Context: Multinational corporations (MNCs) and transnational corporations (TNCs) have grown to a scale of wealth and power that rivals and in some cases exceeds that of sovereign states, fundamentally challenging traditional assumptions about where economic and political power resides in the international system. The distinction between MNCs (operating in multiple countries from a home base) and TNCs (operating across borders without a clear national identity) is increasingly blurred as global corporations like Apple, Amazon, Shell, and Samsung operate supply chains, tax structures, and gove
Context: Shein, the Chinese-founded ultra-fast fashion company valued at approximately $66 billion in 2024 , has become the world's largest online-only fashion retailer by producing up to 10,000 new styles daily at prices that undercut traditional fast fashion brands by 50-70%. The company's explosive growth has provoked intense scrutiny over labour conditions, environmental impact, and regulatory evasion. Investigations by Channel 4, Public Eye, and Bloomberg revealed workers in Shein's Chinese supply chain working 18-hour days for as little as 3 cents per garment , with no days off and wag
Context: Tesla, the world's most valuable automaker, depends on cobalt - a critical mineral for lithium-ion batteries - approximately 70% of which is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) , often under conditions involving child labour, artisanal mining deaths, and environmental contamination. The case exposes a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the green energy transition: technologies promoted as solutions to climate change depend on supply chains with severe human rights costs. In 2019, International Rights Advocates filed a landmark lawsuit against Tesla, Apple, Google,
Context: TotalEnergies, the French energy multinational, has pursued two massive fossil fuel projects in East Africa - the $20 billion Mozambique LNG project in Cabo Delgado and the $10 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) across Uganda and Tanzania . Both projects have generated intense controversy over human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and the contradiction between fossil fuel expansion and climate commitments. In Mozambique, the LNG project was suspended after an insurgent attack on nearby Palma in March 2021, displacing communities who had already been forcibly