The future of political activism of every type is to concentrate on the private sector, simply because corporations wield unparalleled influence over government policy. Understand, we are not only talking about pressuring companies that are themselves practicing exploitative policies or harming the community; we are talking about pressuring companies simply because they are powerful and they have the ability to influence the state. This is about recruiting the resources we need to achieve positive change. So even if you find a company that seems to be essentially harmless – it treats its workers well, provides decent salaries, and people benefit from their goods and services – that does not mean that they should not be pressured to actively use their power and influence in support of justice.
Throughout the Muslim world, and the developing world in general, multinational corporations are either pushing for neoliberal reforms, subjugating domestic economies, and enslaving populations through subsistence wages and debt, and crushing local entrepreneurs; or, at best, they are operating and profiting through collaboration with dictatorial regimes and turning a blind eye to rampant human rights violations and the subversion of democracy.
OK. There is no neutral position when it comes to tyranny.
Their enormous economic power makes multinational corporations political entities by default. Even if they are not aggressively coercing tyrannical governments to enact laws that benefit them, they are benefiting from those tyrannical governments nonetheless. They are institutions which absolutely have the power to impose their will on states; when they choose to ignore a regime’s brutality; that is tantamount to support for brutality. They become sponsors of state-sponsored terrorism, even if this is a sin of omission on their part. They cannot be allowed to act as if they have no impact. Their willingness to overlook a regime’s crimes simply for the sake of profit is criminal complicity. And they must be held accountable.
#Democratization_of_Corporate_Influence