“Willpower knows no obstacles”: Examining Neoliberal Postfeminist Messaging in Nike’s Transnational Advertisements for Women

Nike, a US-headquartered transnational corporation lauded for its putatively empowering women-centered advertisements, frequently releases nationally/regionally focused advertisements depicting women determinedly engaging in physical activity and, in doing so, overcoming gendered barriers and stigmas. Indeed, the global ubiquity of the empowered (Nike-clad) woman illustrates Nike’s role in advancing women’s empowerment, both in the US and globally. Universalizing “just do it” beyond geographical borders, Nike’s form of transnational feminism centers on a carefully manufactured, Western-centered image of empowered female athleticism. However, this notably contradicts transnational feminist efforts to reject the universalization of Western-centered representations of women. Using a critical cultural studies approach in concert with a transnational feminist framework, we analyze six recent Nike advertisements (the United States, Mexico, the Middle East, Turkey, India, and Russia) and critique the corporation’s universalization of neoliberal postfeminist messaging within its global marketing strategies. We find that Nike utilizes three thematics to extend their caricature of the (Nike-powered) female athlete beyond the spatial and symbolic borders of the US market: responsibilitization, competitive individualism, and empowerment. We conclude that Nike normalizes a white, Western-centered neoliberal postfeminism, undermining the structural and sporting realities of the non-white/non-Western women their promotional campaigning seeks to embolden.

The Search for the Virtuous Corporation

The corporation is the most complex, adaptive, and resilient model of organizing economic activity in history. In an era of globalization, the transnational corporation has significant power over society. While its rights are specified through private ordering, and choice of jurisdictional home, in the event of conflict of laws, the corporation's duties and responsibilities remain contested. Notwithstanding the argument in institutional economics that all transactions take place within governance and legal frameworks, underpinned by a 'non-calculative social contract,' the terms are notoriously difficult to define or enforce. They are made more so if regulatory dynamics preclude litigation to a judicial conclusion. This Element situates the corporation – its culture, governance, responsibility, and accountability – within a broader discourse of duty. In doing so, it addresses the problem of the corporation for society and the corporation's problem in aligning its governance to changing community expectations of obligation.

THE GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS OF GOOGLE

US-based transnational corporation Alphabet-Google controls a critical entry point to the Internet, dominating over 90% of the global search market. Google’s global Internet dominance and expansion seem to reaffirm a long-established US-led global communication order. However, this paper argues that the US position is far from secure, as geopolitical rivalries continue to animate and reshape the global communication network.

REGULATING THE ACTIVITIES OF TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS: EVOLUTION OF PRIORITIES

Background. The legal status of TNCs in international law has become a separate topic of scientific discussions, which, among other things, concerned the influence of TNCs on the sovereignty of states. Digitalization, globalization and modern imperatives of formation of global value chains actualize the subject of relations between the international community and TNCs, which requires retrospective analysis, separation and substantiation of certain stages of formation of such relations. An analysis of recent research and publications has revealed that a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of international legal regulation of TNCs through the prism of the priorities of the international community has not been conducted, which determines the relevance of the study. The aim of the article is to analyze the genesis of the relationship between TNCs and the international community through the prism of the priorities of the international community at certain historical stages. Materials and methods. The normative basis of the study were UN documents, decisions of the UN International Court of Justice. The methodological basis of the study is general scientific and special legal methods of cognition. Results. The existing definitions of the terms «transnational corporation», «multinational enterprise», «multinational corporation», «global corporation», «group of multinational companies» in various documents of international law are considered. The genesis of the formation of international legal norms on the activities of transnational corporations is analyzed, the priorities of the international community in certain historical periods are highlighted. Key tasks for regulating the activities of transnational corporations are forecasted. Conclusion. The phenomenon of TNCs remains one of the imperatives in the development of international law and the subject of activity of international governmental and non-governmental organizations. It is established that the priorities of the international community are gradually changing in the direction of complexity - from the purely socio-economic situation in developing countries to the role of TNCs in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, with special focus on protection of human rights in the activities of TNCs. Keywords: transnational corporation, human rights, United Nations, corporate responsibility.

Cross-border Trade Union Networks in Transnational Corporation: A comparison between sectors

This article analyses cross-border trade union networks in Transnational Corporations (TNCs) in the metal and chemical, garment, retail, and commercial banking sectors in Brazil. Conceptualized as global union responses to the growing reach of TNCs, such networks have been established in different settings in the country and have engaged major corporations outside of traditional industrial relations frameworks, venturing into the controversial field of social dialogue, corporate responsibility, and private governance. From different research backgrounds, our findings suggest that union networks in TNCs can be used to rearrange union prerogatives across different levels but remain embedded in previous institutional structures. In this sense, such unions incorporate existing union boundaries, including the exclusion of relevant groups of workers, even as they can scale up the scope of trade union action.

Transnationality in the XXI century. Concept and indicators

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market. Findings The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour. Research limitations/implications Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices. Social implications Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies. Originality/value The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.

Legal support for the activities of agricultural transnational corporations in Ukraine

Agricultural transnational corporations have always expressed interest in Ukraine as a state with a strong natural potential and good and reliable prospects for agribusiness. Under the influence of factors such as climate change, an unprecedented increase in the world's population and, as a result, a high demand for agricultural products, this interest will increase, and the role of agricultural transnational corporations will grow every year. Therefore, one of the most urgent research and practical problems that lawyers will have to solve is the definition of the key term “agricultural transnational corporations” and the identification of their features. This will allow the Ukrainian legislator to regulate complex and multidimensional relations with their participation in the agricultural sector as accurately as possible and, in particular, govern relations concerning the activities of these subjects of agricultural business, and eliminate gaps in the current legal regulation. Considering this, the purpose of this study was to attempt establishing the essence of agricultural transnational corporations as a legal phenomenon based on an in-depth analysis and to define this term, classify these corporations on certain grounds and establish the specific features of their activities. The study was conducted considering the existing legal support of these participants in agribusiness relations. Research methods included a set of philosophical, general scientific, and special legal methods. The synergetic research method was the fundamental method of understanding the legal support of agricultural transnational corporations. It was proved that an agricultural transnational corporation is a complex entity that engages in agricultural activities in two or more countries, is managed and controlled from a single centre and comprises a parent company, subsidiaries, branches, and departments. The study analysed positive and negative aspects of the activities of agricultural transnational corporations. It was established out that the following agricultural transnational corporations act in Ukraine: in the field of crop production, animal husbandry, processing, servicing agricultural producers, and with mixed activities (simultaneously engaged in both crop production and animal husbandry). It was emphasised that the agricultural chain of a transnational corporation can cover different countries

Analysis of the Influence of TNCs on the Economy of Developing Countries and Countries with Economies in Transition

Formation and expansion of TNCs, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, is primarily due to a complex network of international production and localisation activities on promising markets at the expense of foreign direct investments (Fdi). These processes every year is increasingly becoming one of the key components of the global economy. Tasks of this paper are to describe the nature and content of the concept of “transnational corporation”, to identify critical factors and characteristics of the modern transnational business in developing countries, countries with economies in transition, and to consider the place and role of TNCs in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

Transnational Corporations as Business Entities in the Banking Sector

Introduction: the paper is devoted to the study of the essence of understanding TNCs in the banking sector through the analysis of such concepts as “transnational company (corporation)”, “international company (corporation)”, “international bank” and “transnational bank”. To this end, the author examines the concept and features of transnational corporations in the banking sector, their essential features, highlighted by the civil doctrine and used by judicial practice. Using the methods of scientific cognition, primarily the method of system and comparative analysis, the author identifies the constituent features of a transnational corporation by applying an insight-substantive approach to the study of the concept of TNCs as the largest intermediary in the system of international capital migration. Results: it is established that in the modern scientific literature there is no single approach to understanding the transnational corporation in the banking sector. In order to determine the main approaches to the understanding of TNCs in the banking sector, the author’s approaches to the definition of this phenomenon are systematized. The study identifies three groups of approaches: a TNC as a national company transcending the state; a TNC as a set of national companies; a TNC as a parent company operating in several states. Conclusions: the author concludes that a TNC in the banking sector should be understood as a transnational bank operating in several countries on the basis of an institutionalized network of representative offices operating on the basis of the national legislation of the countries of operation, which allows them to ensure the international movement of capital in order to diversify the economy and stimulate the innovative development of international economic relations.

ARMED FORCES OF THE STATE AS AN INSTRUMENT TO SERVE THE INTERESTS OF GLOBAL AND TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS

In the article, the armed forces of the state are considered as a tool to serve the interests of global and transnational corporations. The problem is studied within the framework of the methodology of geopolitical realism. It is argued that the global and transnational corporations are economic empires and they have a structural characteristic of an empire as such: imperial center (a particular corporation), inclusions (other global and transnational corporations absorbed by this corporation) and economic limitrophes (dependent companies, in the share capital of which this global or transnational corporation has a blocking/controlling stake). With the collapse of the USSR and the world system of socialism, economic empires become a global actor not only in economic processes, but also in political and socio-cultural processes. Under the influence of these processes, the institution of the state itself is reformatted. It is transformed into a corporation-state and becomes a social resource for the struggle of corporations in all geopolitical spaces. As a result, the armed forces, as a structural element of the state, serve not so much the interests of society as a whole, but mainly the interests of global and transnational corporations based in a given country. The main functions of the armed forces of the corporation-state in the process of conducting conventional military operations in defense of the interests of specific economic empires are the following: an armed struggle with organizations representing the interests of opposing economic empires; control of a territory with the resources that are being developed by ledger-based corporations located in the state, the structural element of which is these armed forces; the creation of obstacles (constant military threat) to penetrate a certain resource territory of competing economic empires without the use of warfare technologies or military bases.