Financialization and the multinational corporation

The terrain on which states, trade unions and social movements confront multinational corporations has changed dramatically over the last two decades as a result of two phenomena - the disaggregation of the supply chain and the financialization of corporations. Trade unions and social movements have increasingly challenged the inequalities and unfairnesses which have emerged from the globalization of supply chains. However, issues of financialization, although increasingly high profile since 2008, have generally been treated separately. This article argues that the two phenomena are integrally related within the same process of neoliberal globalization. It argues that trade unions and social movements need to connect together issues to do with the relocation and restructuring of employment with issues of financialization and the need for financial reform. Change will only be effective if it occurs across both these types of processes.