Blog Post 3

Recently looking into our class discussions and readings about globalization, I was particularly fascinated with the concept of transnational corporations. Transnational corporations are defined simply as companies or corporations that exist in more than one country. We can see an ever increasing number of these as globalization remains a driving force of capitalism in our society. 

According to Abdelal and Ruggie in their piece called "New Perspectives" there were seventy seven thousand transnational corporations in 2010, spanning eight hundred thousand subsidaries and millions of suppliers. This is eleven years ago, and that number has definitely grown since then. These corporations, such as Nike or Amazon, have frequently used other countries for cheap labor, exploiting workers with poor living conditions and mistreatment at small wages. This article continues to talk about how these corporations get away with behaviors that would never be acceptable at home, simply because they are building factories in underdeveloped countries. I feel as though this statement in itself points to the dangers of globalization and outsourcing of jobs for major corporations. I remember watching a documentary in tenth grade that described what work was like in these overseas sweatshops, with extremely long shifts, living at the workplace, and having to keep "suicide nets" outside of these areas that housed thousands of workers simply because they had no other option but to work there. We frequently associate our times now with being technologically advanced, by admiring these billionaires whose inventions have transcended anyone's expectation and amazed the masses. However, the cost of creating products such as the iPhone are arguably too high. We just don't see it because it is far away from our eyes. 

Another major example of this is the shortage of Amazon workers. It is kind of ironic how much people are complaining about how long Amazon prime has been taking to deliver to Lewisburg and other more rural locations. Considering Bucknell is a predominantly white, upper-class student body, this perfectly exemplifies how priviliged people are unaware of what kind of conditions people within our own country are suffering from. We can look to the news to see countless examples of Amazon exploiting their workers and treating them unfairly, yet we continue to order from them because it is so easy and widespread. 

A notion that is particularly crazy to me, as stated later in the Abdelal and Ruggie article is the notion that despite how governments attempt to govern their own corporations, the line gets blurred when it comes to TNC's. They claim: "Moreover, states, particularly some developing countries, may lack the institutional capacity to enforce national laws and regulations against transnational firms doing business in their territory even when the government of the day has the necessary political will, or they may feel constrained from doing so by having to compete internationally for investment." In other words, lesser developed countries do not have the capacity to manage these major companies, or they feel pressure to make any restrictive actions, since it may affect the economic gain of their state. It is twisted because no one is held accountable for their actions since both countries (or all countries) involved do not have complete jurisdiction, leaving no sense of accountability.