The Case for Business in Developing Economies

by Ann Bernstein

In "Defence of Business in Developing Economies" is a view from developing countries on why corporations should stop appeasing their critics and promote the benefits of capitalism for the Global South. Ann Bernstein's inspiration for this book came in 1997 when South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission held a week of hearings focused on business and its role during apartheid. In the same week, Nelson Mandela implicitly challenged many of the assumptions of those who attacked companies in South Africa for operating within a racially discriminatory system when he called on SA business to invest in China - the world's largest authoritarian state and human rights abuser. Bernstein posits that business leaders need to stop playing defence and instead stand up for markets, free trade and globalisation. It's time business had the confidence and strategic vision to stop apologising, develop its own public agenda and start propagating the phenomenal benefits of competitive capitalism for the less developed countries of the world. In "Defence of Business in Developing Economies" offers a penetrating analysis of the role of business in supporting development by an authentic voice from the developing world itself.

412 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2010

Reviews

[Andrew Helms]

50 pages in as yet, not very impressed by her superficial arguments and limited understanding of CSR and its adherents.