Summary
Contents
Subject index
Alongside burgeoning global business, which asserts its legality, ethics and social responsibility, there exists a dark side of shadow trades manifesting various shades of legitimacy. Not only do the latter’s corrupt practices, dubious supply chains and other illicit operations run in tandem with global business, these borderless trades intersect with economic structures and contribute to systems adopted by corporations, endorsed by neoliberal capitalism, that are often condoned by governments and unwittingly sustained by consumers. In a very real sense, all of us may be implicated in shadow trades through our work, consumption and citizenship. Even before we can begin to confront and constrain shadow trades, their business models first need to be identified and analysed in all their networked complexity, interconnectivity with global business and embeddedness within the world economy. Numerous hard questions need to be raised around enabling circumstances and responsibilities of stakeholders, as well as the winners and losers resulting from business globalisation and socio-economic inequities within and between countries. Providing background, evidence and analysis on select exemplars of shadow trades, this book provides graduate students of business, plus scholars in the social sciences, together with practitioners and policymakers, consumer groups and civil society, with an indispensable resource for critical engagement. Only through knowledge gained by research and advocacy for transparency can we begin to shed light on this dark side of global business, enabling all of us to grapple with activism against and collaborative action towards undermining all shadow trades. Amos Owen Thomas was a Docent / Reader in Marketing and International Business at Stockholm University until his recent retirement
Arms Conveyance & Military Contracting
Arms Conveyance & Military Contracting
Credit: H. Assaf/Freeimages
Overview in Introduction
The arms business ranges from nuclear arms on the one hand to small arms on the other, and increasingly encompasses the privatisation of soldiering or use of mercenaries. Valued at almost USD2 trillion and accounting for about 10 percent of total world trade in legitimate merchandise, the revenues from the global arms export are considerable compared to other shadow trades. Despite the efforts of some inter-government organisations and NGOs to develop initiatives on arms control, this shadow trade in all its forms is thriving. This chapter seeks to identify major arms exporter and importer economies, the forms of government support, the mechanics of arms transfers as well as to foreground ...
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