Peter Dicken 2015 Making the World a Better

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 G 20, 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 1970 s, 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 G 20 • 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, wellbeing