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POLITICAL SCIENCE 369A—Issues in International Security
Multinational Corporations and Globalization in the Developed and Developing World
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UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Instructor: Robert M. A. Crawford
Office: 374, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 1:00 to 2:00 pm
Phone: 604-822-3009
Email: robert.crawford@ubc.ca
Course blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/a12012/
Connect site: yes—please check regularly for updates, syllabus, and other course content
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TA: Will Plowright; email w.r.plowright@gmail.com
Office: TBA
Office hours: TBA
Description
This course examines the evolving relationship between Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and
states in the modern era, evaluating the perceived benefits and costs of foreign direct investment
in a number of selected countries, regions, and industries. Our primary objectives are to assess
the impact of MNCs on the politics, economies, and societies of states, and to evaluate the
effectiveness or desirability of various attempts to control, limit, and regulate MNC behaviour.
Special attention is paid to countries, industries, and practices where the potential for
exploitation and conflict is greatest.
Format
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The course meets twice weekly (Tuesday/Thursday) for 1:50 minutes and, because of its large
size, is structured around lectures. But students are asked to do the required weekly reading prior
to class and encouraged to discuss lecture and reading content.
Prerequisite
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Previous completion of an introductory course in international relations (e.g. POLI 260 or its
equivalent) is not required but very strongly recommended. The course assumes familiarity with
the basic concepts covered in that or similar course.
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Learning Objectives
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Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
• describe and define multinational corporations (MNCs) and situate/analyze their activities as a
relatively new and distinct phenomena within the international political economy (IPE)
• understand and analyze various motivations for foreign direct investment (FDI), and recognize
FDI as the defining activity of MNCs
• construct a working definition of IPE, its main theories, and the role of state/market forces in
creating the conditions and limits for MNC growth
• explain the historical origins for MNCs, and their distinctiveness from similar but distinct
precursors (like mercantile trading firms)
• understand the motivations and content of state policies around MNCs at both the general level
of developed and developing country concerns, and country specific policies including
Canada, the US, and Japan
• understand the complexity and changing nature of global governance structures and the role of
MNCs in shifting locations of governance
• demonstrate a grasp of the empirical forces behind globalization as an emergent historical
condition
• understand the motivations, historical/political conditions, limitations, and outcomes of
governmental strategies to attract, deter, or manage MNCs (including Import Substitution
Industrialization (ISI), Export Promotion, and investment screening mechanisms
• understand the ideological foundations for views for and against MNC expansion
• demonstrate a working knowledge of the main theoretical models of MNC origin and
behaviour
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Texts
All required course reading is from a custom course reading package available for purchase at
the UBC Bookstore. Further reading is always welcome but optional. Suggestions for further
reading will be posted periodically on the course blog page and/or the Connect site.
Assignments and Evaluation
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Midterm exam (February 25)
Course blogs
Research Essay (due March 24)
Final Exam (date TBA)
15%
5%
40%
40%
There will be an in-class midterm exam on Thursday, February 25. You will be responsible for all
material covered prior to the exam. The midterm format will be discussed in class.
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You are expected to do blog posts for the course. I have added a widget to my own UBC blog via
which you can register. You will need to use your CWL to register for an account at blogs.ubc.ca.
On the left sidebar of my course blog (http://blogs.ubc.ca/a12012/) is a section called “Add
Users” where you will need to enter the password “MNCs2016” and click on the Add me button.
The point of the assignments is to give you a voice in a class too large to allow for participation
in the usual sense. You will need to do at least 3 blog posts over the term in response to questions
that I will post. I will post numerous questions and notify the class when I do so. What you
respond to is up to you, as is the nature of your reflections. !
Each post should be in the range of 300 words (no maximum) and should do more than simply
agree or disagree with a question. The posts should be thoughtful and scholarly, but need not
conform to formal academic style. In fact, part of the point of the blog post is to express your
views in a relaxed and natural manner. You can, and probably should, comment on the posts of
your peers, but this is not required. There is no deadline for the blog posts. Rather, you should
have made a minimum of 3 contributions by the last class. Do not leave this assignment until the
end, and use it as a way to engage the course material. While your posts will be read throughout
the term, please email me the URLs for each of your blog posts by the last day of class in order
to ensure credit for the assignment.
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You are required to write a research essay based on a set of topics to be distributed early in the
academic term or, with my permission and knowledge only, an original topic of direct relevance
to the course. The approximate length required is 3,500 words (14 to 15 typed pages). Essays
must be double-spaced, have reasonable margins, include a title page, bibliography, and
references, have numbered pages, and follow a properly utilized, appropriate, academic form of
citation. The essay is due in class Tuesday, March 24. Late essays will be penalized 2% per day.
The mode of submission will be discussed in class. You are also required to submit your essay to
TurnItIn and are advised to consult department and university policy on plagiarism (see Course
Policy Statement below).
There will be a final examination during the regular examination period. You will be accountable
for the readings assigned for each class and all lecture material. The exam will be cumulative but
weighted post-midterm. The exam format will be discussed in class.
Course Policy Statement
Students are responsible for material covered in lectures, class discussions, and assigned
readings. Regular attendance in class is expected. Please try to arrive on time and let me know
beforehand if you need to leave early.
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Laptops have become a normal resource for students but should be used only as a note-taking
device. Students are asked to refrain from using laptops for any other purpose. Phones must be
on silent or off during lecture, and I will ask you to stop if you are texting.
Students are reminded that instructors cannot grant academic concession after assignment due
dates. Medical, emotional, or personal problems that may arise during, and affect your
performance in, the course should be discussed immediately with the Faculty of Arts Academic
Advising Office (Buch. A201 604-822-4028). Students who miss examinations for non-medical
reasons will not have an opportunity to rewrite. Medical exemptions will not be granted without
proper documentation.
Written submissions must be typed/word processed, stapled, contain page numbers, and cite
sources fully in an academically appropriate manner.
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Students are reminded that any form of academic misconduct will not be tolerated. Be sure to
retain all work used in the preparation of your assignments, and be ready to submit this work if
and when I request that you do so. Plagiarism is a serious form of academic misconduct.
Demonstrated cases are treated severely and, at a minimum, result in a mark of zero, and can
lead to sever punishment including expulsion from UBC. It is your responsibility to be aware of
what constitutes plagiarism; the following links will make clear university policy and help you to
avoid all forms of academic misconduct (http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/?
tree=3,54,111,959; http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/resource-guides/avoiding-plagiarism/).
Anyone inclined to ignore these guidelines would do well to remember the cynical but
compelling wisdom of Morrissey: “If you must write prose and poems, the words you use should
be your own; don’t plagiarize or take ‘on loan’; there’s always someone, somewhere, with a big
nose who knows, and who trips you up a laughs when you fall….”
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The Smiths, “Cemetery Gates,” The Queen is Dead, 1986
TurnItIn.com
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The UBC Political Science Department requires that all undergraduate papers be submitted to
TurnItIn, a service that compares submissions to thousands of published documents, essays-forpurchase, all other student papers submitted to the website, and so forth to detect levels of
overlap in wording and generate “originality reports.” You can find out more about TurnItIn, and
the university’s policy on use of this service at: (http://www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/integrity/turnitin/
index.htm).
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To submit your assignment, log onto the site (http://www.turnitin.com/static/home.html). Click
on the “create a user profile” link and select “student” on the pull-down menu. To enrol, you will
be asked to enter your “class ID” and “class enrolment password.” The information you will
need is:
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course ID: 11442874
password: corporations (note: the password is case sensitive)
You will not receive credit for your essay unless it is submitted to TurnItIn. The due date of
Thursday March 24 is the same for both TurnItIn and final copy that you submit (you will
receive detailed instructions about how to submit your essay later). Please note that your paper
will NOT be available to anyone to read as a public document—you do not need to worry about
other students finding your paper on the internet and copying it for their own use. Again, retain
all rough work used in the preparation of your assignments, and be ready to submit this work if
and when you are requested to do so.
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Students with disabilities who have registered with the Disabilities Resource Centre (DRC)
should notify me of this at their convenience, but no later than three working days prior to
examination dates.
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Other Resources
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This course has a UBC Connect page that is under construction and will feature links to course
handouts, announcements, and supplemental materials like relevant journals, blogs, websites,
and videos, among other resources. The course also has a blog (see above).
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Lecture and Reading Schedule
Jan 5 & 7
Introduction to Course
Evolution, rationale, and purposes of the course; preliminary assessment of MNCs as political
actors.
No readings
Jan 12, 14
Emergence and Evolution of the MNC
The historical development of the MNC, conflicting claims about its origins, various stages and
geographical centres of development, and role in transforming the international politicaleconomic system.
Readings (handout)
John Stopford (1999) “Multinational Corporations,” Foreign Policy, 113
Susan Strange (1991) “Big Business and the State,” Millennium, 20, 2 (1991)
Raymond Vernon (1991) “Sovereignty at Bay: Twenty Years After,” Millennium, 20, 2
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Jan 19, 21
The MNC: Political or Economic actor?
An overview of the evolving academic discussion of MNCs that assesses its transformation from
a literature dominated by state-centric approaches to the exclusion of MNCs as merely
“economic” actors, to a much wider, diverse, and increasingly cross-disciplinary discourse that
regards MNCs as crucial subjects and agents of global governance.
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Readings
Robert Gilpin (1975) chapter 1, “The Nature of Political Economy,” US Power and the
Multinational Corporation
Peter Evans (1997) “The Eclipse of the State? Reflections on Stateness in the Era of
Globalization,” World Politics, 50 (http://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/uploads/media/
10_Evans_1997_01.pdf)
Juliette Bennett (2002) “MNCs, Social Responsibility and Conflict,” Journal of International
Affairs, 55, 2 (http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/57510/bennett_article.pdf)
Jan 26, 28
New Explanations for New Realities: Representative Models
As new actors, MNCs demand theorization, particularly when existing capital movement
theories proved ill-suited to the reality of FDI as the dominant mode of investment. This week
surveys and critically evaluates theoretical, conceptual, and analytical attempts to explain the
behaviour of MNCs after their rise to prominence in the 1960s.
Readings
Peter Gourevitch (2003) “Corporate Governance: Global Markets, National Politics,” in
Governance in a Global Economy, Eds Miles Kahler and David Lake, Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Joan Spero and Jeffrey Hart (1997) “The Multinational Corporation and the Issue of
Management,” from The Politics of International Economic Relations, New York: St. Martin’s.
Susan Strange (1994) “Rethinking Structural Change in the International Political Economy:
States, Firms, and Diplomacy,” from Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey Underhill, Political Economy
and the Changing Global Order, Toronto: McLelland and Stewart.
Feb 2, 4
US Power and Multinational Corporations
Examines America’s foreign economic objectives, assesses the role and depth of corporate
influence in the policy-making process, and examines US concerns, attitudes, and policies as the
world’s largest host of inward FDI.
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Readings
Robert Gilpin (1975) “The American Strategy of Direct Investment,” chapters 5 and 6 from US
Power and The Multinational Corporation.
Jonathan Crystal (1998) A New Kind of Competition: How American Producers Respond to
Incoming FDI,” International Studies Quarterly 42: 513-543 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/
2600749)
Stephen Brooks (2007) chapter 2, “Understanding the Globalization of Production,” from
Producing Security, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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Feb 9, 11
Regulatory Responses and Options: From Confrontation to Pragmatism
Examines early questions about how, or if, to control MNC activities. Explores regulatory
responses both historically and in terms of recent trends, ranging from national to international
strategies, spanning a number of issue-areas, and encompassing more to less ambitious
conceptions of an international investment “regime(s).”
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Readings
David Levy and Aseem Prakash (2002) “Bargains Old and New: Multinational Corporations in
Global Governance,” Business and Politics Vol. 5, No. 2 (http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/
bargaining.pdf)
Shean Murphy (2005) “Taking Multinational Corporate Codes of Conduct to the Next Level,”
GWLaw Commons, 43 (http://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1900&context=faculty_publications)
Stephen Kobrin (1998) “The MAI and the Clash of Globalizations,” Foreign Policy (http://
www.la.utexas.edu/users/chenry/civil/resources/maiclashofglobalizations.pdf)
Kathryn Sikkink (1986) “Codes of Conduct for TNCs: The Case of the WHO?UNICEF Code,”
International Organization 40, 4: 815-840 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2706830) Note: access
PDF by logging in to UBC Library with your CWL
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Reading Week: February 15-19
Feb 23, 25
MNCs and the evolution of Global Governance
Examines the evolving debate, roles, and responsibilities of MNCs as providers of governance
functions once reserved only for states.
Readings
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Patrick Bernhagen (2010) “The Private Provision of Public Goods,” International Studies
Quarterly 54: 1175-1187 (http://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/p.bernhagen/pages/
Bernhagen_Mitchell_MPSA09.pdf)
Klaus Dingwerth (2008) “Private Transnational Governance in the Developing World,
International Studies Quarterly, 52: 607-634.
March 1, 3
Competing Globalizations: MNCs versus NGOs
Examines the growing and evolving role of NGOs from critics of MNC behaviour to providers
of alternative conceptions of both globalization and the corporate form.
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Readings
Susan Sell and Aseem Prakash (2004) “Using Ideas Strategically: The Contest Between Big
Business and NGO Networks Intellectual Property Rights,” International Studies Quarterly 48:
143-175.
Manfred Steger (2012) “Anti-Globalization or Alter-Globalization? Mapping the Political
Ideology of the Global Justice Movement,” International Studies Quarterly 56: 439-454.
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March 8, 10
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MNCs and Security
Explores the hypothesis that the globalization of production can lessen the potential for armed
conflict both through creating economic interdependencies (e.g. via Regional Trade Agreements)
and forcing a redefinition of security in light of fundamental changes that MNCs—among other
actors—have brought about.
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Readings
Stephen Brooks (2007) chapter 4 from Producing Security, Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Juliette Bennett (2002) “MNCs, Social Responsibility and Conflict,” Journal of International
Affairs, 55, 2 (http://en.sclib.icro.ir/uploads/multinational%20corporation_102868.pdf)
Yee-Kuang Heng and Kenneth McDonagh (2009) “Risk, Global Governance and Security,” in
Risk, Global Governance and Security: The Other War on Terror, London: Routledge.
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March 15, 17
Corporate Social Responsibility Networks
Explores the emergence and evolution of the CSR discourse and the extent to which MNCs are
being (or should be) transformed into purveyors of social goods.
Readings
Matthias Hofferberth et. al. (2011) “Multinational Enterprises as “Social Actors”—Constructivist
Explanations for Corporate Social Responsibility” Global Society 25, 2: 205-226 (http://
www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/46046588/MNEs-as-social-actors_final.pdf?)
Colin Barry, Chad Clay, and Michael Flynn (2013) Avoiding the Spotlight: Rights Shaming and
Foreign Direct Investment,” International Studies Quarterly, 57: 532-544.
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March 22, 24
Business and Ethics: “The Norms of Power vs. The Power of Norms”
This week continues and extends analysis of the CSR process into its most ambitious project to
date: The Global Compact and “Ruggie Principles.”
Readings
John Ruggie (2013) Introduction and chapters 1 and 4, Just Business: MNCs and Human Rights,
New York: WW Norton.
Simon Blanton (2009) “A Sectoral Analysis of Human Rights and FDI: Does Industry Type
Matter? International Studies Quarterly 53: 469-493.
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March 29, March 31
States Policies and MNCs Selected Cases—Canada, Japan, &
LDCs
Focuses on a comparative assessment of past and present policies in a country/region specific
context, including Canadian initiatives like the Foreign Investment Review Agency and National
Energy Program, the evolution of Japanese FDI out of pioneering initiatives like Import
Substitution Industrialization, and attempts to emulate these policies elsewhere.
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Readings
David Leyton-Brown, “Canadianizing Oil and Gas: The National Energy Program, 1980-83,”
and Peter Dobell, “Reducing Vulnerability: The ‘Third Option,’” from Don Munton & John
Kirton, eds., Canadian Foreign Policy: Selected Cases.
Kenichi Miyashita and David Russell (1994) chapters 1 and 2, from Keiretsu: Inside the
Hidden Japanese Conglomerates, New York: McGraw Hill.
John Madely (1999) chapters 1 & 2 Big Business, Poor Peoples, London: Zed books.
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April 5, 7
Current Trends & Review/Summary
This week provides review of course materials and objectives and some reflection on current
trends, future directions, in MNC discussion including increased skepticism about the wisdom of
reifying the MNC among other corporate forms.
Readings
Thomas Oatley (2011) “The Reductionist Gamble: Open Economy Politics in the Global
Economy,” International Organization 65, 2: 311-41 (http://www2.gwu.edu/~igis/assets/docs/
Oatley.The_Reductionist_Gamble_11.09.pdf)
Marina Welker, Damani J. Partridge and Rebecca Hardin (2011) “Corporate Lives: New
Perspectives on the Social Life of the Corporate Form,” Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, No. S3
(http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/657907) Note: access PDF by logging in to UBC Library
with your CWL
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