Global capitalism and major corporations from the Third World.pdfVIP

Third World Quarterly, Vol 23, No 1, pp 81– 100, 2002 Global capitalism and major corporations from the Third World LESLIE SKLAIR PETER T ROBBIN S ABSTRACT Most major transnational corporations (TNCs) are domiciled in the First World and are owned and controlled largely by citizens of these countries. On the basis of an analysis of the largest corporatio ns outside the USA by revenues published annually by Fortune magazine since the 1950s, this pape r demonstrates that there have been major corporations from the Third World fo r decades. Most of the literature on Third World TNCs concentrates on the large number of relatively small companies that have operations abroad in low tech- nology sectors. The argument of this paper is that systematic study of major corporations from the Third World is important for debates about the nationa l bourgeoisie, comprador capitalism and the controversy that currently surround s the contentious concepts of the developmental state and globalization . Most major transnational corporations (TNCs) are legally domiciled in First World countries and are owned and controlled largely by citizens of these countries .1 However, there have been major corporations from the Third World for decades. Whereas there is a considerable literature on First World TNCs in the Third World, either on their modernising effects and their contributions to economic growth or on their exploitative effects as agents of neo-imperialism, and an expanding literature on the ways in which TNC s from the Third World operate, there is almost none at all on major Third World corporations. Most of the literature on Third World TNCs concentrates on the large number of relatively small companies that have operations abroad in low technology