations	151	(2)
Generic drugs	153	(3)
Discrediting critics	156	(1)
Conclusion	157	(1)
11 The Corporate Persuaders	158	(10)
Bribes	158	(1)
Influencing the United Nations	159	(3)
The taming of UNCTAD	162	(1)
The World Trade Organisation	163	(1)
Relations with the public	164	(4)
12 Tackling the Power	168	(12)
Regulation	168	(3)
Producers	171	(1)
Consumers	172	(1)
Shareholders	173	(1)
NGO activity	174	(2)
Corporate behaviour	176	(2)
Conclusion	178	(2)
Notes	180	(18)
Index	198