Stories of Globalization »

"The economic and social outcomes of mid - twentieth - century Fordist capitalism were characterized by a decrease in the significance of distance and a shift in the dynamic of time. This "time-space compression" is one of the defining components of contemporary globalization. In their latest collaboration, Alessandro Bonanno and Douglas Constance provide an in - depth analysis of the origins and nature of globalization using the context of the agro-food sector, one of the most globalized socioeconomic sectors in the world." Breaking from widely used methodologies in the study of globalization, Bonanno and Constance argue that the shifting dynamic of space and time has created a new capitalism that is qualitatively different from capitalism inspired by patterns of international relations established throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book provides an extensive and original review of existing literature and is centered on eight specific case studies. Through the analysis of these "stories of globalization," the authors examine how the origins of and interactions between transnational corporations, groups that resist these organizations, and the state have given birth to a contemporary understanding of globalization. They use this new understanding to analyze globalization as a contested terrain in which the power of transnational corporations is affected by mounting opposition and internal contradictions.

Introduction 1

1 Globalization of the Economy and Society: Salient Interpretations 17

2 Environmentalism, Industry Restructuring, and Global Regulation: The Tuna-Dolphin Controversy 57

3 Transnational Corporations and Their Power over the State: The Case of Ferruzzi 85

4 Corporate Power and the Free Global Market: The Lysine Price-Fixing Case of ADM 107

5 Globalization and Resistance from Below: The Case of Industrial Chicken Production in Southeast Texas 125

6 TNCS' Colonization of the Local and Resistance: Mega Hog Farms in the Texas Panhandle 145

7 Old and New Social Movements in the Global Era: The Case of Maxxam and the Headwaters Forest Redwoods 171

8 NGOS Under Globalization: The Marine Stewardship Council 191

9 Challenging the Globalization Project: The Collapse of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment 217

Conclusion 241

References 267

Index 307