TOWARDS A GLOBAL RULING CLASS?: GLOBALIZATION AND THE TRANSNATIONAL CAPITALIST CLASS BY: WILLIAM I. ROBINSON AND JERRY HARRIS NOTE: THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL SCIENCE AND SOCIETY,
VOL. 64, NO. 1, SPRING 2000, PP. 11-54
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< http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8908/transnational.html > [snip] But it is the World Economic Forum (WEF) that stands out as the most comprehensive transnational planning body of the TCC and the quintessential example of a truly global network binding together the TCC in a transnational civil society. As van der Pijl notes, the WEF's component bodies are all acknowledged class organizations, in the sense of being subject to "strict conditions of admission in order to preserve their peer character" (1998:133). These different component bodies include: the CEO's of the top 1,000 TNCs (this component body is known as "Foundation Members" and is the core of the WEF); representatives from 100 of the most influential media groups worldwide ("World Media Leaders"); key policymakers from national governments around the world and from international organizations ("World Economic Leaders"); select academics and experts from political, economic, scientific, social and technological fields ("Forum Fellows"); and so on. "A body of this scope clearly has not existed ever before," observes van der Pijl. "It is a true International of capital" (1998:133)." [snip]