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Corporate Watch, Issue 12, Autumn 2000.

The OECD’s Crocodile Tears

Building a great reputation is not about words and fancy value statements communicated via glossy brochures which languish on coffee tables in reception lounges and in the department of corporate affairs. Reputation with stakeholders is gained by the systematic application of values into normal everyday operations. (Glen Peters, PricewaterhouseCoopers.) [1]
Ideology - the nature of the beast

If the World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are the body of globalisation's dark side, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is its head. [2]   Although not such a post-Seattle household name as the others, the OECD is the source of the ideology which drives them. It is the crude, lumbering think-tank of the most wealthy nations, bulldozing over human dignity without pause for thought. Its tracks, crushed into the barren dereliction left behind, spell 'global free market'.

Premised on the economic repudiation of Communism, the OECD was central to the West's defences against the threat of an inhuman political and economic dogma. Yet in being so, the OECD merely helped to establish its own brutal ideology in the rejection of another and, tragically, created the conditions for conflict precisely in its simplistic attempts to maintain 'stability'.

The danger of ideology, be it communist, capitalist or whatever, is that the theoretical means to achieve the end of a better society tend to become pursued as ends in themselves. If, for example, it has been decided that collectivism and state ownership are the best way to run things, these principles can end up being imposed in blind faith, regardless of whether they actually achieve their aim. Subsequent failures in this way to raise everyone's quality of life are then explained away either as failures properly to implement the theory or as a necessary short-term sacrifice for longer-term gains. Thus, the ideology - protected in this bubble of dogma - comes to be imposed and justified ever more desperately in equal measure to its increasingly evident shortcomings.

Similarly, we find ourselves now in the topsy-turvy world of capitalist ideology as the OECD issues its updated guidelines on best practice governing the operations of transnational corporations (TNCs) in a global 'free' market. [3]   This non-legally binding, voluntary code of conduct is apparently intended to help ensure that global capitalism will, in fact, achieve the end of improving the quality of life for all. But as a non-enforceable 'gentlemen's agreement', it is utterly useless - as already demonstrated in the time since its adoption in 1976. And what a grotesque faith in the virtues of free market theory, that guidelines which exhort corporations to respect human rights and the environment directly are conferred an inferior status relative to the legally enforceable rules of the so-called 'deregulated' free market which are assumed indirectly to benefit all. A classic ideologically-inspired confusion between ends and means thus lies at the heart of the modern world order, the heart of humanity relegated to the status of a vestigial appendix.

We need to know the nature of the beast. Even before the end of World War II, in July 1944, the UN Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, US, founded the economic power structures which dominate to this day: the IMF, the World Bank andthe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, now mutated into the WTO). [4]   The destruction of Europe had moved the US into position as the Western superpower, and these Bretton Woods institutions took it upon themselves to rebuild the post-war global economy in the ideological image of the American gold-rush. Part of the justification for this was the theory that the economic depression of the 1930s had contributed to the outbreak of war. However, perhaps what ought to be considered today is whether it was more the punitive and humiliating post-World War I Treaty of Versailles which provoked a nationalist backlash in Germany. It is arguable that similar modern day humiliations suffered by the poorest nations at the hands of the Bretton Woods institutions are creating those same conditions.

Fearful of leftist and Russian political and economic influence over Western Europe after World War II, the US stepped in with a massive European aid program, the Marshall Plan. This was administered on only roughly free market principles by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (founded in 1948) which, renamed the OECD, became the world's most influential economic think-tank, extending its dictates globally after NATO took over the European strategic baton from the Marshall Plan. [5]   This economic cartel has always been dominated by US financial and political might: a country’s voting power at the IMF and World Bank depends on its wealth, and the OECD is composed only of the world's rich nations. [6]   Poorer nations (or their often corrupt governments rather than their populations) have been offered loans conditional on adopting harsh economic and social reforms according to free market ideology (which hurt their populations rather than their governments). [7]   No matter democracy or quality of life!

The developing nations understood that while the US and Europe had grown economically with the help of subsidies and other economic protections, they were being expected to fend for themselves in a free market already dominated by the powers that be. They organised themselves, as the Group of 77, to reclaim a voice in the proceedings, but with minimal success. [8]  Although they prompted the formation, in 1964, of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), set up to study and facilitate the conditions for fair development, they failed to secure a UN code of conduct for TNCs. This code was scuppered due mainly to disagreements over the right of a country to nationalise its own natural resources: securing exploitation of these was central to the developed world's power, the British- and American-initiated 1953 coup against Iran over oil expropriation being a prime example. [9]

Essentially, the wealthy nations wanted to secure a world of trade and investment where territorial ownership of resources meant nothing. For those with the means, it would be a free-for-all, and the imperative became to conjure up international rules which protected the foreign investments of the developed world's corporations. Open access to oil, minerals, land and cheap labour for those who already had the power to exploit them.

'Competition' became the mantra, an ideology which neatly dispensed with the realities of an unlevel playing-field. So, when in 1976 the OECD came up with a code of conduct for TNCs, it pulled off a public relations coup by being seen to be fair while knowing full well that equal terms for the strong and the weak could only help the former.[10]   And, as a merely voluntary code, it had no practical ethical impact anyway.

Instead, for example, in 1984 around 13,000 people died in Bhopal, India, after an explosion at a Union Carbide chemicals plant run on low safety standards which would not have been possible back home in the US. The lack of international regulation allowed Union Carbide to get away with a paltry payment of compensation to the victims which amounted to only a minor dent in its profits and left the company directors as yet happily unaccountable. [11]   Corporate rights had been enshrined in law; human rights had not. The situation remains the same today - as UNCTAD puts it, "The business community's aversion to binding international legal standards governing corporate operations contrasts with its strong advocacy of international law commitments applied to the obligations of governments towards foreign investors." [12]   The corporations want rights without responsibilities.

The bottom line is this: The OECD's guidelines, as non-enforceable, are the OECD's self-indictment. They are a statement of basic human values which they do not wish to see enshrined in law. The OECD's Multilateral Agreement on Investment collapsed precisely due to this lack of responsibilities to balance the rights which the MAI would have granted to big business. [13]

Hidden agendas and public relations - the wolf in sheep's clothing

Many multinational enterprises have demonstrated that respect for high standards of business conduct can enhance growth. Today's competitive forces are intense and multinational enterprises face a variety of legal, social and regulatory settings. In this context, some enterprises may be tempted to neglect appropriate standards and principles of conduct in an attempt to gain undue competitive advantage. Such practices by the few may call into question the reputation of the many and may give rise to public concerns. [14]

[The OECD] has responded to the need for a thorough consideration of the Guidelines so as to ensure their continued relevance and effectiveness in the rapidly changing global economy. New issues have gained prominence since the Guidelines were first issued in 1976 and the international consensus on appropriate business conduct is evolving rapidly... Public concerns about the impact of deepening globalisation on home and host societies meant that the most recent Review was conducted in a context of growing interest and visibility. [15]

Perhaps you already smell a whiff of style over substance? "Public concerns" over the destructive power of TNCs, or "difficulties to which their various operations may give rise" are the closest the Guidelines come to admitting that the corporations' competitive urges will lead them to cut corners over human rights, health and safety and the like. No hint of a genuine acknowledgement of the real suffering caused by the rampant 'free' market but, instead, simply the typical air-brushing of the corporate public image . (Compare the revisionist historians of the Nazi Holocaust).

The Guidelines are written from the point of view that human rights and environmental issues need to be addressed to the extent that they can impact on corporate reputation and therefore, ultimately, on profits. The Guidelines are more like an advice document to PR departments rather than a warning to company directors. Euphemisms abound - "a variety of legal, social and regulatory settings," for example. One way of describing Premier Oil's complicity in human rights abuses in Burma, I suppose, or BP's complicity in Colombia, or Balfour Beatty's in Turkish Kurdistan. [16]   "Such practices" may contribute to crimes against humanity but let's not quite admit this. Anyhow, more importantly they may damage corporate "reputation" and "give rise to public concerns." Not, of course, that "such practices" might be wrong, but that share prices might take a knock: products might be boycotted leading to further bad press, and there may even be some annoying demonstrations which prevent me from getting to a conference meeting on time. Now that's what I call an abuse of human rights!

The revised Guidelines churn out the usual platitudes about welfare, stakeholders, environmental protection, whistleblowing, bribery, transparency, child labour, forced labour and general workers' and human rights. And platitudes they are: when one arrives at the Guidelines' core quality - that of being non-legally binding and voluntary - you don't know whether to laugh or cry:

Some believe that, because the Guidelines are not binding, they cannot have as much of an impact on business conduct as binding laws. However, observance of appropriate behavioural norms in most societies is not due exclusively or even mainly to formal law enforcement - that is, to the detection and punishment of illegal behaviour. Rather much of it occurs because the people adhere voluntarily to norms out of cultural tradition or a sense of personal conviction or due to the influence of family, co-workers, friends and acquaintances... Here, the emphasis is not on judging firms but on promoting a real process of improvement in business conduct. [17]
The mendacity and hypocrisy of this is breath-taking. Remember, we're in a world where corporations are becoming more powerful than states, and we're talking about how we tackle the real - and potential - corporate abuse of human rights. It doesn't have to be the case that all businesses commit such crimes, only that some of them do - and that is bad enough. Is the OECD, on this line of reasoning, telling us that we should not have legal constraints over any group with an unsavoury record which tells us they're "promoting a real process of improvement" in themselves? Or that we should only have laws governing commercial matters? According the OECD's accounts, the loss of £13,000 is more serious than the death of 13,000 people. Shouldn't the OECD simply be honest and tell us, instead, that ethics isn't within its remit?

Back down to earth. The problem is at least two-sided: firstly, the corporate malevolence and secondly, the scene of the crime. The scene is where the local legal and political institutions are not up to the job of protecting social justice. No country is perfect in this regard, but some are much worse than others, and it is where people and resources are least protected that big business bullies stand to gain the most.

The World Wide Fund for Nature submitted to the OECD a thorough and rigorous case study of P&O's proposed port in Dahanu, India, demonstrating quite clearly the utter ineffectiveness of non-legally enforceable guidelines. [18]   When WWF brought to the attention of P&O and our government the many violations of the Guidelines by P&O in its dealings over Dahanu, they were basically ignored:

[T]he DTI's overall response has been extremely disappointing and brings into question the effectiveness of the Guidelines in promoting corporate behaviour in line with the principles to which the DTI claims to be committed. The DTI has repeatedly maintained that there has been no obvious breach of the Guidelines by P&O. Furthermore, whilst the DTI has been reluctant to accept or examine the specific issues raised by WWF and others, they have been swift to accept P&O's statements at face value. [19]
Neither our government nor the OECD - both corporate mouthpieces - will listen. In its ongoing review of company law, New Labour has already ruled out introducing any meaningful checks on the sacrosanct drive for profits, company directors' primary legal duty, exactly paralleling the OECD's non-ethical approach to business law. [20]

There are some glimmers of consolation. In Britain, the traditional lack of corporate accountability for the deaths of employees and 'consumers' may be somewhat remedied by government plans to toughen the law on corporate manslaughter. [21]   National courts are beginning to take up cases against corporations based within their jurisdiction even though the alleged crimes occurred abroad. [22]   But until international trade law incorporates human and environmental protections at its core, or until international human rights and environmental law are updated and strengthened to cover any large organisation as well as the state, then the protests shall continue...

References:

[1] Glen Peters, Reputation; the search engine of the future, in Visions of Ethical Business, No.1, Oct 1998, London: Financial Times Management, 1998, p.38.
[2] Some aspects of 'globalisation' may be good, such as the potential for far greater access to information over the internet.
[3] OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises , 27.7.00, http://www.oecd.org/daf/investment/guidelines/mnetext.htm
[4] The IMF and World Bank (or International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) were instituted in December 1945. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade became effective in January 1948 and went through ever more ambitious rounds of trade liberalisation; from January 1995 it became a body in its own right, the WTO.
[5] The OEEC became the OECD in 1961.
[6] IMF 'should give poor countries bigger voice' , Financial Times 12.9.00; Reformers could make a world of difference , Guardian 13.3.00. In 1961, the OECD's members consisted of the United States and Canada in addition to its OEEC founders: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and West Germany.
[7] Take, for example, the case of Haitian rice: Free market left Haiti's rice growers behind , Washington Post 13.4.00. At the same time, the wealthier nations retain many barriers to free trade - e.g. U.S. resists plan to remove tariffs for poor nations , New York Times 8.4.00.
[8] Third world aims a spearhead at rich club , Guardian 25.8.00.
[9] Peter Muchlinski, Multinational Enterprises and the Law , Oxford: Blackwell, 1995, pp.592-7. Mark Curtis, The Ambiguities of Power: British Foreign Policy since 1945 , Zed Books, 1995, pp.88-94; Mostafa Elm, Oil, Power and Principle: Iran's Oil Nationalization and Its Aftermath , Syracuse University Press, 1994; Keith Fisher, The Price of Oil, The Price of Life , 10.98.
[10] Need for discrimination in the development issue , Guardian 27.12.99. Today's wealthy nations developed their economies behind trade barriers many of which, hypocritically, remain in place - e.g. Belinda Coote, The Trade Trap: Poverty and the Global Commodity Markets , 2nd edition, Oxfam, 1996, Ch. 8 & 9.
[11] Hunt on for missing gas blast boss , Observer 12.3.00; Dominic Ayine & Jacob Werksman, 'Improving Investor Accountability', in Sol Picciotto & Ruth Mayne (eds), Regulating International Business: Beyond Liberalization , London: Macmillan, 1999.
[12] UNCTAD press release, TAD/INF/2819 , 23.9.99, announcing its World Investment Report 1999: Foreign Direct Investment and the Challenge of Development ; Multinationals must take care in Third World, says UN , Independent 28.9.99.
[13] Nick Mabey, 'Defending the Legacy of Rio: the Civil Society Campaign against the MAI', in Picciotto & Ruth Mayne (eds), pp.68-9; Mexico threatens to scupper labour pact , Guardian 27.6.00.
[14] OECD Guidelines for MNEs - Preface.
[15] OECD Guidelines for MNEs - Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.oecd.org/daf/investment/guidelines/faq.htm
[16] Premier Oil admits abuses in Burma , Guardian 16.5.00; BP sacks security chief over arms deal , Guardian 17.10.98; Construction group threatens to leave Turkish dam project , Independent 17.8.00.
[17] OECD Guidelines for MNEs - Frequently Asked Questions.
[18] Sultana Bashir & Nick Mabey, Can The OECD MNE Guidelines Promote Responsible Corporate Behaviour? An Analysis of P&O's Proposed Port in Dahanu, India , WWF-UK Research Paper, November 1998, http://www.oecd.org/daf/conference/
[19] Ibid., p.11.
[20] "I don't want people to focus on the wide stakeholder approach, when it is an agenda which is not going to be delivered." Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, at the TUC/IPPR Seminar on Corporate Governance, 7.6.00; TUC says law review fails to prise open corporate doors , Guardian 23.8.00.
[21] Judgment day for corporate killers , Sunday Telegraph 28.5.00; Leading top executives to safety , Financial Times 25.10.99.
[22] Companies with nowhere to hide , Times 1.8.00; Asbestos miners win right to sue in Britain , Independent 21.7.00; Richard Meeran, 'The Unveiling of Transnational Corporations: A Direct Approach', in Michael K. Addo (ed), Human Rights Standards and the Responsibility of Transnational Corporations , Kluwer Law International, 1999, pp.161-70.

By Keith Fisher, September 2000.
keith@flyingfish.org.uk


Further web links:
Corporate Watch (UK)
'Corporate Watch is a radical research and publishing group, based in Oxford, UK. It was set up in 1996 by anti-roads activists who wanted to find out more about the construction and road-building industry.
The project expanded to support grassroots and direct activism against large corporations, particularly multinationals. Our approach is to investigate, corporate structures and the system that supports them more broadly, rather than solely criticising the individual companies for bad behaviour. We are committed to ending the ecological and social destruction wrought by the corporate profit motive.'
CorpWatch (US)
'Holding corporations accountable.'
OneWorld.net on corporate accountability
News and campaigns on corporate responsibility.
Trade Justice Movement
'The Trade Justice Movement is a fast growing group of organisations including aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fairtrade organisations, faith and consumer groups.
The movement is now supported by more than 40 organisations that have over 2m members, and new organisations are joining every month.
It was formed at the end of 2000 as a means for people from a wide range of British society to campaign together to make trade fair.
The Jubilee 2000 movement showed the world that by acting together, we can bring about change. By working together on trade - through the Trade Justice Movement - we hope to have a much bigger impact than we could ever have if we worked in isolation.
Concerned with the harmful impact of current international trade rules on the poorest people in the world, on the environment and on democracy, the Trade Justice Movement calls for fundamental change of the unjust rules and institutions governing international trade, so that trade is made to work for all.'
Centre for Corporate Accountability
'The CCA aims to increase worker and public safety through promoting law enforcement and corporate criminal accountability.'
Bench Marks
'Bench Marks states comprehensive standards and expectations fundamental to a responsible company's action... Faith communities measure the global economy not only by what it produces, but also by its impact on the environment, how it touches human life and whether it protects the dignity of the human person. Justice requires that we stand with those oppressed, impoverished and exploited and we work to change the structures and policies in order to create a fair and sustainable world.'
 
Corporate Accountability
11.2.04
Independent
Ministers attempt to halt US human rights cases against British firms
25.1.04
Independent on Sunday
UN pressed on British firms in Congo storm
11.8.03
Guardian
Multinationals should face the same rules no matter where they set up shop
28.7.03
Guardian
Burmese sue US oil company. 'Multinationals on alert as judges are asked to rule that a Californian firm benefited from the junta's "rape, murder and forced labour".'
18.6.03
Financial Times
US appeals court hears Unocal human rights case
16.6.03
Los Angeles Times
1789 Law Acquires Human Rights Role. 'Alien Tort Claims Act is the basis of a suit against Unocal over abuses in Myanmar.'
15.6.03
Observer
Goodbye, Erin Brockovich, as class actions end
15.6.03
Los Angeles Times
Pipeline to Justice?  'A U.S. appeals court offers hope to Myanmar farmers who accuse Unocal of complicity in human rights abuses.'
30.8.02
Guardian
Greenpeace finds American wanted for Bhopal tragedy
29.8.02
Guardian
Court refuses to reduce murder charge against Bhopal chief
29.8.02
Guardian
US blocks move to give powers to those threatened by multinationals . 'Poor countries seek redress over firms' damage.'
29.8.02
Independent
After 18 years, Bhopal still waits for justice . 'Blighted city continues to pay the price for industrial tragedy, while fight goes on to bring chief executive to trial.'
29.8.02
Independent
Retired company chief plays golf in Florida and refuses to be judged by Indian court
28.8.02
Guardian
Judges pledge to champion environment . 'Lawyers from around the world promise a crackdown on developers who pollute.'
21.7.02
Observer
Fury over delay to 'corporate killing' law
6.7.02
Guardian
Blacklisting threat to UK firm in dam cash scandal . 'Balfour Beatty among consortium named in bribery judgment as two year African corruption trial ends in jail for Lesotho chief executive.'
25.6.02
Independent
EU urged to create legally enforceable bill of rights
16.6.02
Observer
Apartheid victims sue Western banks and firms for billions . 'Lawyer who championed those who suffered in the Holocaust fights for South Africa's oppressed.'
9.6.02
Independent
Bill will put pressure on the corporations that don't care
4.6.02
Independent
When a crime is not a crime . 'Should victims of rail crashes have the same rights as victims of a robbery?'
18.5.02
Guardian
Profit and loss . 'Simon Jones was on a year out from college when he took a casual job at a Sussex dockyard. Two hours into his first day, he was dead, his head crushed by a crane. But friends and family refused to let Simon become a tragic statistic, one of hundreds each year who die just doing their jobs.'
17.5.02
Guardian
Ruling lifts bar on asbestos compensation
1.5.02
Guardian
BAT memo outlines what to shred
10.4.02
The Times
Time to call a corporate criminal to account
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal . By Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro.
18.2.02
Financial Times
Moving beyond the voluntary code . 'Self-regulation for international business is the norm when it comes to rights. But a new study says this is slowly giving way to legal obligations.'
Amnesty International - IBLF,  'Business & Human Rights: A geography of corporate risk' , February 2002.
02
Channel 4
Mark Thomas Product: Corporate Killing
4.12.01
Guardian
Holding directors to account . 'While the government dithers over corporate manslaughter law, the workplace death toll mounts.'
8.11.01 Guardian Student killed on first day at docks . 'Employer and manager deny charges of manslaughter.'
29.10.01 Guardian Cape offers asbestos miners £25m payout
17.9.01 Guardian Bhopal's victims say cash is missing
10.7.01 Guardian Rich nations 'could be sued' by climate victims
22.6.01
BBC
Exxon 'helped torture in Indonesia'
21.5.01 Guardian Miners put multinationals in the dock . 'Asbestos case tests parent companies' responsibilities.'
27.3.01 Independent Court clears way for relatives to sue Shell over Saro-Wiwa's death
13.3.01 The Times Should culpability lead to conviction? 'The Selby crash was not the rail company's fault. But as with Hatfield, it once again highlights debate as to whether companies can - or should - be prosecuted for manslaughter.'
1.3.01 Independent Chinese corporation fined for using prison labour
23.2.01 Independent Police drop plan to charge Railtrack with manslaughter
12.2.01 Independent Holocaust survivors sue IBM over Nazi 'alliance'
28.1.01 Independent Railtrack fights new manslaughter law
21.12.00 Independent Police say Railtrack undermining ability to bring manslaughter charges
20.12.00 Independent Dock firm boss faces charge over man's death
3.12.00 Observer Safety chief slams delay on death-at-work law
12.00 New Internationalist Doing Law Differently . 'How do we police transnational corporations if the legal processes are manipulated by them? Jayan Nayar points to a promising alternative.'
19.10.00 Guardian Don't blame Gerald . 'Hatfield rail disaster: Rushing to apportion blame won't help the crash victims.'
19.10.00 Independent Mercury poisoning payout for African workers
5.10.00 Guardian Big business has us bang to rights . 'Corporations behave as if they are more human than we are.'
15.5.00 Guardian Let down by lawyers . 'Corporate manslaughter prosecutions are deemed too difficult. Where's the justice for Paddington's victims?'
19.9.00 Independent Shell to face US lawsuit for Saro-Wiwa execution . 'Anglo-Dutch oil company fails to have a multi-million pound civil claim by Nigerian emigres thrown out by New York appeal court.'
Ogoni Nine hanged as indifferent West failed to respond
19.3.99 Guardian Mining firm tries to change law to block £100m claims
22.2.99 Guardian Let's make it their risk . 'Crippling lawsuits might make big companies think before they damage.'
Corporate Ethics
25.1.04
Independent on Sunday
Hewitt to block Bill for social reporting
3.9.03
Guardian

Unease at plan to alter doctors' ethical code. 'Fears for third world patients in clinical trials as US drug firms push for softening of guidelines.'

22.8.03
Guardian
WPP agrees to quit Burma
22.8.03
Guardian
Cola drinks are safe, says India
11.8.03
Guardian
Multinationals should face the same rules no matter where they set up shop
30.7.03
Guardian
Tobacco firm challenges minister over calls to quit Burma
25.7.03
Guardian
Coca-Cola in India accused of leaving farms parched and land poisoned
24.7.03
Guardian
Coca-Cola boycott launched after killings at Colombian plants
3.7.03
Guardian
Minister tells BAT to quit Burma. 'Foreign office wants tobacco group out after military junta cracks down on opposition party.'
18.6.03
Guardian
US oilmen fight Blair on transparency
10.6.03
Guardian
A blind eye. 'Whitehall's export credits guarantee department helps British companies win contracts overseas - but does it also underwrite corruption?'
5.6.03
Washington Post
Monitoring Corporate Citizens. 'Voluntary standards fall short, critics say.'
20.5.03
Guardian
Amnesty calls for action on Caspian
27.4.03
Guardian
UK's appetite for prawns is fed by brutality abroad. 'Human rights group calls for boycott of Bangladesh imports as seafood trade brings corruption, suffering and violence in its wake.'
3.2.03
Guardian
Lip service brings no solutions . 'Broken pledges spoil the aim of corporate responsibility.'
17.1.03
Independent
Nestlé 'breaking code on baby milk for Third World'
19.11.02
Guardian
Top firms told to brush up their ethics . 'Declaration of human rights "should govern corporate life".'
19.11.02
Independent
HBOS urges funds to press for higher ethical standards
17.11.02
Observer
Company ethics? 'They're not our business. Nick Mathiason argues that while marketing departments have been busy adding a green sheen to keep consumers on board, the concept of corporate social responsibility has rarely been paid more than lip service.'
17.11.02
Observer
Tax avoiders rob wealth of nations . 'Companies can show that they really are concerned with social responsibility - by paying tax.'
22.10.02
Guardian
Multinationals in scramble for Congo's wealth . 'Scathing UN report points finger at British companies for helping to plunder resources of war-torn African country.'
17.9.02
Guardian
Premier Oil gets out of Burma . 'UK group caves in to rights campaigners but claims quitting was expedient.'
3.9.02
Guardian
Trouble in the pipeline . 'The corporate promises being made at the earth summit are likely to prove hollow.'
2.9.02
Independent
Blair anti-corruption plan weakened by British firms
13.6.02
Guardian
MP leads call for corporate ethics bill
19.5.02
Observer
Why the earth summit matters . 'Instead of worrying about the trivia of hotel bills and travel arrangements, we should recognise that one of the most important global summits of the decade risks being wrecked by the rich north.'
15.5.02
Guardian
Corporate ideals 'manipulated'
2.5.02
Guardian
Work is three times as deadly as war, says UN
25.4.02
Financial Times
Fruit groups attacked over workers' rights
14.3.02
Independent
Construction giant drops controversial Turkish dam plan
4.3.02
Guardian
Patents chief admits charity sabotage
18.2.02
Financial Times
Moving beyond the voluntary code . 'Self-regulation for international business is the norm when it comes to rights. But a new study says this is slowly giving way to legal obligations.'
13.2.02
Independent
Atlas pinpoints countries where investment flows despite abuses
Amnesty International - IBLF,  'Business & Human Rights: A geography of corporate risk' , February 2002
8.2.02
Independent
We should not do business with these Saudi torturers . 'If this is what happens to a plump accountant, then one can scarcely imagine what the position is for dissidents.'
7.2.02
The Times
Britain to help curb trade that funds war in Africa
17.11.01 Guardian British firms on blacklist for Burma dealings
14.11.01 Independent Balfour Beatty pulls out of Turkish dam project
12.11.01 Guardian Tobacco firm to profit from cancer genes
14.10.01 Observer Firms 'need forcing' to do the right thing . 'An Observer survey shows people don't believe companies will be socially responsible on their own.'
12.10.01 Guardian British oil firms accused of Burma abuses
27.7.01 Guardian Tobacco giant says sorry to Czechs
8.7.01 Observer Why it's time for business to give something back . 'The vogue for corporate social responsibility may be fuelled by external factors, but business has to make a genuine leap forward.'
21.5.01 Guardian A tainted university . 'The editor of the respected British Medical Journal explains why he has resigned his chair at Nottingham.'
15.3.01 Guardian Oil firms stoke up Sudan war . 'Christian Aid report accuses foreign companies of complicity in mass displacement and killing of thousands.'
2.3.01 The Times Premier oils wheels of change in Burma . 'UK company adopts high-risk strategy of engagement with Rangoon's military junta.'
23.2.01 Guardian Abuse rife in Indonesian Nike plants
16.2.01 Guardian Cheap labour, ruined lives . 'Attempts to enforce better working conditions in manufacturers in developing countries can backfire on the people they were meant to help.'
2.2.01 Washington Post How to Battle Sweatshops
20.1.01 Guardian Ailing ethics . 'A clinical trial raises disturbing questions about drug companies' activities in Africa.'
14.1.01 Observer Save the people - or you'll kill the country
11.1.01 Los Angeles Times Myanmar Is an Easy Case to Make for Sanctions
5.1.01 Independent Business has got too used to all its bad habits . 'From the Royal Society of Arts Lecture, given by Peter Parker, the businessman and former chairman of the British Rail Board.'
21.12.00 Financial Times Oil groups back initiative to guard human rights
5.12.00 BBC University attacked over 'tobacco money'
3.12.00 Observer MPs say no to cash for Balfour Turkish dam
23.11.00 Independent Adidas boycotts EU ethics hearing
9.11.00 Guardian Social report spin attacked . 'Marketing departments accused of manipulation.'
10.10.00 Guardian Ethics on the march . 'Human rights, environment and the social factor are only now moving up the agenda in UK business schools, says Eileen Sheridan.'
1.00 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Business and Human Rights: A Progress Report
99 Human Rights Watch World Report 1999, Special Issues and Campaigns: Corporations and Human Rights
Globalisation and Poverty
31.5.05 Guardian A game of double bluff. 'The UK and EU are keeping the poorer nations exactly where they want them: beholden to their patrons.'
10.11.03
Financial Times
The economic paradox of Ghana's poverty. 'In sub-Saharan Africa, the cycle of disease, low domestic savings, poor infrastructure and no foreign investment produces self-reinforcing poverty, not growth.'
16.9.03
Guardian A threat to the rich. 'Forcing the poor countries to walk out of the Cancun trade talks may rebound on the west.'
15.9.03
Guardian
Alliance of the poor unites against west. 'Developing countries refuse to accept modest offer from Americans and EU.'
14.9.03
Observer
A bitter aftertaste. 'Even with 25 million Starbucks customers a week, the world makes too much coffee and the poor are paying the price.'
10.9.03
Guardian
World's poor take on the west. 'Little hope of help for developing countries as trade talks begin.'
8.9.03
Guardian

Why poor people would prefer to be protected from free trade

8.9.03
Guardian
Time for transformation. 'Feeble and corrupted, the WTO is now ineffective. It needs transformation to allow the poor of the world to overthrow the power of the rich.'
8.9.03
Guardian

The global benefits of equality. 'The world should have a vested interest in resolving inequality, not just protecting its own, says Joseph Stiglitz.'

21.7.03
Guardian
Crash course on how to be poor
8.7.03
Guardian
Cotton farmers' poverty laid at door of US. 'African leaders to challenge Bush over 'ruinous' trade practices.'
3.7.03
Guardian
World Bank poverty drive a failure, says report
2.7.03
Guardian
The spoils of the war on poverty. 'The west's rhetoric about foreign aid conceals a greedy self-interest.'
27.6.03
Guardian
Aid groups furious at missed chances. 'Poor will pay for fudged agreement, say campaigners.'
10.6.03
ActionAid
New global investment agreement must be stopped. 'A new global investment agreement proposed at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) carries huge risks for the world’s poorest people says leading development agency, ActionAid. In its new report, Unlimited Companies, the agency calls on the UK Government and the EU to drop their support for the agreement and stop putting the interests of big business before the needs of poor countries.'
4.6.03
Independent
The comfortable rich are being protected from the desperate poor
3.6.03
Guardian
Africa's scar gets angrier. 'At Evian, the world's rich nations missed a golden opportunity to back fair trade.'
2.6.03
Financial Times
Reducing poverty starts with fairer farm trade
6.5.03
Guardian
Poor, but pedicured. 'It appears that those at the bottom are getting richer - but sadly the maths just doesn't add up.'
31.5.03
Independent
Is Bob Geldof right to praise Bush so warmly? 'Presidents Bush and Clinton promoted trade agreements that cost Africa $ 500m a year.'
20.4.03
Observer
Poor nations hit by debt relief with strings attached. 'Write-off programmes have been mired in targets and conditions.'
31.1.03
Guardian
Hewitt links world poverty with terror
24.12.02
Independent
Let them know it's Christmas time. Again and again and again . Bob Geldof.
24.12.02
Independent
China's exploited toy workers still toil in toxic sweatshops
22.12.02
Independent
Nestlé accused of exploiting farmers . 'Company calls claims of paying 'ridiculously low' prices for milk "bovine excrement".'
22.12.02
Independent
The amazing £3.7million chocolate bar
8.12.02
Observer
Real cost of a cup of coffee . 'Market prices coffee growers receive fail to even cover production costs, which is why campaigners are forcing fair trade on the agenda.'
25.11.02
Guardian
Hi-tech crops 'will not save poor'
24.11.02
Observer
Banana war leaves the Caribbean a casualty . 'Cutting fruit prices to lure British shoppers is squeezing poor Windward Islands farmers.'
16.11.02
Guardian
Sweet nothings . 'The west's failure to open its markets could yet turn out to be a boon for poor countries.'
29.10.02
Guardian
IMF policies 'led to Malawi famine'
17.10.02
Guardian
The puppet master's strings . 'While African leaders are more accountable to the west than their own people, democracy will flounder.'
27.8.02
Independent
Gulf between rich and poor is new apartheid, warns Mbeki
29.7.02
Guardian
Stop the recycled peanuts
24.7.02
Guardian
World Bank and IMF reform vital to end poverty, says UN
30.6.02
Observer
The blame the victim summit . 'Western leaders promised so much to Africa and delivered so little. Yet the greatest scandal of last week's G8 summit is not the failure to deliver more resources but the way the world trade rules are rigged against the poorest, argues the Director of the World Development Movement.'
29.6.02
Independent
Once again, the West reveals its brutal contempt for the poorest continent . 'The Africa I meet in remote villages and crowded shantytowns is a place of infinite resourcefulness.'
25.6.02
Guardian
At the seat of empire . 'Africa is forced to take the blame for the devastation inflicted on it by the rich world.'
23.6.02
Observer
Trade justice needs more than just warm words . 'New Labour ministers are telling protestors for justice in global trade that the government is on their side. But merely seeking corporate volunteers for an ethical approach is not enough to bring about change.'
19.6.02
Guardian
100m more must survive on $1 a day . 'IMF and World Bank told to stop peddling discredited policies.'
10.6.02
Guardian
Export drive is sending poor on wrong route . 'Such trade must have as a goal the necessity to contribute to the protection and rebuilding of local, national and regional economies, and so improve the conditions of the poor. It should be covered by the rules of "fair trade" not the WTO's deification of international competitiveness.'
10.6.02
Guardian
Time to come clean on the dirty secret of starvation . 'This week's World Food Summit will once again avoid the real issues.'
24.5.02
Financial Times
A small wave of immigration . 'The cynicism of the politicians...is unbounded. It does not matter whether the policies work. Perceptions are what count. Domestic electorates must be persuaded that their governments are being tough with "scroungers" and "bogus asylum-seekers".
Perceptions in this debate are almost everything. To listen to Mr Blair and the rest, one would think western Europe had been overrun. In fact, the recorded number of asylum-seekers entering the EU has halved during the past decade. Those claiming refuge each year represent only 0.1 per cent of the EU's population.'
17.5.02
Guardian
The world's problems on a plate . 'Meat production is making the rich ill and the poor hungry.'
30.4.02
Guardian
Poor miss out as rich nations cream off their trade
11.4.02
Guardian
EU and US selling poor down the river . 'Oxfam report accuses west of double standards on trade.'
Oxfam - Make Trade Fair
11.4.02
Guardian
Haiti: proof of hypocrisy . 'Farmers in Haiti have had their livelihood destroyed by competition from subsidised American rice.'
23.3.02
Independent
Bush accepts link between poverty and terrorism
20.11.01 Guardian Tinkering with poverty . 'The WTO will not deliver for poor countries. We need to revive Keynes's original plan.'
18.11.01 Observer Doha spells disaster for Development . 'Anti-globalisation protestors are accused of having no positive agenda of their own. But there is an environmental alternative to globalisation, which can protect and raise living standards in both north and south.'
14.6.01 Guardian First know your enemy, Mr Bush . 'Global inequity and climate change are the real threat, not rogue states.'
13.12.00 Guardian Behind closed doors . 'Why the poor will suffer if globalisation is not controlled.'
3.12.00 Observer World Bank edits out penalty on the poor . 'John Madeley says it's wrong to insist free trade benefits needy nations as much as rich ones.'
1.10.00 Observer Reducing poverty - or so much PR? 'The 'reformed' IMF stands accused of changing only its jargon.'
Globalisation and Free Market Ideology
29.6.05
Guardian We need to form cartels
14.6.05 Guardian A truckload of nonsense. 'The G8 plan to save Africa comes with conditions that make it little more than an extortion racket.'
31.5.05
Guardian A game of double bluff. 'The UK and EU are keeping the poorer nations exactly where they want them: beholden to their patrons.'
10.11.03
Financial Times
The economic paradox of Ghana's poverty. 'Western leaders like to preach that if poor countries move decisively to competitive markets, they can lift their citizens out of poverty. Not so.'
11.9.03
Guardian
Free trade is fine in a world of equals
8.9.03
Guardian Losing the faith. Thom Yorke.
19.8.03
Guardian
Poisoned chalice. 'Wherever it is prescribed, a dose of IMF medicine only compounds economic crisis.'
8.03
Le Monde diplomatique
Unfree global markets. 'Only protection can build developing economies: The World Trade Organisation is run as an oligarchy of the developed countries, which do not even bother to pretend to be democratic. The excluded and abused underdeveloped countries could force a change, or even the end of the world's free trade order as we have come to know it. This would be a blessing to the world's poor, who have been further impoverished since the end of protected economies in the early 1980s.'
16.7.03
Guardian
Don't trust technocrats. 'Economic policies are not neutral, but ideological - and populist resistance to them is a rational response. Joseph Stiglitz.'
9.7.03
Guardian
The icy ideological grip. 'If progressive politics is to have any meaning, it must start from the reality that you can't overcome global poverty through reliance on the market. Thabo Mbeki.'
24.6.03
Guardian
I was wrong about trade. 'Our aim should not be to abolish the World Trade Organisation, but to transform it.'
24.6.03
Guardian
Our mutual friends. 'Mistrust of corporations is growing because they put shareholders first. That creates opportunities for cooperatives and mutuals, which don't.'
10.6.03
Financial Times
Geneva battle resumes on WTO accord. 'A report published today by ActionAid, the UK charity, says abuses by multinationals in countries such as Haiti, Uganda, India and Brazil showed increased liberalisation of investment carried "huge risks for the world's poorest people".'
Unlimited Companies: the developmental impacts of an investment agreement at the WTO
9.6.03
Guardian
EU must act now to give global trade a chance
19.5.03
Guardian
I was wrong. 'Free market trade policies hurt the poor. The IMF and World Bank orthodoxy is increasing global poverty. Stephen Byers.'
18.5.03
Observer
Prize fighter thumps Bush. 'Faisal Islam meets Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate who took on the IMF and is now turning his guns on the American President.'
9.4.03
Guardian
The ruin of Russia. 'No rewriting of history can change the fact that neo-liberal reform produced undiluted economic decline. Joseph Stiglitz.'
18.1.03
Guardian
Western protectionism blamed for 'shameful' global poverty
20.12.02
Guardian
There is no invisible hand . 'People don't behave rationally. So why do orthodox economists still cling to their discredited rational expectations theory?' Joseph Stiglitz.
16.11.02
Guardian
Sweet nothings . 'The west's failure to open its markets could yet turn out to be a boon for poor countries.'
29.10.02
Guardian
Do as we say, not as we do . 'While Lula's Brazil kowtows to the free market, Blair's Britain only pretends to do so.'
29.10.02
Guardian
IMF policies 'led to Malawi famine'
15.10.02
Guardian
The rich world's veto on reform . 'The global grip of western vested interests can only be overcome by a democratic revolution.' George Monbiot.
13.9.02
Guardian
Patent laws hamper war on poverty
26.8.02
Guardian
Main development from WTO talks is a fine line in hypocrisy
22.8.02
Guardian
A vision of dystopia . 'This is for real, not the sequel to a sci-fi thriller. The World Bank paints a picture of a catastrophic global future if we do not change the way we live.'
28.7.02
Observer
Why globalisation fails to deliver . 'Does the economic evidence for globalisation stand up? It's failure to deliver growth, while increasing inequality, had led to increased popular revolts across South America and beyond. It is time to admit that the experiment has failed, argues Mark Weisbrot, continuing our debate on the future of globalisation and protest.'
23.7.02
Guardian
Brown dismisses Tobin tax plan
23.7.02
Guardian
Free markets have failed a continent . 'Latin America is gagging on the prescriptions of the Bush family.'
8.7.02
The Times
How I was ambushed by the IMF for daring to challenge its mistakes . By Joseph Stiglitz.
6.7.02
Guardian
The contented malcontent
27.6.02
Guardian
Sold out . 'Another week, another financial scandal from across the Atlantic - only this time even bigger. So is there something rotten at the heart of US capitalism? Edward Chancellor on why corporate America's obsession with share prices was always going to end in tears.'
27.6.02
Guardian
The virtual reality G8 summit . 'Our leaders indulge in denial as WorldCom's timebomb explodes.'
25.6.02
Guardian
At the seat of empire . 'Africa is forced to take the blame for the devastation inflicted on it by the rich world.'
24.6.02
Guardian
History debunks the free trade myth . 'The fact is that rich countries did not develop on the basis of the policies and institutions they now recommend to developing countries. Virtually all of them used tariff protection and subsidies to develop their industries.'
23.6.02
Observer
The World Bank's next white elephant . 'The G8 summit in Canada this week will again preach to African governments about the values of transparency and prudent economic policy. Yet the World Bank will soon decide whether to continue to support a large dam project in Uganda which undermines these very principles.'
22.6.02
The Times
Russian people paid the price for shock therapy . By Joseph Stiglitz
22.6.02
The Times
How IMF became part of the problem . By Joseph Stiglitz
10.6.02
Guardian
Export drive is sending poor on wrong route . 'Such trade must have as a goal the necessity to contribute to the protection and rebuilding of local, national and regional economies, and so improve the conditions of the poor. It should be covered by the rules of "fair trade" not the WTO's deification of international competitiveness.'
6.5.02
Guardian
Dusted-off trade treaties ensure there is no such thing as a free riot
30.4.02
Guardian
Poor miss out as rich nations cream off their trade
28.4.02
Observer
IMF's 'one size' fits few .'According to Avinash Persaud of State Street Bank, Argentina suffered from 'instability born out of the pursuit of stability itself'.'
18.4.02
Guardian
A privatisers' hit list . 'European commission demands to deregulate services spell disaster for the developing world.'
15.4.02
Guardian
Morals of the brothel . ' The way the world's trading system works has little to do with ideology and everything to do with power. The strong are only interested in free trade when it suits themselves.'
21.3.02
Independent
The locals know what aid they need . 'In the West, leaving the land might sound like liberation, but to Anjamma it spells only destitution.'
12.3.02
Guardian
Patent nonsense . 'Companies now demanding intellectual property rights were built up without them.'
10.3.02
Guardian
How to promote free trade? Abolish it . 'By resorting to trade protectionism, the Bush administration has driven a coach and horses through the foundations of the economic philosophy it preaches to the rest of the world.'
10.3.02
Sunday Times
Steeling away . 'America's imposition of tariffs on steel imports has caused anger and isolated it from its world trading partners.'
21.1.02
Guardian
A cure worse than the disease
5.1.02
Guardian
The American empire . 'The US has structured the world economy to enrich itself. It cannot last.'
4.1.02
Independent
IMF in the firing line as Argentina faces collapse
12.8.01 Independent Parched US demands rights to Canada's water
3.8.01 Guardian G8 owes us an answer . 'New research shows that economic growth worldwide has actually slowed during the era of globalisation.'
23.7.01 Guardian How they keep them down on the farm
8.7.01 Observer Fortune favours brave who join the new world order . 'While Esso is boycotted for its foot-dragging on greenhouse gases, competitor Shell is reaping the dividends of good corporate citizenship.'
16.6.01 Guardian Battle over cheap drugs goes to WTO
29.4.01 Observer Power to the people . 'This week's May Day demonstration, like those at Seattle and Quebec, is not about smashing capitalism, but about demanding a say in the future of the planet, says Kevin Danaher, the American writer and architect of a growing New Protest movement.'
29.4.01 Observer IMF's four steps to damnation . 'How crises, failures, and suffering finally drove a Presidential adviser to the wrong side of the barricades.'
24.4.01 Guardian Turn the screw . 'True market freedom means strictly regulating business so that everyone can thrive.'
23.4.01 Guardian Global business too important to be left to business people
15.4.01 Observer Necessity test is mother of Gats intervention . 'The World Trade Organisation has plans to replace that outmoded political idea: democracy.'
27.3.01 Financial Times Forced labour in Burma tests ILO's will to uphold global standards . 'Union and human rights activists say firm rhetoric is not matched by action.'
21.3.01 Guardian Against the grain . 'In the shadow of foot and mouth, the WTO is launching a new agriculture agreement. But the trade free-for-all has caused enough damage already, warns Tom Crompton.'
4.3.01 Observer At the global altar . 'It is not just the Third World sacrificed to the God of world trade, it's our schools and hospitals too: The great and enduring heresy of the election.'
12.2.01 Guardian The profits that kill . 'Intellectual property agreements are making too much money for the west.'
3.12.00 Observer Let US in, we're hungry . 'Nick Mathiason on the private sector's new target - public services worldwide.'
21.10.00 New York Times A Study Says I.M.F.'s Hand Often Heavy
2.00 New Internationalist Redesigning the global economy: Blueprint for change
27.1.00
International Herald Tribune
World Bank Dissenter Sticks to His Guns
6.1.00 London Review of Books Woken up in Seattle . 'Michael Byers on the WTO.'
Third World Debt
14.6.05 Guardian A truckload of nonsense. 'The G8 plan to save Africa comes with conditions that make it little more than an extortion racket.'
31.5.05
Guardian A game of double bluff. 'The UK and EU are keeping the poorer nations exactly where they want them: beholden to their patrons.'
23.12.02
Guardian
Nestlé to plough debt money into Ethiopian aid
6.5.02
Guardian
Stop debt vultures, demands Brown . 'Chancellor warns UN of poor countries' risk.'
2.02
CAFOD
The Rough Guide to Debt
30.1.02
Financial Times
Poor countries caught in downturn trap . 'Commodity-dependent economies are likely to suffer the knock-on effects of recession long after rich nations have recovered.'
14.1.02
Guardian
Argentina sends IMF back to the drawing board
17.7.01 Guardian West should open markets to Africa, says World Bank
21.1.00 Observer No end to shackles . 'A campaign seeking debt relief for the world's poorest countries has had only limited success, reports John Madeley.'
3.12.00 Independent on Sunday Brown joins crusade to end child poverty and break global debt cycle
19.10.00 Guardian Hedge fund vultures find rich pickings among poor . 'Professional creditors make millions by suing debt-laden nations.'
Environment
31.7.03
Guardian
Pollution still pays as firms shrug off fines. 'League table of offenders fails to stem neglect.'
14.6.03
Guardian
Environmental directive 'will let polluters off the hook'
9.1.03
Guardian
One generation to save world, report warns . 'Influential body says last chances must be seized.'
12.12.02
Guardian
Global stalemate . 'Resistance to the Kyoto protocol is preventing the reduction of carbon emissions. But there is a way out that could also cut world poverty.' Andrew Simms.
29.8.02
Guardian
Big business and Greenpeace urge action on climate change . 'Unlikely partners seek ratification of Kyoto protocol.'
28.8.02
Guardian
Judges pledge to champion environment . 'Lawyers from around the world promise a crackdown on developers who pollute.'
26.8.02
Guardian
Ecological decline 'far worse' than official estimates . 'Leaked paper - OECD's grim warning on climate change.'
22.8.02
Guardian
Act now, bank urges earth summit . 'Growth must not come at price to planet, report warns.'
20.8.02
Guardian
Corporate capture . 'Next week's earth summit will not only fail to tackle the ecological crisis. It will make it worse.'
3.5.02
Guardian
Warming makes oil the 'new tobacco'
27.4.02
Independent
Summit must learn from the mistakes made in Rio . 'Will a gathering of leaders from 150 nations in Johannesburg be a gigantic and costly talking-shop or a catalyst for change?'
6.8.01 Guardian Cutting greenhouse gases is as optional as breathing
Dissent and Protest
29.6.05
Guardian Directing destiny. 'Giving more power to the G8 nations will not eradicate poverty, say Adam Jones and Lisa Michael. Distinct, autonomous grassroots alternatives to capitalism will.'
21.6.05 Guardian Bards of the powerful. 'Far from challenging the G8's role in Africa's poverty, Geldof and Bono are giving legitimacy to those responsible.'
16.9.03
Guardian
Field of tears. 'He took a patch of harsh mountain land and turned it into a thriving farm. But when Korea was flooded with foreign imports he was ruined - and last week, during the world trade talks, Lee Kyung-hae plunged a knife into his heart. Jonathan Watts on one man's struggle against the system.'
15.9.03
Guardian
G21 alliance of the poor fights subsidies deal. 'Developing states find their negotiating power can put US and EU on defensive.'
15.9.03
Guardian
Mexican standoff: the west is rumbled
15.9.03
Guardian
Siege warfare versus art of gentle protest
14.9.03
BBC
Protesters maintain Cancun pressure. 'Several thousand anti-globalisation activists marched through the centre of Cancun on Saturday in protest at the World Trade Organisation.'
14.9.03
Observer
Poor rattle doors of WTO club. 'A growing band of militant Third World states threatens US-EU control of the world trade system.' 
12.9.03
Guardian
Activists must follow the money. 'Protestors in Cancun understand that neo-liberalism is a form of war.'
12.9.03
Guardian
Farmer who got a hearing by paying the ultimate price. 'Korean who killed himself at WTO talks had written article telling of peasants' ruin.'
11.9.03
BBC
Indian farmers target Monsanto. 'A group of farmers in southern India has stormed a building formerly used by the global biotech giant, Monsanto.
11.9.03
Guardian
The slaves of money - and our rebellion
17.6.03
Guardian
We can seize the day. 'The task is not to overthrow globalisation but to use it for a democratic revolution. George Monbiot.'
28.1.03
Guardian
Stronger than ever. 'Far from fizzling out, the global justice movement is growing in numbers and maturity.'
20.12.02
Guardian
Retreat by Nestlé on Ethiopia's $6m debt
15.10.02
Guardian
The rich world's veto on reform. 'The global grip of western vested interests can only be overcome by a democratic revolution.' George Monbiot.
28.8.02
Guardian
Landless and homeless give voice in the streets. 'Thousands ready to speak with their feet.'
29.6.02
Guardian
Police held for killing protesters. 'Press pictures implicate Argentine officers... Protesters claimed that they were shot at indiscriminately by the police from rooftops and an elevated pedestrian walkway. The protest was aimed at IMF-imposed austerity measures which many blame for a four-year-old recession that has plunged half of Argentina below the poverty line.'
27.6.02
Independent
Portugal and Spain at loggerheads as police beat up MPs
22.6.02
Guardian
Italian police 'framed G8 protesters'
20.6.02
Guardian
Fair trade demo attracts record numbers
12.6.02
Guardian
$4.4m for environmentalists framed by FBI. 'Victory comes five years after death of woman wrongly accused of planting bomb in her own car.'
4.5.02
Guardian
Protesters disrupt BAE Systems' annual meeting
28.4.02
Guardian
Italian Right defends arrested police
8.2.02
Independent
Political activist rejects award from shoe firm
20.12.01
Guardian
The making of a fanatic. 'Young men with broken dreams of a business career are turning to fundamentalism.'
17.10.01 Guardian Talisman may quit Sudan. 'Oil firm admits that protests have hurt.'
29.7.01 Observer 'You could sense the venom and hatred'. 'The riots on the streets of Genoa last week were the worst violence seen in Europe for decades. But the secret 'torture' of Britons in police cells was even more horrific. The truth is finally emerging.'
28.7.01 Guardian Leader: Looking out for liberty. 'Labour's response to Genoa is alarming.'
27.7.01 Guardian Italy's strategy of tension
27.7.01 Guardian 'I thought my God, this is it, I'm going to die'. 'British protesters claim Genoa police took brutal revenge for summit riots.'
27.7.01 Independent Fury over 'brutal' Genoa police. 'It was like Chile under Pinochet. There was no sense of any kind of legal process'.
24.7.01 Guardian Raising the temperature. 'Corporate power will not be given up voluntarily - non-violent mass action is needed.'
24.7.01 Guardian Genoa raid was police 'revenge'. 'Assault on HQ denounced as authorised butchery.'
24.7.01 The Times Hospital nurses relive 'night of blood'
23.7.01 Guardian Police hit hard at core of dissent. 'Demonstrators denounce violent raid on protest nerve centre.'
23.7.01 Guardian We gave them the oxygen. 'The media's role in the violence and how protest must now change.'
23.7.01 Guardian Stay home for a while
23.7.01 Guardian 'This movement is unstoppable.' 'Leaders see demonstrations growing, despite the violence.'
22.7.01 Sunday Times Truncheons rained down on me in the battle of Genoa
19.7.01 Guardian White knights say 'enough' to G8
18.7.01 Guardian The battle for Genoa
8.7.01 Observer Curbing the abuses of global capitalism. 'Campaigners are learning to squeeze concessions from companies by hitting them where they hurt: their brands.'
8.7.01 Observer Get the message before it comes to get you first. 'Dialogue is key to improving relations with campaigners.'
18.6.01 Financial Times Editorial comment: Riot vs protest
9.5.01 Guardian Bravo, Juliet. 'In the 80s she was Britain's favourite TV cop. Last week she was detained during the May Day demos - until a policeman recognised her and let her go. Brian Logan catches up with a furious Anna Carteret.'
6.5.01 Observer A bad day for democracy. 'Noreena Hertz, academic and author of an acclaimed critique of globalisation, joined last week's May Day protesters. What she saw was an unholy alliance of police and media.'
3.5.01 Guardian Kurds threaten dam contractor
3.5.01 Guardian May Day's lessons for the rootless. 'Let's face it, the street theatre in London was a bit of a McProtest.'
2.5.01 Independent This hysteria shows we are winning the arguments against globalisation. 'The experience of Seattle proves that we can make our voices heard and we can take a stand.'
2.5.01 Independent May the 2nd ­ a day that will live in infamy. 'Sending out flocks of cyclists ­ pathetic! Blimey, we're getting half a million cars on the M25 today.'
1.5.01 Guardian Violence is our enemy. 'Today's May Day protesters must take on the bullies who privately horrify them.'
29.4.01 Observer Power to the people. 'This week's May Day demonstration, like those at Seattle and Quebec, is not about smashing capitalism, but about demanding a say in the future of the planet, says Kevin Danaher, the American writer and architect of a growing New Protest movement.'
24.4.01 Guardian CGNU meeting is target for asbestos protest
8.4.01 Observer Why we must stay silent no longer. 'Noreena Hertz is one of the world's leading young thinkers, whose agenda-setting new book on corporate power is already sparking intense debate on both sides of the Atlantic. In this remarkable special essay for The Observer she argues that governments' surrender to big business is the deadliest threat facing democracy today.'
23.3.01 Guardian They call us violent agitators. 'The global free traders want to make protest seem dangerous.'
23.3.01 Guardian Gats' gaffes. 'The World Trade Organisation, which meets in Geneva today, wields enormous power yet is unaccountable.'
22.2.01 Guardian Wearing a T-shirt makes you a terrorist. 'Anything with a slogan could put you outside the law now.'
7.2.01 Independent Tibet protesters target BP over PetroChina stake
1.2.01 Guardian It's official: I'm a menace to society. 'Simply carrying copies of my book is enough to get you banned.'
26.1.01 Guardian Outflanking the rich and powerful. 'They are shrieking about unfair competition in Davos. Poor things.'
18.9.00 Guardian Leader: Protest in Prague. 'Opinions on globalisation are shifting.'
Historical examples of unethical corporate activity
9.10.02
Independent
The dark secret kept hidden for 50 years: how a global media empire was built on a lie
31.3.02
Sunday Times
Wartime Nazi ghosts return to haunt IBM. 'A new edition of a book claims the computer giant took a businesslike approach to collaboration with Hitler’s death machine.'
11.2.01
Sunday Times
IBM link to Final Solution revealed
88
Third World Traveler
'Blowback: America's recruitment of Nazis, and its disastrous effect on our domestic and foreign policy', by Christopher Simpson, Collier / Macmillan, 1988 (excerpts)
83
Third World Traveler
'Trading with the Enemy: The Nazi - American Money Plot 1933-1949', by Charles Higham, Delacorte Press, 1983 (excerpts)
Emergence of corporations and corporate personality/personhood
Unequal Protection: The rise of corporate dominance and theft of human rights. By Thom Hartmann.
Corporate Personhood. Stanford Agora - an online journal of legal perspectives. Issue two, Volume one.
Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation. By Richard L. Grossman and Frank I. Adams.
What are Corporations? Where did they come from? How did they become so powerful? Corporate Watch (UK). The creation and development of English commercial corporations and the abolition of democratic control over their behaviour. By Dan Bennett, Program on Corporations Law and Democracy (POCLAD).


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