Shadow Sovereigns: How Global Corporations are Seizing Power

by S. George

Lobbying has long been part of the political landscape. But in recent years links between big business and government have become stronger and more far-reaching than ever. Global corporations now demand control over decisions affecting labour laws, finance, public health, food and agriculture, safety regulations, taxes and international trade and investment. They even claim the right to private tribunals where they can sue governments for passing laws that could harm their present or future profits. These business elites don�t want to govern directly. They operate behind the scenes - directing planning, setting standards and fashioning government to maximise their own profits. Thanks to the UN Global Compact they have extended their influence to the highest levels of multilateral decision-making and now, via the Davos-inspired Global Redesign Initiative, they are setting their sights on managing world-wide public policy. Elected by and accountable to no one, secretive and highly organized, these shadow sovereigns are destroying the very notion of the common good and making a mockery of democracy. It is high time we challenged this assault on our rights and our institutions. In this incisive and clear-sighted book Susan George provides us with the practical knowledge to do just that.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 2015

Reviews

[Kate Vane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thirty years ago I read Susan George’s How the Other Half Dies and it was one of those books that stayed with me. I was just becoming interested in politics and she showed in devastating detail what corporations can do to people who are poor and powerless.

So I was keen to read Shadow Sovereigns. I have to say I was disappointed. George is angry (and why not, all these years on and the situation is in many ways worse). However, the anger undermines her argument. It feels like she wrote the book in a rage and didn’t pause to reflect or structure her thoughts.

I’m not sure who her target reader is. The section on lobbying is quite general and abstract and if, like me, you already have an interest in these issues you won’t learn much.

Later she does illustrate her arguments with specific examples (including one court case she was once again pitted against Nestle). In the chapter about TTIP she gives exhaustive detail which will be useful to activists but might overwhelm the general reader who is looking for a broad understanding of the issues.

Even though I largely agree with her, I felt quite put off by the strident tone, and I’m afraid that someone coming to these issues for the first time, who isn’t familiar with the context, may be completely alienated.

*
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.

If you’re interested in reading more about the power of corporations over governments, I’d recommend Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens by Nicholas Shaxson.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shadow Sovereigns: How Global Corporations Are Seizing Power by Susan George is a book that I looked forward to reading. George is an American and French political and social scientist, activist and writer on global social justice, Third World poverty, underdevelopment and debt. She is a fellow and president of the board of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She is a fierce critic of the present policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (IBRD) and what she calls their 'maldevelopment model'. She similarly criticizes the structural reform policies of the Washington Consensus on Third World development. She is of U.S. birth but now resides in France, and has dual citizenship since 1994. George attended the Sorbonne, obtaining the French equivalent of a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1967.

This is a book I really wanted to like and hold up like a beacon so that others could see. However, almost from the start I felt I was caught up in a Dennis Miller type rant, without the humor. I can say I agree almost entirely with George on her positions, but it is the presentation that troubles me. The book is written more as an angry rant than scholarly work or even a work that is looking to change people's minds. She is preaching to the choir and alienating everyone else.

When discussing the legitimacy of government, I was looking for some Locke or Rousseau, instead there is an argument that corporations are taking over to the point of being able to sue governments. She does not even establish criteria for the legitimacy of a government.

The book is a rollercoaster ride through the wrongs in the world and the dismal state of democracy. It does cover many of the current failures of the system from Monsanto to the corporate takeover of national sovereignty. George also covers the growth of the pharmaceutical Leviathan, the disappearance of small farms, and climate change. Shadow Sovereigns could be a great book with a message to reach the masses, but it seems like George simply went on a rant while her editor was asleep. There is so much good information in this book. It is a shame it is not delivered in a more orderly or formal approach.

[Steve Middendorf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written in the style of the outraged, cynical environmental campaigner. But then given the "progress" corporations have made delaying and watering down government regulations, it is no wonder Ms George is cynical. However with coming of the TPP and the TPIP, corporations have progressed from blocking legislation to writing their own rules. Written from the European perspective, it is depressing to see how corporate lobbying which seemingly owns the US electoral and legislative has migrated to the European Union and the United Nations. If the author is correct, the battle over the Pacific and Atlantic Trade Agreements will the the opening shots in a do or die struggle for global control. Will it be democracy or the corporations?