Corporations

Corporate Power in a Global Economy

Palan, Ronen. In Susan Strange and the Future of Global Political Economy: Power, Control and Transformation, edited by Randall Germain, 170-182. London: Routledge, 2016.

What is the nature of the powers of corporations in a globalized economy? Has there been a shift of power from states to corporations? From states to markets? And if yes, how and why? These are the sort of questions that were at heart of Susan Strange's work. Political science during the time of her writing, and even more so international relations, was occupied with forms of relational power (Tajfel and Turner 1979). These theories assumed that an existential condition of scarcity (of material or ideational goods) encourages the formation of collective action groups, each intent on advancing or protecting their vested interests. Political scientists would use key concepts such as actors, intentions, interests and power, which, in combination were supposed to provide the analyst with a good grasp over policy outcomes.

Keywords: Corporations; Structural Power, Power

Contributor(s): Ronen Palan and Editor: Randall Germain
Keywords: Corporations, Structural Power, Power, Strange-Influenced Works, 2010's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 2016

Transnational Corporations and the Proliferation of Bilateral Investment Treaties: More Than a Bit Influential

Jacobs, Michael. Transnational Corporations Review 8, no. 2 (2016): 93-111.

To date, over 2500 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have been signed. The popularity of these treaties raises the question, what has driven the proliferation of BITs? Previous research argues that the proliferation of BITs is the product of competition for capital among developing states. This study hypothesises that the developed state transnational corporations (TNCs) are driving the spread of BITs. The results from a time series logistic regression support the TNC hypothesis, adding support to the argument that transnationals should be recognised as major actors in the international political economy.

Keywords: Corporations; Money and Finance; Structural Power, Power; Authority; Markets

Contributor(s): Michael Jacobs
Keywords: Corporations, Money and Finance, Structural Power, Power, Authority, Markets, Strange-Influenced Works, 2010's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 2016

CAVE! HIC DRAGONES! Alan M. Rugmans Contributions to the Field of International Business

Eden, Lorraine. In Internalization, International Diversification and the Multinational Enterprise, edited by Alain Verbeke, 9-27. Bingley, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2005.

Offers a comparison between Susan Strange's intellectual role in IPE and Alan Rugman's in International Business.

Keywords: Corporations; Other; Transnational corporations

Contributor(s): Lorraine Eden and Editor: Alain Verbeke
Keywords: Corporations, Other, Strange-Influenced Works, 2000's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 2005

Revisiting Rival States: Beyond the Triangle?

Stopford, John. In International Business and Government Relations in the 21st Century, edited by Robert E. Grosse, 103-116. Cambridge: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., 2005.

When Susan Strange and I looked into the relationships between firms and States during the late 1980s, we were primarily concerned to signal that the rivalry among States for control over the means of wealth creation had grown to the point where it had overtaken such traditional concerns as control over territory, to become the predominant driver of diplomacy. We argued that States had moved far from the days when suspicion of the multinationals' power had interfered with bargaining relationships, to a position where incentives were being showered on the firms to influence their decisions about where to invest. These were also the days when the UN was still struggling to complete a Code of Conduct for the MNEs (it never succeeded) and when trade talks within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were beginning to link trade relationships with the consequences of foreign direct investment (FDI). Under these seemingly benign conditions, attention could (usefully, we argued) be focused on all three sides of the triangle to gain greater understanding of the dynamics of the relationships and the conditions for competitiveness. We called this “new” diplomacy “triangular” to highlight these growing interrelationships. This was occurring in an era when bargaining power and opinion had swung toward favoring the notion that the MNE was essentially a benign force for economic development. Fears of corruption in the bargaining among executives and government officials had receded. So too had fears about the MNEs' undue interference in internal, domestic policy.

Keywords: Corporations; Trade; Money and Finance; Triangular Diplomacy; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): John Stopford and Editor: Robert E. Grosse
Keywords: Corporations, Trade, Money and Finance, Strange-Influenced Works, 2000's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 2005

World Order, Non-State Actors, and the Global Casino: The Retreat of the State?

Strange, Susan. In Political Economy and the Changing Global Order, edited by Richard Stubbs, Geoffrey R.D. Underhill, 82-90. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

This is the an edited version of the text published as What Theory? The Theory in Mad Money (1998) with the addition of a new introduction which briefly lays out many of the arguments which Strange made her own over her long and distinguished career.

Keywords: Corporations; Knowledge; States; Theory; Authority vs Markets; Technology

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Richard Stubbs and Editor: Geoffrey R.D. Underhill
Keywords: Corporations, Knowledge, States, Theory, 2000's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 2000

The Westfailure System

Strange, Susan. Review of International Studies 25, no. 3 (1999): 345-354.

In this posthumously published essay, Strange briefly outlines the parallel histories of the territorial system of states and the economic system of markets and suggests that until the last quarter of the twentieth century each benefited the other. However, as she often argued in the 1990s, the political system is now failing in three areas: the states system is increasingly unable to manage instability in the global financial system; the sovereign system is unable to deal effectively with globalised environmental problems; and lastly the political system's interaction with the global market is producing widening socio-economic inequality across the global system. However, only by understanding the role of non-state authority through the study of both international and comparative political economy and a move away from International Relation's state-centricism can the Westfailure system be understood and alternatives assessed. Reprinted in: Authority and Markets: Susan Strange’s Writings on International Political Economy, edited by Roger Tooze and Christopher May. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Keywords: Corporations; Global Governance; States; Westfailure System; International Relations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Global Governance, States, 1990's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1999

Globaloney? (Review Essay)

Strange, Susan. Review of International Political Economy 5, no. 4 (1998): 704-711.

In this review of the influential Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson Globalisation in Question (Oxford: Polity Press, 1996) alongside two other books arguing a similar position, Strange makes a major intervention in the debate over the 'myth' of globalisation. Arguing that the authors (like others) miss the deterritorialisation of commercial power in the global system, Strange allows that there needs to be a corrective to the extreme globalisation thesis of complete transformation, but that a failure to examine what is really happening in the global political economy, while relying on aggregated and out-of-date statistics has led too many political economists to fail to recognise the very real changes in the balance of power between multinational corporations and states. For Strange it is this balance of power that is of major importance for understanding globalisation.

Keywords: Globalization; Theory; Corporations; States; Transnational Corporations; Authority vs Markets

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Globalization, Theory, Corporations", States, 1990's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1998

Why do International Organisations Never Die?

Strange, Susan. In Autonomous Policy Making by International Organisations, edited by Bob Reinalda, Bertjan Verbeek, 213-220. London: Routledge, 1998.

In this concluding chapter of a collection of articles drawn from a series of workshops organised under the auspices of the ECPR, Strange reflects on the legacy of The Anatomy of Influence see (1974b) and suggests that a focus on international organisation remains a largely European enterprise due to the continuing dominance of liberal institutionalism and (neo)Realism. After applauding the project in the first section, she then turns to some criticisms of the collection's contributors. She suggests that some of the authors have been unable to avoid capture by their subjects and are too kind to the self-perpetuating bureaucracies and secretariats of many international organisations. She argues that these bureaucracies have a symbiotic relationship with the members' governments and thus are able to ride out many local problems. Lastly she briefly alludes (again) to the failure to include the impact of changes in market conditions, changes in technology and the role of MNCs in the international political economic analysis of international organisations.

Keywords: Corporations; Europe; International Institutions; Theory; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Bob Reinalda and Editor: Bertjan Verbeek
Keywords: Corporations, Europe, International Institutions, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1998

Europe's Future in the Global Political Economy

Strange, Susan. In Reflections on the Identity of Europe: Global Transatlantic Perspectives, edited by Thomas Row. Bologna: The John Hopkins University Bologna Center, 1996.

Strange argues in this reflection on the future of Europe that too little analytical attention has been paid to the corporate sector and its role in three important structural shifts in the global political economy: new and faster technological changes that have speeded up the competitive cycle (and reduced the time for investors to recover their outlay on innovation); moves in finance towards a much more globalised financial sector with a reduction in the role of national (or in this case European Union) policy interventions; and a shift in the location of production, facilitated by the other two changes. This, she argues, means that the chief dimension of difference in the global political economy is no longer state political but rather is related to corporate activity and interest. In the face of the relative inaction (caused by political sclerosis at the EU), she argues that to understand the political economy, analysts can no longer ignore or simplify the political economy of the private sector but rather need to include corporations as a central element of their analysis; There is no longer a European orientation to the global political economy separate from the role and activity of international business.

Keywords: Corporations; Europe; Money and Finance; Production; Technology; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Thomas Row
Keywords: Corporations, Europe, Money and Finance, Production, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1996

The Defective State

Strange, Susan. Daedelus 124, no. 2 (1995): 55-74.

Strange argues that while states remain superficially important as major actors within the global system, the underlying power relations have hollowed out their authority. This authority has in some cases flowed 'upwards' to international institutions, and in other cases flowed down to markets (and also more localised organisations). These movements have led to an asymmetry of structural authority in the global system. Strange also makes some comments regarding the state-centric nature of the discipline of International Relations and suggests a new research agenda based around her conception of structural power and the importance of non-state actors in the functioning of authority. Thus while competition between states continues in some sense, it has been joined by other fields of competition that the disciplines of International Relations and International Political Economy need to contend with if they are to remain relevant to the global political economy.

Keywords: Corporations; International Institutions; States; Structural Power, Power; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, International Institutions, States, Structural Power, Power, 1990's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1995

Global Government and Global Opposition

Strange, Susan. In Politics in an Interdependent World: Essays presented to Ghita Ionescu, edited by Geraint Parry, 20-33. Aldershot: Edward Elgar Publishers, 1994.

After recognising the relevance of discussions of a 'new medievalism' in the global political economy Strange suggests that the best way of addressing the nature and use of power is her structural model. She suggests that the deterriotrialisation of power and the increasing importance of 'diplomacy' between firms as laid out in Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991), argues for a more complex view of 'interdependence'. She then highlights three central issues: the idea that the operations of multinationals might be understood as a parallel and competing tax and welfare system to that previously operated by states; this relative loss of control over social functions by states has led to reduced stability in the global economy; and lastly societies have increasingly lost their ability to make autonomous decisions concerning methods of and priorities of governance. She then links this analysis to the re-emergence of Euroscepticism, before finally identifying some possible groups that may offer opposition to these tendencies, namely environmentalism, feminism, fundamentalism and regionalism.

Keywords: Corporations; States; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Authority vs Markets

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Geraint Parry
Keywords: Corporations, States, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1994

The Transformation of the World Economy

Strange, Susan. In Mapping the Unknown: Towards a New World Order (Yearbook of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs 1992-1993), edited by Lidija Babic, Bo Huldt, 43-49. London: Hurst and Co., 1993.

In this short article Strange reviews many of the same arguments that have been featured above. However, here she argues that the transformation of the world economy is not so much the product of state/firm interactions, rather it is firms that are playing (and will continue to play) the more important role in structural change. This finally represents a complete reversal of the position of 'Follow-up commentary On Money and World Politics' (1984). Strange also argues that the supposed problems of the emergence of trading blocs (the three main blocs being centred on the US, Japan and Europe - the triad) are not crucial to the stability of the global economy, as she had implicitly argued in her discussions of protectionism. The problems and structural transformation of the global economy are rooted in the financial structure, and it is here that the US needs to assert its leadership for the future good of the international system.

Keywords: Corporations; Global Governance; Hegemony; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Transnational Corporations; Global System

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, Editor: Lidija Babic and Editor: Bo Huldt
Keywords: Corporations, Global Governance, Hegemony, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1993

Traitors, Double Agents or Rescuing Knights

Strange, Susan. Working Paper for Table Ronde No. 4 ‘Les Individus dans la Politique Internatioanle’. Association Française de Science Politique, Quatrième Congrès, 1992.

In this working paper Strange links her approach laid out in States and Markets (1988) and links it to the research she had recently published on the role of firms in the global system Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991). This leads her to conclude that a greater role for firms (and their decision-makers, their managers) must be recognised by social science, and that the 'nation state' is less and less useful as a concept for the study of the global system. Once again Strange's frustration with the myopia of her colleagues is scarcely concealed.

Keywords: Corporations; Global governance; Structural Power, Power; Theory; Transnational Corporations; Global System

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Global governance, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's
Source and Medium: Working Paper

Year of Publication: 1992

Big Business and the State

Strange, Susan. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 20, no. 2 (1991): 245-250.

Strange argues in this short piece that TNCs should be placed at the centre of IPE analysis along with the state and should not be left on the periphery. She also argues for an outside-in understanding of TNCs, putting them into the context in which they operate to understand them. This context is being transformed by changes in the production and financial structures, while she implicitly also argues for the centrality of changes in the 'knowledge' structure.

Keywords: Corporations; Knowledge; Structural Power, Power; Theory

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Knowledge, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1990's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1991

Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for World Market Shares

Strange, Susan, John M. Stopford, John S. Henley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

A self-avowedly part international relations - part international business management work which in keeping with Strange's views discusses the interdependence between politics and economics without fore-grounding one at the expense of the other. The book builds on Strange's theory of power and links it through three national studies (Brazil, Malaysia, Kenya) to a consideration of the effect of structural change in the international political economy on the role of TNCs in international economic development. The authors suggest that diplomacy is now triangular; (traditional) state-state diplomacy has been joined by state-firm, and firm-firm diplomacy in the international political economy. In addition they note that the linking of TNCs with specific nations is increasingly difficult, not least due to the decreasing centrality of territorial considerations of power. The book concludes with policy advise for both states and multinationals and pointers for further research.

Keywords: Corporations; Foundational Work; Structural Power, Power; States; Transnational Corporations; Triangular Diplomacy

Contributor(s): Susan Strange, John M. Stopford and John S. Henley
Keywords: Corporations, Foundational Work, Structural Power, Power, States, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book

Year of Publication: 1991

The Name of the Game

Strange, Susan. In Sea Changes: American Foreign Policy in a World Transformed, edited by Nicholas X. Rizopoulos, 238-273. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1990.

Strange develops an argument that the competition for territory in international relations has been superseded by the competition for world market shares. This decline in the importance in territory has engendered among other things an international business civilisation that is based on firms and enterprises rather than nationality. However this seems to be different from the transnational empire she suggests in 'Towards a Theory of Transnational Empire' (1989). This central change in the international political economy, has led to a diffusion of state power, but still leaves the US the most powerful actor in the world. Strange argues that power is shifting from a territorial state basis, to a transnational enterprise basis. However this power is geographical, centred on such cities as New York and Los Angeles, not as before on Washington DC. This article marks a significant step towards the analysis of firms as being as important as states for Strange's IPE, fully developed in Rival States, Rival Firms: Competition for world market shares (with John M. Stopford and John S. Henley, 1991) .

Keywords: Corporations; Markets; Theory; Structural Power, Power; International Economics; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Nicholas X. Rizopoulos
Keywords: Corporations, Markets, Theory, Structural Power, Power, 1990's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1990

Supranationals and the State

Strange, Susan. 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: Competition for world market shares (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

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: John A. Hall
Keywords: Corporations, Knowledge, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1986

Conclusion

Strange, Susan. In Paths to International Political Economy, edited by Susan Strange. London: Allen and Unwin, 1984.

Strange then poses the question 'What about International Relations?' in her conclusion to Paths to International Political Economy (1984). After discussing the importance of the grounding in politics for economists and vice versa, Strange notes that radical theorists have concentrated too much on the production structure, and notes that the other three (finance, security and 'knowledge') are as important. However this is not developed further. She goes on to identify the state as still the central decision making body in the international political economy. She notes that even multinationals in the final analysis bow to the wishes of their home state. This view is in sharp contradiction to the transnational structural theory of power which would emerge over the next few years.

Keywords: Corporations; Structural Power, Power; Theory; International Relations; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Structural Power, Power, Theory, 1980's
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1984

International Business and the EEC

Strange, Susan. In The Eruopean Economic Community, edited by James Barber, 82-95. Milton Keynes: Open University, 1974.

Strange discusses the relationship between international business and the EEC by briefly examining three partly overlapping assertions: that the main achievements of the EEC have resulted not from the community’s own work but from the impact of international business; that international business is a ‘Trojan horse’ for American influence and interest in Europe; and that the EEC is a necessary response to the problems brought by international business. She then concludes it is impossible to separate politics and economics, and that the indicators used to measure the level of European integration are unable to capture what is actually happening. Furthermore, the impact of international business is becoming a transnational process across states rather than an international process between them. Thus she advocates further moves to political unity in Europe to counter-balance the power of international business.

Keywords: Corporations; Europe; Transnational Corporations; European Integration

Contributor(s): Susan Strange and Editor: James Barber
Keywords: Corporations, Europe, 1970's, Susan Strange
Source and Medium: Book Chapter

Year of Publication: 1974

Review of: R.J Barber The American Corporation: Its Power, Its Money, Its Politics

Strange, Susan. International Journal 27, no. 2 (1972): 308-309.

Strange feels that the author overstates the political power and influence of multinational in themselves. She identifies a close connection between the US government and larger corporations. Interestingly this is a position that she gradually moves away from in subsequent work, identifying transnational firms as actors in their own right by 67), arguing for their major importance as actors in the international political economy.

Keywords: Corporations; Hegemony; Transnational Corporations

Contributor(s): Susan Strange
Keywords: Corporations, Hegemony, 1970's
Source and Medium: Journal Article

Year of Publication: 1972