Crusading for Globalization - (American Business, Politics, and Society) by Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The first book to shed light on what caused corporate executives to pursue a pro-globalization agenda over the last eight decades

Crusading for Globalization tells the story of an extraordinarily influential group of business executives at the helms of the largest US multinational corporations and their quest to drive globalization forward over the last eight decades. Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl argues that the spectacular expansion of international investment, trade, and production after 1945 cannot be understood without considering the role played by these corporate globalizers and the organization they created, the US Council (today's United States Council for International Business). By shaping governmental policy through their congressional lobbying and close connections to successive presidential administrations, US Council members, including executives from General Electric, Coca Cola, and IBM, among others, consistently fought for ever more market deregulation, culminating in the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1995.

Crusading for Globalization is also a book about those who opposed the growing might of multinationals. In the years immediately after World War II, resistance came from business protectionists, before labor and policymakers from the Global South joined the effort in the early 1970s. Schaufelbuehl breaks new ground by offering a panorama of this early anti-globalization movement, and by showing how the leaders of multinationals organized to limit its political influence. She also examines continuities between this early movement and the opposition to globalization that emerged at the beginning of the twenty-first century from the left and the populist right and discusses how business responded by promoting corporate social responsibility and voluntary guidelines.

The first book to shed light on what caused corporate executives to pursue a pro-globalization agenda and to examine their methods for dealing with their opponents, Crusading for Globalization reveals the historical roots of today's disparities in wealth and income distribution.

Review Quotes

"Crusading for Globalizationis an incredibly well-researched history of US-based multinational corporations' attempts to further the free exchange of goods and services across national borders in ways that favored their interests in Europe. We all generally understand that 'capitalists' supported free trade and deregulating markets. But Schaufelbuehl puts names and organizations on timelines to give readers a sense of how and when it happened. The book is perfect for people interested in how exactly neoliberal globalization has proceeded."-- "Jennifer A. Delton, author of The Industrialists: How the National Association of Manufacturers Shaped American Capitalism"

"This impressive book puts the activism of so-called 'globalist' business leaders and their 'protectionist' opponents at the center of post-World War II economy. Schaufelbuehl's deep research and deft argumentation shows how a wide range of corporate elites moved from conflict to consensus over the politics of foreign trade and investment.Crusading for Globalizationis an important and original contribution to our understanding of how business leaders have shaped economic policymaking in the modern era."-- "Benjamin C. Waterhouse, author of Lobbying America: The Politics of Business from Nixon to NAFTA"

About the Author

Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl is Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies, University of Lausanne.