Multinational companies: “The descendants of chartered companies” aka “torchbearers of colonialism”

Abstract

This article examines the historical continuity between chartered trading companies and modern day multinational corporations (MNCs), arguing that contemporary corporate structures retain core attributes of their colonial predecessors. Chartered companies, such as the British East India Company, functioned as hybrid entities – merging commerce, governance, and military power – operating with State-like authority while pursuing profit. Despite formal decolonisation, the legacy of these entities persists in MNCs through corporate immunity, regulatory arbitrage, and economic coercion in the Global South. This article explores how MNCs leverage their vast capital and transnational presence to influence policy decisions, exploit labour, and contribute to environmental degradation, particularly in the Global South. Case studies such as Freeport McMoRan Inc.’s operations in West Papua illustrate how MNCs, often in collusion with host governments, engage in practices that parallel the exploitative and racially hierarchical structures of colonial rule. The article argues that MNCs function as instruments of capitalism in much the same way chartered companies served as instruments of colonialism. By drawing attention to labour exploitation, environmental destruction, and the strategic manipulation of governance structures, it contends that the global economic order remains entrenched in colonial legacies. The discussion underscores the urgent need for stronger regulatory mechanisms to ensure corporate accountability, prevent human rights violations, and dismantle economic structures that sustain post-colonial dependency and inequality.