The Poverty of Capitalism

John Hilary

Description

Capitalist growth is widely heralded as the only answer to the crisis still sweeping the global economy. Yet the era of corporate globalisation has been defined by unprecedented levels of inequality and environmental degradation. A return to capitalist growth threatens to exacerbate these problems, not solve them.



In The Poverty of Capitalism, John Hilary reveals the true face of transnational capital in its insatiable drive for expansion and accumulation. He exposes the myth of 'corporate social responsibility' (CSR), and highlights key areas of conflict over natural resources, labour rights and food sovereignty.



Hilary also describes the growing popular resistance to corporate power, as well as the new social movements seeking to develop alternatives to capitalism itself. This book will be essential reading for all those concerned with global justice, human rights and equity in the world order.
Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Crisis, Continuity and Change

3. Corporate Power in Practice

4. The Corporate Social Responsibility Delusion

5. Extractives: Dispossession Through Devastation

6. Garments: Capitalism’s False Promise

7. Food: the Final Frontier

8. Beyond Capitalism

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Political Science
• Grupo de los 20 (países industrializados y emergentes)
• Agencia Central de Inteligencia
• Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte
• Organización Mundial de la Salud
• Reino Unido
• Organización de las Naciones Unidas
• África
• México
• América del Sur
• Argentina
• G-20 major economies
• War on Want
• Multinational
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• World Economic Forum
• Neoliberalism
• Globalization
• Political economy
• World Health Organization
• United Nations
• United Kingdom
• Politics of Turkey
• South America
• North American Free Trade Agreement
• Middle East
• Latin America
• Imperialism
• Central America
• BRIC
• Ecology
• SS Central America
• Great Britain
• Impérialisme (jeu vidéo)
• Brazil
• Mexico
• Africa
• China
• Groupe des 20
• Organisation mondiale de la santé
• Forum économique mondial
• G8
• Accord de libre-échange nord-américain
• Nigeria
• Royaume-Uni
• Organisation des Nations unies
• Central Intelligence Agency
• Argentine

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 09 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849649674
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Poverty of Capitalism
 
 
The Poverty of Capitalism
Economic Meltdown and the Struggle for What Comes Next
John Hilary
 
 
 
First published 2013 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by
Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin's Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Copyright © John Hilary 2013
The right of John Hilary to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN   978 0 7453 3331 1     Hardback
ISBN   978 0 7453 3330 4     Paperback
ISBN   978 1 8496 4966 7     PDF eBook
ISBN   978 1 8496 4968 1     Kindle eBook
ISBN   978 1 8496 4967 4     EPUB eBook
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1
Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America
 
 
 
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1
Introduction
2
Crisis, Continuity and Change
3
Corporate Power in Practice
4
The CSR Delusion
5
Extractives: Dispossession through Devastation
6
Garments: Capitalism's False Promise
7
Food: The Final Frontier
8
Beyond Capitalism
Notes
Bibliography
Index
 
 
 
Acknowledgements
This book is a study of poverty, power and injustice in the global political economy of the twenty-first century. It is intended to complement the numerous studies that War on Want has published over the course of its 60-year history into the root causes of poverty around the world, beginning with the original War on Want: A Plan for World Development drawn up in 1952. In all these endeavours, the aim has been to look beyond outward symptoms and to identify the underlying social, political and economic forces that deny people the right to decent lives of personal fulfilment, free from the threat of hunger, violence or despair. The current book builds on six decades of active learning not only on the part of War on Want and its many partners, allies and affiliates, but by all who have joined in the struggle for social justice across the world.
On a personal level, this book is the culmination of 25 years’ working in the global justice movement, and as such it will be impossible to pay proper tribute to all those who have helped develop my understanding along the way. Firstly, I would like to thank those with whom I have worked over the past ten years at War on Want. From the trustee body, I particularly wish to thank Steve Preston, Sue Branford, Polly Jones, Guillermo Rogel, Gaynelle Samuel, Mark Luetchford and David Hillman for their encouragement, as well as War on Want president Rodney Bickerstaffe for his constant personal support. I also wish to thank all those who have worked on the staff with me for their dedication and commitment, and for proving time and again the power of conviction to bring about change.
From earlier days in the fight against the WTO and other institutions of neoliberal globalisation, I had the privilege of working alongside some of the most inspiring individuals in the movement: Martin Khor, Meena Raman and others from the Third World Network; Walden Bello, Aileen Kwa and all from Focus on the Global South; Naomi Klein, Susan George, Maude Barlow, Tony Clarke and other activists from the Our World Is Not For Sale coalition, as well as many good friends from its European wing, the Seattle to Brussels Network. I have also had the good fortune to work with numerous inspiring individuals in the international labour movement, as well as from many other groups not listed here. I am truly grateful to all.
As for those who have helped with the book itself, I would like to register my gratitude to Roger van Zwanenberg, whose idea it was in the first place, David Shulman, Jonathan Maunder, Melanie Patrick and all the team at Pluto Press. I also wish to thank those who have helped with individual aspects of the book, including Mark Curtis, Peter Fuchs, Kate Ives and Ian Richardson. I would like to express my particular thanks to Andreas Bieler, Puneet Dhaliwal and Doreen Massey for their generosity in reading parts of the text in manuscript, and for their immensely helpful comments. All remaining failures are, of course, mine alone.
The greatest privilege of working in the global justice movement for so many years has been the opportunity to meet people from across the world who have devoted their lives to the struggle for a better future, often in situations of great personal danger. Several of these are partners of War on Want in countries such as Brazil, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Palestine, Bangladesh, Colombia or Honduras, to name a few. Hearing the same basic tale of exploitation and dispossession told again and again from so many different contexts brings home the poverty of capitalism in a way that the written word alone could never do: from women factory workers whose health has been broken through endless hours of labour for poverty pay; plantation workers condemned to the stress of perpetual insecurity on casual labour contracts; members of communities that have been evicted at gunpoint so as to make way for the next big capitalist venture on their land. This book is an attempt to reveal this reality to a wider audience, and to argue for a future beyond capitalism. It is dedicated with love to Jan, my soulmate and my inspiration throughout every one of the last 25 years.
John Hilary June 2013
 
 
 
Abbreviations
AATF
African Agricultural Technology Foundation
ADIA
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
AGRA
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
ALBA
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas
ASEAN
Association of South-East Asian Nations
BASD
Business Action for Sustainable Development
BIT
bilateral investment treaty
BRICS
Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
CAFTA
Central America Free Trade Agreement
CBI
Confederation of British Industry
CELAC
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
CIC
China Investment Corporation
CNOOC
China National Offshore Oil Corporation
CNPC
China National Petroleum Corporation
CSR
corporate social responsibility
DFID
Department for International Development (UK)
EITI
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
EPA
Economic Partnership Agreement
ERT
European Round Table of Industrialists
ETI
Ethical Trading Initiative
EU
European Union
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
FDI
foreign direct investment
FLA
Fair Labor Association
FTA
free trade agreement
FTAA
Free Trade Area of the Americas
GATS
General Agreement on Trade in Services
GATT
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP
gross domestic product
GIC
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
GM
genetically modified
IAASTD
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development
ICA
International Cooperative Alliance
ICC
International Chamber of Commerce
ICMM
International Council on Mining and Metals
ICSID
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
IFAD
International Fund for Agricultural Development
IMF
International Monetary Fund
IOE
International Organisation of Employers
ILO
International Labour Organisation
ITT
International Telephone and Telegraph
JOAC
Joint Operational Access Concept
JO-IN
Joint Initiative for Corporate Accountability and Workers’ Rights
KNOC
Korea National Oil Corporation
KRRS
Karnataka State Farmers’ Association (India)
M&As
mergers and acquisitions
MAI
Multilateral Agreement on Investment
MAS
Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)
MDGs
Millennium Development Goals
MFA
Multi-Fibre Arrangement
MNC
multinational corporation
MST
Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (Brazil)
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
NGO
non-governmental organisation
OAS
Organisation of American States
OECD
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
ONGC
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (India)
PDR
People's Democratic Republic
PPP
purchasing power parity
QIA
Qatar Investment Authority
SPP
Sundanese Peasants Union (West Java)
TABD
TransAtlantic Business Dialogue
TAFTA
Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement
TNC
transnational corporation
TPP
Trans-Pacific Partnership
TRIMs
Trade-Related Investment Measures
TRIPs
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
UNAC
National Union of Peasant Farmers (Mozambique)
UNASUR
Union of South American Nations
UNCED
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNCITRAL
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNEP
United Nations Environment Programme
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
UNRISD
United Nations Research Institute for Social
 
Development
USCIB
United States Council for International Business
WBCSD
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
WEF
World Economic Forum
WHO
World Health Organisation
WRAP
Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production
WSSD
World Summit on Sustainable Development
WTO
World Trade Organisation
WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature    
€
euros
$
US dollars, unless stated otherwise
 
 
 
1
Introduction
O f the many consequences of the global economic meltdown that swept the world from 200