 | Toyota: Auto Industry Race to the Bottom by Barbara Briggs, Special to CorpWatch September 16th, 2008 Globally, Toyota is known for its innovation and quality of products like the Prius hybrid. A closer look at operations in Japan, the Philippines, Myanmar and the U.S. reveals a story of extreme working conditions, union-busting and other corporate abuses. In Japan and elsewhere, workers are speaking out. |
 | Dark Side of the Tourist Boom: Cruise Ship Controversies Cross Borders by Kent Paterson, Special to CorpWatch July 9th, 2008 The Mexican Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo recently cancelled a major new cruise ship terminal, giving a victory to environmental activists and other opponents. However, Mexico remains the world’s Number One cruise ship destination; and with little regulation, allegations of onboard crime, and increasing militarization as regards security while ships are in port, the rapidly expanding industry is facing new challenges. |
 | A Glittering Demon: Mining, Poverty and Politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Michael Deibert, Special to CorpWatch June 26th, 2008 In the DRC, a nation rich in natural resources yet confounded by civil war and endemic poverty, artisanal mining communities are struggling for their livelihoods as foreign multinationals like AngloGold Ashanti rush to cash in. |
 | Booming Chinese Demand Has Ripples Down Under In Queensland by Patrick O'Keeffe, Special to CorpWatch April 16th, 2008 A bauxite mine and a proposed refinery in northern Queensland, Australia, to be developed by a Chinese mineral company, has divided local and traditional landowners. Part of a major industrialization scheme, it has also sparked worries among environmentalists. |
 | Playing with Children's Lives: Big Tobacco in Malawi by Pilirani Semu-Banda, Special to CorpWatch February 25th, 2008 Cigarettes may be damaging not only your own health, but also that of some of the world's poorest children. Much of Malawi's thriving tobacco industry rests on the backs of exploited children, some as young as five years old. |
 | An Uncomfortable Spotlight in Davos by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch January 31st, 2008 The CEOs of three-quarters of the world's 100 largest companies have just completed an uncomfortable weekend at the tiny Swiss ski resort of Davos, while their companies' share prices nosedived on global stock markets, amid concern that the U.S. economy is staggering towards recession. |
 | Titanium or Water? Trouble brews in Southern India by Nityanand Jayaraman, Special to CorpWatch October 24th, 2007 Tata, India's largest conglomerate, wants to take 10,000 acres of land to mine ilmenite in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The plan has sparked protests by local villagers who say the project will destroy their traditional way of life and the environment. |
 | Lessons of Empire: India, 60 Years After Independence by Nick Robins and Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch August 14th, 2007 60 years after India gained independence, British capital is still exploiting poor communities in its former colony. Centuries after Britain's East India Company -- the world's first multinational -- faced protests in London, a group of villagers continue the tradition of resistance. |
 | The Life and Death of a Border Town by David Martinez, Special to CorpWatch June 12th, 2007 Two towns in the Mexican border state of Coahuila discover the reality of "free trade" with the United States: Ramos Arizpe is still riding the boom in automobile production while Morelos has been abandoned by the denim manufacturers, as factories relocate to even cheaper production sites overseas. |
 | Barrick's Dirty Secrets: Communities Respond to Gold Mining's Impacts Worldwide May 1st, 2007 A new CorpWatch report details the operations of Barrick Gold in nine different countries, focusing on the efforts on the part of the communities to seek justice from this powerful multinational. Download Spanish version of report |
 | Barrick Gold Mine Transforms Pacific Island by David Martinez, Special to CorpWatch February 21st, 2007 Papua New Guinea, one of the world's largest islands, has fortunes in gold under its lush green mountains and a diversity of indigenous culture. The arrival of a Canadian mining company has brought violent clashes and transformed the indigenous lands forever. Listen to an interview with the author, David Martinez. |
 | A Proxy Battle: Shareholders vs. CEOs by Kevin Kelleher, Special to CorpWatch June 13th, 2006 Earnest shareholder resolutions presented at company annual general meetings on everything from human rights to executive compensation are routinely shot down in flames. But shareholder resolutions may have an effect, even in defeat. |
 | Australia Reaps Iraqi Harvest by Marc Moncrief, Special to CorpWatch April 4th, 2006 United Nations sanctions against Saddam Hussein may have failed to end his regime but they succeeded in enriching both the Iraqi dictator and corporations able to manipulate the scandal-ridden world body's Oil-for-Food program. Among the profiteers was the Australian Wheat Board, a former state-owned monopoly, which funneled over $200 million into Saddam's coffers even as the “Coalition of the Willing” was preparing for invasion. |
 | Happy Meals, Unhappy Workers by Aaron Glantz and Ngoc Nguyen, Special to CorpWatch March 6th, 2006 Vietnamese workers earn less than $2 a day making stuffed animals and Happy Meal toys for U.S. consumers. An ongoing series of wildcat strikes this winter has forced the government to raise wages to prevent factories from moving to other countries. Listen to an interview about this article with Aaron Glantz on CorpWatch Radio. |
 | Some Strings Attached: Cotton, Farm subsidies tie up global trade talks by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch December 13th, 2005 West African cotton farmers are among those hardest hit by government subsidized corporate agriculture. This week in Hong Kong, trade ministers from the 148 members of the World Trade Organization meet to discusss this and other global free trade issues. |
 | Vedanta Undermines Indian Communities by Nityanand Jayaraman, Special to Corpwatch November 15th, 2005 Vedanta, a fast growing British mining and aluminium production company founded by a billionaire expatriate Bombay businessman, threatens communities in India with environmental degradation and widespread pollution. |
 | Mixing Occuption and Oil in Western Sahara
by Jacob Mundy, Special to CorpWatch July 21st, 2005 Oklahoma-based Kerr-McGee's contract with Morocco to explore for oil and gain in the contested territory on the Atlantic coast of northern Africa is complicating a 30 year independence struggle. |
 | 'Tis the Season for Shareholder Activism by Jan Frel, Special to CorpWatch May 4th, 2005 Every spring, activists and investors attend annual general meetings to protest and meet face-to-face with CEOs and corporate boards. The goal is to place their agendas -- on everything from the environment to labor practices -- front and center. |
 | Jordan's Sweatshops: The Carrot or the Stick of US Policy? by Aaron Glantz, Special to CorpWatch February 26th, 2003 While the world braces for a US war against Iraq, Washington is using its newly inked Free Trade Agreement with Jordan to open sweatshops and secure an ally in the region. |
 | World Contrasts by Eduardo Galeano, www.portoalegre2003.org January 16th, 2003 Next week, thousands will descend on Porto Alegre, Brazil for the World Social Forum, under the slogan "Another World is Possible." We thought these reflections by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano on the world as it is today were a good place to start. |