Open AccessLawrence E. Mitchell, Corporate Irresponsibility–America’s Newest Export
Author(s) -
Douglas M. Branson
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
university of pittsburgh law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.106
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1942-8405
pISSN - 0041-9915
DOI - 10.5195/lawreview.2004.8
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , burmese , chevron (anatomy) , corporation , political science , economic history , international trade , human rights , economy , law , business , economics , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , biology
Why is corporate irresponsibility “America’s newest export?” Of the world’s 100 largest multinational corporations, forty-seven are headquartered within the European Union. Forty-six are headquartered in the United States. Is Professor Mitchell telling us that the Anglo-Dutch Unilever is more responsible than, say, Procter & Gamble? Is Total-Fina, the French petroleum giant, more responsible than Chevron-Texaco or Exxon-Mobil? After all, it is Total, and not the U.S.-based Unocal, that is the operator of the Myanmar pipeline with which Mitchell opens his book, as an example of corporate irresponsibility. International human rights organizations are suing on behalf of Myanmar citizens brutalized when Total and Unocal used the Burmese army as a subcontractor to provide security on the pipeline project.