{"id":4613,"date":"2025-01-14T17:21:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T17:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/global-social-challenges\/?p=4613"},"modified":"2025-01-20T16:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:13:54","slug":"whos-the-real-culprit-the-truth-of-how-large-corporations-are-taking-away-autonomy-in-the-global-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/global-social-challenges\/2025\/01\/14\/whos-the-real-culprit-the-truth-of-how-large-corporations-are-taking-away-autonomy-in-the-global-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s the Real Culprit? The truth of how large corporations are taking away autonomy in the Global South"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”on” next_background_color=”#000000″ global_module=”322″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=”322″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ menu_id=”7″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” background_layout=”dark” module_class=”main-navigation” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” prev_background_color=”#000000″ next_background_color=”#1d1d1d”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″][et_pb_row_inner locked=”off”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”3.0.106″ title=”on” meta=”on” author=”on” date=”on” categories=”on” comments=”on” featured_image=”on” featured_placement=”above” text_color=”dark” text_background=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″ background_layout=”light” parent_locked=”off”]<\/p>\n

Article by Coco Marcus<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a child, I remember standing in the village my Nani (Grandma) grew up in located in Gujarat, India asking myself why them? Why don\u2019t they have access to basic resources like water and I do? It filled me with a sense of guilt. Under a decade later I decided to take a deeper look into this. The first items which appeared were what I expected: natural calamities like droughts and floods and increased human consumption due to the rapid rise in population. \u00a0However, I then began to discover something much darker. I believe that a larger contributing factor is the expansion of corporations impacted by and impacting neoliberalism. Are these trans-national corporations (TNCs) the reason farmers, like my family in India, are struggling to make ends meet? As far back as 1908, corporations such as AT&T were working hard to give themselves a human face with ad campaigns suggesting that the organisation offered \u2019a new democracy of public service ownership\u2019 (Bakan, 2005, p.19).\u00a0 I find myself questioning whether TNCs are ever really benefiting their wider stakeholders or a select few.<\/p>\n

This campaign trend from the early part of the twentieth century has continued at pace with neoliberalism becoming synonymous with altruistic democracy. By the start of the current millennium, the idea of removing barriers to trade was fully endorsed by none other than the UN secretary-general at the time \u2013 Kofi Annan – who suggested that the world should aim for \u2018global markets with a human face\u2019 (Nilsson and Foug\u00e8re, 2024). This was aligned with the idea of corporations engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. You would understandably expect that this could lead to an increase in protection for lay stakeholders.\u00a0 But I believe the opposite is happening \u2013the rise in the dominance of neoliberalism has created harsher and more vigorous working conditions for countries, especially those situated within the global south.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Who gets to make the decisions?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Since the advent of genetically-modified (GM) crops, there has been a sustained call for the introduction of \u2018golden rice\u2019 \u2013 GM rice which is vitamin-enhanced and can survive harsher climate conditions.\u00a0 India recently removed regulatory obstacles to this and companies such as Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) have successfully gained control over small and medium-sized farmers, arguing that this crop was infinitely more sustainable (War on Want, 2023). This is supported by Bakan (2005) who argues that the large corporation\u2019s primary motivation is profit maximisation over social responsibility and ethical concerns.<\/p>\n

Economic decision making is being stripped away from the hands of farmers (Ranjan, 2018).\u00a0 Instead, in the name of sustainability, large corporations are governing how farmers farm, and profiting from onward sales.\u00a0 For example, farmers are required to buy batches of golden rice each year, and drones are used to provide real-time<\/em> guidance to \u2018induce farmers to buy more agricultural inputs (fertilisers, seeds)\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ranjan argues that entrepreneurial decision-making is so compromised for the farmer with low socioeconomic status, that these farmers are trapped in a system which is not benefiting them.\u00a0 His research finds that poorer farmers \u2018could end up inefficiently dedicating resources towards reducing social inequality through a process of social friction, which adversely affects their livelihood prospects\u2019 (Ranjan, 2018, p. 433).<\/p>\n

I now see that the subsistence farmers within my family community stood little chance in surviving and gaining access to core natural resources in the face of the power of the TNC.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Regulatory capture<\/strong><\/h5>\n

People may argue that with enough government regulation, workers can be subsidised and protected. Surely a government would want to protect its own workers. However in countries with less wealth the government may not generate enough money through taxation. This leads the government to be more dependent on large corporations leading to regulatory capture<\/em>. This term, according to Baker (2010) means that governments are swayed by particular interested parties, rather than regulating to meet the wider public interest. Often the large corporations within the industry are the most effective lobbyists here. John Lofland (1981, p.278) describes lobbying as \u2018\u2018involv[ing] explicit efforts\u2019\u2019 to influence specific government decisions.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h5>\n
So what next?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The deregulation of farming in India under Modi in 2020 has further embedded the neoliberal agenda<\/a>.\u00a0 I believe that what is now needed to challenge the strength of the TNC is a mobilisation of grassroots cooperative institutions, supported by government regulation, which addresses the needs of the farming sector and the farmers themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bakan, J. (2005) The corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power. <\/em>London: Constable.<\/p>\n

Baker, A. (2010) \u2018Restraining regulatory capture? Anglo-America, crisis politics and trajectories and trajectories of change in global financial governance\u2019, International Affairs (Royal Institute of Internal Affairs 1944-), <\/em>86(3), pp. 647-63.<\/p>\n

Lofland, J. (1981). <\/em>\u2018Sociologists as an interest group: Prospect and propriety\u2019.\u00a0Pacific Sociological Review,\u00a0<\/em>24(3), pp.275-297.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nilsson, E., Foug\u00e8re, M. (2024) \u2018Global South States\u2019 Views on Building Partnerships with Corporations: An Agonistic Struggle in the UN and Beyond\u2019.\u00a0Journal of Business Ethics.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ranjan, R. (2019). \u2018How socio-economic and natural resource inequality impedes entrepreneurial ventures of farmers in rural India.\u00a0The European Journal of Development Research<\/em>,\u00a031<\/em>, pp.433-460.<\/p>\n

The Conversation (2024). Moments of hope: how Indians keep pushing back against the hollowing out of democracy. <\/em>Available at\u00a0: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/moments-of-hope-how-indians-keep-pushing-back-against-the-hollowing-out-of-democracy-230609<\/p>\n

War on Want (2023). Profiting from Hunger: Popular resistance to corporate food systems. <\/em>Available at: https:\/\/waronwant.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-02\/Profiting%20from%20hunger%20PDF%20download.pdf<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.0.106″ in_same_term=”off” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.0.106″ show_avatar=”on” show_reply=”on” show_count=”on” background_layout=”light” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”on” button_icon_placement=”right” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_use_icon=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_size__hover=”null” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover=”null” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover=”null” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover=”null” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover=”null” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover=”null” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover=”null” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover=”null” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover=”null” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover=”null” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover=”null” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover=”null” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover=”null” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover=”null” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover=”null” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover=”null” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover=”null” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover=”null” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover=”null” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ background_layout=”light” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off”]<\/p>\n

Related<\/h1>\n

Related posts:<\/h3>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>

Bottling Misery: Corporate Influence on the Proliferation of Alcoholism<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/div>

Has the corporation become too powerful and is it too late to stop?<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/div>

Corporate Social Responsibility: Why its ignored and avoided<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.0.106″ area=”sidebar-1″ orientation=”left” show_border=”off” background_layout=”light” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Connect Title” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” _builder_version=”3.0.90″ background_color=”#1d1d1d” module_class=”footer-section” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” disabled=”off” global_module=”380″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” global_parent=”380″ locked=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” parallax_3=”off” parallax_method_3=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” make_equal=”off” module_id=”footer-row” _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n

Contact us<\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us” global_parent=”380″ text_text_color=”#aaaaaa” parent_locked=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”contact-us” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n

+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Find Us Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n

Find us<\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Address” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_id=”address” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\n

The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Connect Title” global_parent=”380″ background_layout=”dark” text_text_color=”#ffffff” parent_locked=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n

Connect with us<\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code admin_label=”Social Media” global_parent=”380″ parent_locked=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n