PECO 385 Capitalism III: Transnational Corporations
Powerful corporations have played a defining role in the evolution of the global capitalist system. This course examines Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in the era of globalization. Beginning in the 1980s, business strategies were revolutionized as advances in information technology and the liberalization of trade relations enabled the geographical expansion of corporate activity. The Global Production Networks (GPNs) constructed and overseen by TNCs transcended national boundaries, generating new waves of economic development by expanding the scale and intensifying the scope of market transactions. However, the dominance of TNCs has generated political tensions in a range of economics sectors, including the extractive industries, the clothing industries, the automobile industry, financial services, and the logistics industry, where workers and consumers have pressured TNCs to adopt more socially just, economically equitable, and ecologically sustainable practices. Accordingly, an overriding goal of this course is for students to sketch out the creation of new regulatory structures or alternative economic organizational forms which may, once again, redefine the relationship between the economy, the state system, and society.