The Executives of Transnational Corporations (in Brazil)

LÓPEZ RUIZ, OSVALDO JAVIER

Courmayeur

Workshop; ISA International Laboratory for Ph. D. Students in Social Sciences. Theme: Major Theories or Paradigms of Dissertations; 2001

International Sociological Association (ISA) / UNESCO

The research project focus on the construction of a new ethos that characterizes the culture of the "globalized world" and the relations of this culture with the local. From the point of view of a Sociology of Culture, and in order to study the new values and meanings that are being defined, I have chosen "The Executives of Transnational Corporations (in Brazil)" as heuristic object. In brief, new forms of work are appearing in the informational economy and with them, new discourses of production are "designing" the employees (Casey) and redefining their careers (Casey, Sennett), values and meanings. The hypothesis is that a new ethos is being defined at the corporations (what is commonly known as "corporate culture" plus an aesthetics, habits, and beliefs), and that this ethos overflows the transnational companies to give form to "the culture of the globalized world". Central questions are: Are the transnational executives emblematic of this culture? Is the "global culture" a culture created in the corporation? In the title of my proposal, "in Brazil" appears in brackets to express the idea that the national dimension does not disappear but is, in a certain way, suspended. This leads to another relevant discussion: Does it make sense to think about ethos of the transnational executives from a nation, and particularly, from a developing nation? Also, "in Brazil", localizes the fieldwork (interviews) that I am undertaking with executives in transnational corporations of the São Paulo region (Brazilian´s main "technopole").