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Organizations | Magazines | Videos
Workshops | Other Resources

Through globalizing their operations, transnational corporations have increased in power while discarding allegiance to any particular place or country. Corporate leaders view the world as a multitude of “markets” where the goal is to increase profits. Corporations work to increase their power by:

• Changing laws in and between countries, using local and national governments for legal enforcement. Trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization are prime examples of such legal agreements;
• Looking for new markets, new places to sell their products;
• Reducing their costs by cutting wages and benefits, decreasing spending on health and safety, and eliminating costs related to environmentally safe waste management;
• Buying out or “merging” with competing companies in efforts to decrease competition;
• Increasing political power by funding political candidates and hiring lobbyists;
• Using the power of governments to force communities and countries to support corporate interests; and
• Communicating and organizing with one another at high profile global events.

Our job as organizers for global justice is to protect and create policies that value people, communities and the environment more than profits. Below you will find information about many of the organizations working to challenge corporate power, to pave the way for a brighter and more democratic future.

Organizations

Alternative Information and Development Center
http://www.aidc.org.za
P.O. Box 129-43
Mowbry 7705
129 Rochester Rd. Observatory
Cape Town, South Africa
Phone: 27 (21) 447 57 70
Fax: 27 (21) 447 58 84
E-mail: info@aidc.org.za

Alternative Information and Development Center “challenges the dominant economic system through research, information production and dissemination, popular education, campaigning and coalition building.” The Center focuses on the issues of debt, privatization great links to resources on globalization, debt, privatization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, economics, gender, the World Trade Organization, trade, the World Social Forum, water privatization, unemployment, social movements, movements in the global south, development, and Africa.

Bank Information Center
http://www.bicusa.org.bicusa/index.php
1100 H Street, NW Suite 650
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 737-7752
Fax: (202) 737-1155

BIC is “an independent, non-profit, nongovernmental organization that aims to empower citizens in developing countries to influence the World Bank and other multilateral bank activities in a manner that fosters social justice and ecological sustainability.” BIC “advocates for greater citizen participation, transparency & public accountability.”

Corporate Watch
http://www.corporatewatch.org/
1611 Telegraph Ave. #702
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-271-8080

CorpWatch is an online magazine and resource center designed to provide activists, journalists and researchers with “key informational resources on issues related to corporate accountability.” CorpWatch “works to foster democratic grassroots globalization – a diverse movement for human rights and dignity, labor rights and environmental justice.” CorpWatch is a project of the Tides Center.

Datacenter
http://www.datacenter.org
1904 Franklin St., Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 835-4692
Fax: (510) 835-3017
Email: datacenter@datacenter.org

Datacenter provides campaign research, research consultation, and research training for social justice organizers. They are especially experienced in the areas of economic, environmental, youth, and criminal justice.

Good Jobs First
http://goodjobsfirst.org/
1311 L St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 737-4315
Fax: (202) 638-3486
E-mail: info@goodjobsfirst.org

GJF helps grassroots groups and policy-makers ensure that government subsidies given to corporations work in the public interest. GJF “is a national leader in providing timely, accurate information to the public, the media, public officials and economic development professionals on best practices in state and local job subsidies.” GJF “works with a broad spectrum of organizations as they seek to ensure that subsidized businesses are held accountable for family-wage jobs and other effective results.”

Institute for Policy Studies
http://www.ips-dc.org/
733 15th St. NW, Suite 1020
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 234-9383
Fax: (202) 387-7915

IPS is a progressive think tank that “serves as a bridge between progressive forces in government and grass-roots activists, and between movements in the U.S. and those in the developing world. For a quarter century, IPS has been a leader in strengthening citizen responses to the global economy through research, writing, film, education, and coalition building. The project has produced dozens of books, articles, films, and educational materials.”

Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
http://www.poclad.org/
P.O. Box 246
S. Yarmouth, MA 02664-0246
Phone: (508) 398-1145
Fax: (508) 398-1552
E-mail: people@poclad.org

POCLAD promotes education, discussion and organizing to challenge corporate power. POCLAD works with membership organizations, coalitions and individuals to share their research and analysis around corporate power. POCLAD helps to sponsor Democracy schools to explore ways to counter corporate power.

United for a Fair Economy
http://www.faireconomy.org
37 Temple Place, 2nd Fl.
Boston, MA 02111.
Phone: (617) 423-2148
Fax: (617) 423-0191
UFE is a national organization that raises awareness about ways that “concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart.” UFE program areas include tax education, racial wealth divide education, and understanding the global economy. Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners, has written that “UFE does the best work in the country on the gap between rich and poor. . . . UFE has become an integral part of a growing movement for economic justice.” The UFE website has workshop materials that can be downloaded for use.

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Magazines

Dollars and Sense
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/
740 Cambridge St.
Cambridge, MA 02141
Phone: (617) 876-2434
Fax: (617) 876-0008
E-mail: dollars@dollarsandsense.org

Dollars and Sense is a magazine written by economists for non-economists. They “print articles by journalists, activists, and scholars on a broad range of topics with an economic theme: the economy, housing, labor, government regulation, unemployment, the environment, urban conflict, and activism.” They also publish books and antholo-gies on these issues, available through their website. Subscriptions: $18.95/yr.

Multinational Monitor
http://www.multinationalmonitor.com/
PO Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 387-8030

Multinational Monitor “tracks corporate activity, especially in the Third World, focusing on the export of hazardous substances, worker health and safety, labor union issues, and the environment.” Their web site contains back issues of the magazine and links to informational resources for many countries. Subscriptions: $19.95/yr new subscriptions, $29.95/yr renewal subscriptions.

The New Internationalist
http://www.newint.org/
P.O. Box 1062
Niagra Falls, NY 14304
Phone: (905) 946-0407
Toll-Free Phone: (866) 853-1059
Fax: (905) 946-0410
Toll-Free Fax: (877) 410-6245
E-mail: magazines@indias.on.ca

The New Internationalist is a communications cooperative, existing to “report on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless in both rich and poor nations, to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary if the basic material and spiritual needs of all are to be met.” This magazine covers perspectives from outside the U.S., publishing articles on global topics from writers all over the world. New Internationalist also makes available maps, books, calendars and music from around the world. The NI website links users to articles, an e-mail list and to subscriptions to their magazine. Subscriptions: $44.00/yr.

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Videos

The Corporation
http://www.thecorporation.com/
Available at:
http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?
directoryname=corporation
Zeitgeist Films
247 Centre St. 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 274-1989
Fax: (212) 274-1544

Directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and written by Joel Bakar, The Corporation is based on Bakar’s book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, (Free Press, 2004). “The film is a timely, critical inquiry that invites CEO’s, whistle-blowers, brokers, gurus, spies, players, pawns and pundits on a graphic and engaging quest to reveal the Corporation’s inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. Featuring illuminating interviews with Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Howard Zinn and many others…” 145 min. in 3 parts, 2004.

CorpOrNation: The Story of Citizens and Corporations in Ohio
Available at:
http://www.afsc.net/convideoinfo.htm
American Friends Service Committee –Northeast Ohio Office
513 W. Exchange St.
Akron, OH 44302
Phone: 330-253-7151
Fax: 330-253-7204
E-mail: afsckat@aol.com

CorpOrNation exposes the historic corporate rise to power in Ohio. Spanning history from 1803 through the present day, it features interviews with representatives of the AFL-CIO, Ohio Public Interest Research Group, United Steelworkers, Ohio Family Farm Coalition, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy. 40 minutes. $10 individuals, $20 institutions.

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Workshops

The Global Economy in Your Backyard
In Unpacking Globalization: A Popular Education Tool Kit
Available at the Highlander Center Library and online at:
http://www.highlandercenter.org/r-b-popular-ed.asp

“The Global Economy in Your Backyard” is one of several workshop designs from Unpacking Globalization: A Popular Education Tool Kit published by the Economic Literacy Action Network. This workshop is a three-part activity, designed to help demystify globalization and to encourage organizing.

United for a Fair Economy Workshops
http://www.faireconomy.org/econ/workshops.html
United for a Fair Economy
37 Temple Place, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Phone: (617) 423-2148
Fax: (617) 423-0191

“United for a Fair Economy brings lively, energizing workshops on economic inequality to conferences, colleges and non-profits across the US. We start with people's own experiences to build a common-sense understanding of the changing economy.” Their basic workshop, The Growing Divide, helps people to understand the policy changes and strategies that are increasing the wealth gap between the rich and the poor.

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Other Resources

Corp-Focus List Serve
Available at: http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/corp-focus

“Corp-Focus is a moderated list serve which distributes the weekly column "Focus on the Corporation," co-authored by Russell Mokhiber, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter, and Robert Weissman, editor of Multinational Monitor magazine.” Focus on the Corporation reports and comments critically on corporate actions, plans, abuses and trends.

Corporate Crime Reporter Newsletter
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/
Corporate Crime Reporter
1209 National Press Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20045
Phone: (202) 737-1680 
E-mail: russell@nationalpress.com

Corporate Crime Reporter, published and mailed 48 times a year, is a legal print newsletter which posts article highlights on its website. “Subscribers include: federal and state prosecutors, major white-collar and corporate crime defense law firms, trial lawyers, major corporations, law school libraries, and large media outlets.” Subscriptions: for-profit organizations: $795/yr, nonprofit & government organizations: $595/yr.

“Changing Fabrications: Lives of Appalachian and Latina Textile Mill Workers in Southern Appalachia.”
http://www.marshall.edu/csega/websofdiversity/
Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia
Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia

This 2001 article by Rosemarie Mincey tells about the experiences of textile workers in East Tennessee who are displaced by the global economy. Visit the link above to read the document or to listen to presentations by Mincey.

“Top 200: The Rise of Corporate Global Power”
http://www.ips-dc.org/downloads/Top_200.pdf
Institute for Policy Studies
733 15th St. NW, Suite 1020
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 234-9383
Fax: (202) 387-7915

This document by Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh of IPS is one of the most educational documents to look at to help people get a grasp on how large many corporations are, and how they compare in resources to nation-states. You’ll find revealing statistics such as “of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations; only 49 are countries (based on a comparison of corporate sales and country GDPs).” IPS, Dec. 2000.

Taking Care of Business
http://www.poclad.org/pamphlets.cfm
Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
P.O. Box 246
S. Yarmouth, MA 02664-0246
Phone: (508) 398-1145
Fax: (508) 398-1552
E-mail: people@poclad.org

“Taking Care of Business,” by Richard Grossman and Frank Adams, is a 32-page pamphlet that “provides a concise history of corporations and corporate law,” 1993.

Yale Global Online
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu

Yale Global Online has a number of resources, including forums, a newsletter, and links to a multitude of resources. A power point presentation entitled “What is Globalization?” by Nayan Chanda of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization is available at: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/about/
globalizationPART1_files/frame.htm.

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