Supranationals and the State
Strange, Susan. “Supranationals and the State.” In States in History, edited by John A. Hall, 289-305. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
To some extent a precursor to Rival States, Rival Firms (with John Stopford, 1991) which concludes that there is a functional convergence between states and TNCs. The central argument is that transnationals - TNCs and international organisations - both support and undermine states at the same time. There is a paradoxical symbiosis, that is under-examined due to most writers discussing either support roles or undermining roles. In addition there has been a shift in the basis of economic power, from land and power to capital and knowledge. Clearly this part of Strange’s larger argument about the transnational power of capital and American TNCs, and represents the beginning of a shift away from the position suggesting a final authority of states over transnationals in Paths to International Political Economy (1984).
Keywords: Corporations; Knowledge; Theory; Corporations; Knowledge Production