NGOs: The New Super Brands

Abstract

The world bore witness to the new, new world order at the Seattle WTO meeting in 2000. More recently, January's World Economic Forum was akin to an armed camp with official attendees separated from protestors by barbed wire. The chaotic cauldron of protesters in Seattle painted the clearest picture of the mix — or morass — in which global companies must exist. The protestors included anarchists who reject any organized civil society, environmental and social justice advocates who genuinely lay claim to concerned constituencies, shrill activists that monitor and condemn every move every global company makes, labor leaders and NGO experts from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have a sophisticated grasp of the scientific, social, economic and environmental impact of global business — many of whom actually partner with business on shared goals.