Ruggie: Taking Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection

Ruggie, JG. 2002. Taking Embedded Liberalism Global the Corporate Connection. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Ruggie traces a bit of history regarding embedded liberalism. The core: "...economic liberalization was embedded in social community" (1).

The problem of this new world is that governments are overwhelmed by the size and scope of global capitalism. It is nigh impossible to construct a similar pact with governments as was organized through the Bretton Woods conference. "Embedding the global market within shared social values and institutional practices represents a task of historic magnitude. The reason is obvious: there is no government at the global level to act on behalf of the common good, as there is at the national level. And international institutions are far too weak to fully compensate. Accordingly, this chapter examines the role of certain social processes and movements in triggering the emergence of more inclusive forms of global governance. Specifically, I focus on the contribution of the dynamic interplay between civil society, business and the public sector of the issue of corporate social responsibility" (2-3).

"The burden of my argument, with due appreciation for the irony, is that the corporate sector, which has done more than any other to create the growing gaps between global economy and national communities, is being pulled into playing a key bridging role between them. In this process, a global public domain is emerging, which cannot substitute for effective action by states but may help produce it" (3).

"When we reflect on how hard it was and how long it took to institute the original embedded liberalism compromise at the national level, the prospect of achieving a similar social framing of global market forces seems exponentially more daunting" (27).

"I have argued that, as a result of the expansion of civil society and its engagement with the corporate sector, a global public domain is emerging. I take that to mean an area inhabited by various actors for whom the territorial state is not the cardinal organizing principle..." (28).

"Haltingly anbd erratically, something akin to an embedded liberalism compromise is being pulled and pushed into the global arena, and the corporate connection is a key element in that process" (29).