The theory of an emergent transnational state (TNS), as coined by sociologist William I. Robinson (2001), claims that through globalization a nascent political, juridical and regulatory network is coming into existence worldwide. This notion rests upon the idea that a dominant social force, a transnational capitalist class (TCC), propels globalization through transnational corporations (TNCs) (Robinson & Harris 2000). The TCC, to promote and ensure its power, requires a concomitant political project. Such a political project would involve, for example: (i) promoting investor confidence in the global economy, (ii) setting up mechanisms and institutions for responding to economic, political, and military crises that threaten the stability necessary for global markets, and (iii) establishing a degree of macroeconomic policy uniformity across borders.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss economic and social issues of contemporary capitalism through the views and works of Grazia Ietto-Gillies who has a long experience of research in these fields. The issues relate to strategies of TNCs, to globalization and transnationalization, to internationalization indices, to linkages between innovation and internationalization, to uneven development, and, finally, to issues related to the economics profession and the dissemination of research in the twenty-first century. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interview; use of relevant literature to support statements by interviewer and interviewee; qualitative analysis of issues discussed. Findings – The article links together under the same theoretical umbrella the following issues: a theory of TNCs based on strategic approach towards labour, governments and suppliers; the development of an internationalization index based on the geography of TNCs' networks; and the possible impact of internationalization on innovation. Uneven development is linked to current problems in Europe. The need and opportunity to reconsider the economics profession and the peer review system in the digitalization era is presented. Research limitations/implications – The article is based on the views of the interviewer and the interviewee. Their views are backed by their own previous research as well as by research by other scholars cited in the article. Practical implications – The interview draws policy implication in relation to TNCs and other actors who interact with them such as labour and governments. There are also policy implications in the economic and social spheres regarding the implications of TNCs' strategies and the aftermath of the 2007/2008 crisis. Originality/value – At the methodological level the article highlights the advantages of in-depth interviews. Specifically, it allows the interviewee to give an overall perspective on her research and to show how the various strands are connected and how they developed through the decades of her research. It allows both interviewer and interviewee to link the issues to a variety of literatures in the economics, sociology and politics fields.
It has been over a decade since the publication of Michael Hardt and Antoni Negri's widely read Empire, a book that claimed humanity had entered a qualitatively new era in the organization of power. How do critical sociological studies that also theorize global capitalism depart from or share affinities with Hardt and Negri's Foucauldian-inspired notion of empire? The two most important shared insights is the notion of a new epoch in the history of world capitalism and the conceptualization of a global system that moves beyond the idea of U.S. imperialism solely as behind its fundamental structure. However, overpowering Hardt and Negri's framework are some fundamental problems: the vague and nondialectical idea of multitude, the lack of the role of the state, their confusing and contradictory idea of constitutionalism, and a misapprehension of immaterial labor. At the turn of the twenty-first century, a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union and just prior to the events of September 11, 2001, globalization was omnipresent, a seemingly uncontestable reality. At this time, philosophers Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri suggested that we
While a 'north-south divide' in world capitalism has been pointed to for many years, in this article we examine how this unevenness condnues in today's epoch of capitalist globalizadon. To examine this phenomenon, we analyze a recent Forbes Magazine annual ranking of the leading 2000 companies in the world (G2000), by grouping or 'boxing' these companies by their 62 domiciles to calculate aggregated sales, profits, assets and market value and correladng these quanddes with the GDP of the corresponding domicile. This is an approximadon to reality, since the variety of transnadonal capital and associated global processes make it nowadays problemadc to assign nadonal labels to capital. Regardless of where the whole business circuit takes place, we foimd that the GDP of each country is directly proportional, more or less, to the economic strength of all G2000 topftrms based or registered in that country. These proportionalities tend to hover around a certain level globally, yet the correladon is lower for the 'global south' (as some describe it). We can also idendfy important regional variadons of rados such as profits/sales. Other rados could also be easily calculated fi-om our results. Together these findings help lead to a more nuanced understanding of transnadonal corporadons (TNCs), but also suggest more basicaUy, for instance, that the 'global north' remains to some degree more penetrated by TNCs (of the G2000).
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