Corporate imperialism is not a new issue that only the people of today have to deal with. It dates back a very long time. When the word imperialism is said, European countries come to mind. It was the Europeans who really first used companies to gain influence in a certain region of the world. If a civilization was too established, or too large for Europeans to directly rule it, they would establish control of ports and trade and rule the country indirectly. These European countries would grant exclusive rights to one lucky company who would trade in the region they were trying to infl

uence. If all went well the company would become very powerful, and very influential in the decisions that the government made.

Two excellent examples of this happening are the East India Company, and the Hudson Bay Company. On December 31, 1600, monopoly privileges were given to the East India Company for all trade with the East Indies. This was granted by the British government. The company however did not start trading in their new territory until 1608. The first factory was set up in 1615 in the port city of Surat. The factory was a result of a trip made by an emissary of King James I to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The company started to grow and soon they had many trading posts on both the East and the West coasts of India. The British far succeeded the Portuguese as the dominant traders in India. By 1717 the British had become very powerful and the Mughal Emperor exempted them from payment of custom duties in Bengal. The company even had its own army. Around 1760 the company acquired the rights to collect all the money made by the Mughal Emperor. This meant that the East India Company was actually in charge of the country. The company managed the country very poorly though. They exhausted the once fertile land, and could not stop a deadly famine that killed one third of the population. The British government soon stepped in and appointed a Governor General.

Some companies who have exploited the third world for their own advantage are Nike, Gap, Umbro, Mattel, Sears, Wal-Mart, Reebok, and Dole. What these companies have done is not illegal. It would be however if they were doing it in a developed country. Corporate imperialism does not just take place in the third world nations. It also takes place in North America.

Corporate Giants are also a key factor where countries and their economies are doing fine, the west for example. The corruption of governments by major companies and CEO’s is a gleaming example of today’s new imperialism. There are countless stories of kickbacks, bribery, and contracts awarded by unruly business practices. One example of this is Boeing. Boeing is sponsoring the World Trade Organizations ministerial meeting in Seattle. One of Boeings main goals and objects of the meeting is “to expand international trade.” Boeing is not trying to keep this a secret, but when it comes time for the WTO to award a contract to a company, they will have a bias towards Boeing. Another case that is similar to this is U.S president George Bush’s election campaign. Bush’s campaign was funded by many defense and oil companies. Th

Some topics in this essay:
Irving Bechtel, Nations Third, India Company, Bay Company, Canada Global, North America, Corporate Giants, South America, Canada USA, Seattle Boeings, third world, hudson bay, bay company, hudson bay company, east india, east india company, india company, corporate imperialism, third world nations, world nations, third world countries, mughal emperor, company hudson bay, transnational corporations, world countries,