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Corporate imperialism: Conflict and expropriation, transnational corporations and economic nationalism in the third world
472
Book re iew
be forthcoming. Donors have: unanimousl,y agreed to extend the life of the &;SP armd to engage in. mc’re frequent technical consultations with beneficiaries on improvements. Nevertheless, by ;l,he time this review is published, the issue of whether or not beneficiaries should have pressed for deep MI% tarifl cuts will be moot.. The Tokyo Roun.d probably will be over, and the only remaining; question to be answered a cilecade or two from now will be whether Murray/ and other economists steepe,d in the intellectual tradition of MFN trade liberalization aad direct-if-any sul:)sidies for LDCs were right. Craig R. MacPhee University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Conflict and Er,.propriation, Norman Girvan,, Corporate Imperializ,m: Transna; ianal Corporations and Economic Nat ionalistn in the Third World (%LE. Sharpe, White Plains, NY, 19769, pp. 243, $17.50.
Colleclion:i of papers already published else:where do nut always rn..ike g00c.1t~ook~. Nor is there a shortage of radical attacks upon the performance of 1.ransnalional corporations in the Third World. Amy doubts which potential readers, may consequentk:/ harbour about Norman Girvan’s book of collected essays, however, should be firmly se: aside. These papers, presented in ri fresh .ind provocative style, are of uniformly high quality-containing factPi;;!i detail and original analysis: and with a. minimum elf repetition, t’ley form a coherent whole. Originally presented in, nonmainstream outlets, t,ley ore unlikeI> to be known to man!~ oiltsilde the circles for which he has been writing. and deserl
Book reviews
473
Chilean copper policies and the associated confliict with transnationals from the turn of the century to tie mid-1970s; (2) the comparative performance of . the governments of Jamaica, Guyana, 1Yaiti and Surinam with respect to bauxite industry policies: and (3) the events leading up to and surrounding the nationalization of Alcan’s bauxite subsidiary in Guyana in 1971. In each,, he outlines clearly what the issues were and where the conflicts of interest occurred, SO that if the reader’s sympathies or interpretations. of events diverge from his own, it should be ea:y to pinpoint where disagreement lies. His analysis combines sensitivity to the domestic and international political dimensions of conflict with a sophisticated and professional treatment of the basic economic questions. With so mally woolly, if highminded, advocates of Third World positions about, it is a pcsitive delight to see its (powerfu)) case presented with such consister?t resort to facts and lofgic. Particularly useful is Girvan’s comparative analysis of governmental policies towards the bauxite some” of which could and transnationals. Simrlar comparative iUldySeS, should be undertaken by Third World producers’ associations, would be mcst useful in other sectors an.d industries. By increasing information at the disposa.1 of the Third World’s governments, particularly the weakest ones, in this way, future blargains may perhaps be more equitably struck. In the concluding chapter, on expropriation and compensation, Girvan is at his provocative best. While signalling his full awareness that moral an.d if:gal cases are irrelevant to the res’olution of disputes in a world of Realpolitik, he presents the most :uccinctt and effective case this reviewer has seen for the payment of compensation to the people of the Third World for historical wrongs. Not surprisingiy, his conclusions differ fundamentally from those recently adduced, for instance, by Richard Cooper on the same subject (Foreign Policy, no. 26, spring 1977). In a much more practical vein, he concludes with a det2ile’d checklist of points to consider and approaches to take in negotiating the terms of compensation for expropriated foreign assets. When the first anti-Business School is established for the training of Third World negotia:ors with foreign firms, this chapter will be compulsory reading, While Girvan clearly hopes to assist Third World govemnzerlts he recogni;res that the achievement of imlproved terms in their relations with transnationals will be insufficient for the (attainment of broader development goals. Girvan falters only when in his later papers (that delivered to a conference of the Third World F’orum in 1975, and the hntroduLl%FI to this volume) he briefly sloops -some will unfortunately say, he rises- to vaguer visions of alternati\,/e worlds, In his assessment of thz Frei gc)vernment’s refo!rmist policies in Chile he accurately notes that ‘changes went far enough to incur hJstilit!/ of the righlt, but while they arouse4 the expectations of the left and of the genera.1 popu/atlon, they did not go far enough to please them’ (p. 87). He might equally ha\-Q said this of recent Third World ‘reformist’ policies
474
B!ook rrx iews
resource-based transnationals, and he clearly shares i:he left’s iimpatience. Resort to slogans of ‘:revolctionary socialist changes’ (p. 9) or ‘disengagement frlom the internati.onal capitaliw system’ (p. IS%), which he -*-h4pfu1, h.owever, wnlt!:svbacked by has generally avoided in the.se papers is Use., the same hard ar,;alysis of experience, cclnstraints and alternative possibilities which infuse the ‘other 99.9 “/, of his book. The experisnces in some of the verjr cases he documents suggests that
CX. Helleiner UniverGlry of Toronto
K tyoshi Kqjima, *Japan and a New World Ec((nomic Order (Groom Helm, London, 1977) pp 190. During the postwar period, the Japanese economy has experienced a process of rapid economic development. The fast economic growth and the expansion of trade with other partners C’i tk e world have often created poli ticzal and c;conomic problems, and sometimes internatiollial economic conflicts. Ac,cordirlg to Professor Kiyoshi K,ojima in t:his book, ‘the Japanese economy is like a small boy who has stiddenSy grown up and is’ thought of as one of the major powers in world trade but who does not ‘kv:lowhow to behave or how to bake the initiative which has become his responsibility’ (p. 22). From an academic point of view, the economic relationship between Japan and the other co\?ntries of the world presents many interesti.ng questilons, because of -Japan‘s changing role and her vuln~rabSle position in regard ti) access to energy resources, WI+ .h has become apparelit since tlhe oil crisis.. Because of the lia:;t pace of chnnge in the Japanese eccnom,y, one needs 1.9 rely on a dynamic viewpoint in order to ana.lyse its process of economrc deveiopment. Thi s is the first point that Kojima emphasises. The second Faint he stresses ils ,V~atthe globa.1, apoMcai frr:e-trade argument obtainetd as a corollary to the sf;itic Heckscher--O&i+n model of international trade has to be modified. by c-onsideration of the political as well as economic need for explicit or ilmplicit:regional cooperation and integration. Based on these two standpoini:s, this book discusses var_ous) facet if the Japzlne$e econom:y, and, at tile same time, gropes for a new woM ec:YKI. ic or&r. After giving CI bird%-eye view of the Japanese ecc-:lolnr;J @I. J !, ~-le discus:;es the reduction ::kftariff .and nontariff barriers of .&Y: .Y ’ 0 tie adv!Jlzattesa bipolar exchange-rate regime based on the two it.4 x : :s;ck~ of
Book re iew
be forthcoming. Donors have: unanimousl,y agreed to extend the life of the &;SP armd to engage in. mc’re frequent technical consultations with beneficiaries on improvements. Nevertheless, by ;l,he time this review is published, the issue of whether or not beneficiaries should have pressed for deep MI% tarifl cuts will be moot.. The Tokyo Roun.d probably will be over, and the only remaining; question to be answered a cilecade or two from now will be whether Murray/ and other economists steepe,d in the intellectual tradition of MFN trade liberalization aad direct-if-any sul:)sidies for LDCs were right. Craig R. MacPhee University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Conflict and Er,.propriation, Norman Girvan,, Corporate Imperializ,m: Transna; ianal Corporations and Economic Nat ionalistn in the Third World (%LE. Sharpe, White Plains, NY, 19769, pp. 243, $17.50.
Colleclion:i of papers already published else:where do nut always rn..ike g00c.1t~ook~. Nor is there a shortage of radical attacks upon the performance of 1.ransnalional corporations in the Third World. Amy doubts which potential readers, may consequentk:/ harbour about Norman Girvan’s book of collected essays, however, should be firmly se: aside. These papers, presented in ri fresh .ind provocative style, are of uniformly high quality-containing factPi;;!i detail and original analysis: and with a. minimum elf repetition, t’ley form a coherent whole. Originally presented in, nonmainstream outlets, t,ley ore unlikeI> to be known to man!~ oiltsilde the circles for which he has been writing. and deserl
Book reviews
473
Chilean copper policies and the associated confliict with transnationals from the turn of the century to tie mid-1970s; (2) the comparative performance of . the governments of Jamaica, Guyana, 1Yaiti and Surinam with respect to bauxite industry policies: and (3) the events leading up to and surrounding the nationalization of Alcan’s bauxite subsidiary in Guyana in 1971. In each,, he outlines clearly what the issues were and where the conflicts of interest occurred, SO that if the reader’s sympathies or interpretations. of events diverge from his own, it should be ea:y to pinpoint where disagreement lies. His analysis combines sensitivity to the domestic and international political dimensions of conflict with a sophisticated and professional treatment of the basic economic questions. With so mally woolly, if highminded, advocates of Third World positions about, it is a pcsitive delight to see its (powerfu)) case presented with such consister?t resort to facts and lofgic. Particularly useful is Girvan’s comparative analysis of governmental policies towards the bauxite some” of which could and transnationals. Simrlar comparative iUldySeS, should be undertaken by Third World producers’ associations, would be mcst useful in other sectors an.d industries. By increasing information at the disposa.1 of the Third World’s governments, particularly the weakest ones, in this way, future blargains may perhaps be more equitably struck. In the concluding chapter, on expropriation and compensation, Girvan is at his provocative best. While signalling his full awareness that moral an.d if:gal cases are irrelevant to the res’olution of disputes in a world of Realpolitik, he presents the most :uccinctt and effective case this reviewer has seen for the payment of compensation to the people of the Third World for historical wrongs. Not surprisingiy, his conclusions differ fundamentally from those recently adduced, for instance, by Richard Cooper on the same subject (Foreign Policy, no. 26, spring 1977). In a much more practical vein, he concludes with a det2ile’d checklist of points to consider and approaches to take in negotiating the terms of compensation for expropriated foreign assets. When the first anti-Business School is established for the training of Third World negotia:ors with foreign firms, this chapter will be compulsory reading, While Girvan clearly hopes to assist Third World govemnzerlts he recogni;res that the achievement of imlproved terms in their relations with transnationals will be insufficient for the (attainment of broader development goals. Girvan falters only when in his later papers (that delivered to a conference of the Third World F’orum in 1975, and the hntroduLl%FI to this volume) he briefly sloops -some will unfortunately say, he rises- to vaguer visions of alternati\,/e worlds, In his assessment of thz Frei gc)vernment’s refo!rmist policies in Chile he accurately notes that ‘changes went far enough to incur hJstilit!/ of the righlt, but while they arouse4 the expectations of the left and of the genera.1 popu/atlon, they did not go far enough to please them’ (p. 87). He might equally ha\-Q said this of recent Third World ‘reformist’ policies
474
B!ook rrx iews
resource-based transnationals, and he clearly shares i:he left’s iimpatience. Resort to slogans of ‘:revolctionary socialist changes’ (p. 9) or ‘disengagement frlom the internati.onal capitaliw system’ (p. IS%), which he -*-h4pfu1, h.owever, wnlt!:svbacked by has generally avoided in the.se papers is Use., the same hard ar,;alysis of experience, cclnstraints and alternative possibilities which infuse the ‘other 99.9 “/, of his book. The experisnces in some of the verjr cases he documents suggests that
CX. Helleiner UniverGlry of Toronto
K tyoshi Kqjima, *Japan and a New World Ec((nomic Order (Groom Helm, London, 1977) pp 190. During the postwar period, the Japanese economy has experienced a process of rapid economic development. The fast economic growth and the expansion of trade with other partners C’i tk e world have often created poli ticzal and c;conomic problems, and sometimes internatiollial economic conflicts. Ac,cordirlg to Professor Kiyoshi K,ojima in t:his book, ‘the Japanese economy is like a small boy who has stiddenSy grown up and is’ thought of as one of the major powers in world trade but who does not ‘kv:lowhow to behave or how to bake the initiative which has become his responsibility’ (p. 22). From an academic point of view, the economic relationship between Japan and the other co\?ntries of the world presents many interesti.ng questilons, because of -Japan‘s changing role and her vuln~rabSle position in regard ti) access to energy resources, WI+ .h has become apparelit since tlhe oil crisis.. Because of the lia:;t pace of chnnge in the Japanese eccnom,y, one needs 1.9 rely on a dynamic viewpoint in order to ana.lyse its process of economrc deveiopment. Thi s is the first point that Kojima emphasises. The second Faint he stresses ils ,V~atthe globa.1, apoMcai frr:e-trade argument obtainetd as a corollary to the sf;itic Heckscher--O&i+n model of international trade has to be modified. by c-onsideration of the political as well as economic need for explicit or ilmplicit:regional cooperation and integration. Based on these two standpoini:s, this book discusses var_ous) facet if the Japzlne$e econom:y, and, at tile same time, gropes for a new woM ec:YKI. ic or&r. After giving CI bird%-eye view of the Japanese ecc-:lolnr;J @I. J !, ~-le discus:;es the reduction ::kftariff .and nontariff barriers of .&Y: .Y ’ 0 tie adv!Jlzattesa bipolar exchange-rate regime based on the two it.4 x : :s;ck~ of