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Let me first present my warm thanks to the University of Sydney, the Political Economy Department and especially to Frank Stilwell for inviting me to present this year's Ted Wheelwright Memorial Lecture. It's a great honour for me to speak in homage to such a great scholar and professor. Ted Wheelwright specialised in the study of Transnational Corporations, particularly the impact on Australia of TNCs as I'll call them from now on. During his career in this University I am sorry to say that he was passed over six times for promotion. Yet he never compromised nor ceased to tell the truth as he saw it and as his research showed it to be. I knew Ted a little; we met many years ago when I was working on agribusiness and this evening I shall try to follow his example and tell the truth as I see it, as best I can and according to the facts.
I'd like to divide my talk into three parts:
First, since the title is 'The Rise of Illegitimate Authority', it seems useful to make some distinctions concerning what is legitimate and democratic on the one hand and, on the other, illegitimate and undemocratic in government, now often called 'governance'.
Second, I'll state my hypothesis: I believe the evidence shows that illegitimate authority is on the rise and that democracy is in serious danger of succumbing to the disease of neoliberal ideology. We can identify the forces that are imposing this ideology throughout the world and demonstrate that more and functions of legitimate government are being assumed by illegitimate, unelected, opaque agents and organisations.
In the third part, I want to supply elements of proof and provide several examples that support my argument. The list of examples is evergrowing and could be longer than mine here but I hope to show nonetheless that illegitimate, corporate rule now occupies greater and greater space at every level of government including the international sphere, that it is gravely damaging democracy and that it has an impact on all our countries and all our lives.
But first a caveat: I can't give you the full picture for Australia as Ted would have done. Most of my examples will necessarily come from the places...