Word: mobilizing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Mobil's success story does not simply end with their documented disapproval of apartheid. In the back of our minds, we all know that Mobil and fellow traveller corporations are involved in South Africa primarily for humanitarian reasons. Any profits gained from South Africa-related ventures are of course merely gravy...
...extent of Mobil's commitment goes above and beyond simple duty. The heroic oil giant and 151 other companies have signed the Sullivan principles. Their workplaces and facilities are not segregated. "All employees," the compassionate oil company tells us, "are desegregated. All employees are treated equally. All employees doing equal and comparable work receive equal...
AFTER DUTIFULLY SHARING with us the triumphs and glory of the hitherto unnoticed South African reformer (i.e. the corporation), Mobil's story adopts a darker tone. It seems that the forces of darkness--whose goals are "unproductive and unfairly punitive"--may thwart our hero's crusade...
Hence, the moral of Mobil's tale clearly emerges: "Forcing American companies to withdraw would end their constructive role." The constructive role of corporations in bringing about reform, of course, lies in their ability to pressure the government. By running ads in South African newspapers urging equal citizenship, they let the Botha regime know that they are mad as hell about apartheid and won't take it any longer. Well, at least not for too much longer...
Botha realizes that if they become too disenchanted with the nation's racist policies, they can pack their bags and take their industries elsewhere, bringing disaster to the South African economy. Mobil and friends, then, hold a trump card which South Africa cannot ignore...