Topics for the Social Forum of 2002
The current state of globalization
21/06/2001
- Opinión
The World Social Forum of Porto Alegre signaled a fundamental cultural
change: from “there are no alternatives” to “there are other ways to
conceptualize economy, politics, and culture.” This is a qualitative
leap of great importance.
Nevertheless, it is the alternatives which are the current
expectations in the world. This will be the challenge of the meeting
of Porto Alegre of 2002. However, the World Social Forum cannot
become a simple supermarket of alternatives. Therefore, both a
coherence in the proposals and an ample vision of the alternatives are
needed.
From this perspective it is important to consider three levels of
alternatives. The first consists of reconstructing the utopias, not
in the sense of impossibilities, but rather in the sense of mobilizing
objectives. It is a matter of knowing which society we want, which
labor, which education, which agriculture, which communication, which
ethics. Utopias do not drop down from the sky; they cannot exist
except as the result of group effort with contribution from the entire
world.
The second level is that of medium-term alternatives, that is, the
objectives which will take time, because we are dealing with a long
process of the results of arduous social struggles, with the purpose
of resisting the capitalist system itself.
The third level consists of short-term alternatives: those which are
feasible within a foreseeable future and which can be mobilizing even
though the objectives are partial.
In relation to this it is important to remember, first of all, what
globalism means today; second, its consequences and the resistance
movements that are organized; third, the current stage of
globalization; and, finally, the strategies to combat the
globalization of capital.
What is globalization today?
It is an economic process with political, military, and cultural
support. It involves a new stage of accumulation of capital in its
neoliberal phase, which began in the mid 1970s, with what is termed
the Washington Consensus. We define the word “globalization” very
precisely, knowing obviously that it is a historic and ancient
reality, but that it has taken on specific characteristics during the
past 30 years.
The fundamental reason for the implementation of this economic process
was the declining profitability of capital, caused by a reduction in
productivity. The latter had allowed, after the Second World War, a
certain distribution of the social production among capital, labor,
and the State. In other words, it was the end of Keynesism, to which
should be added the failure of developmentalism of the Third World and
finally the fall of existing socialism in Eastern Europe.
To increase the accelerated manner of its accumulation, capital has
had to develop two principal strategies.
1. Reduce the role of labor in the social production , which was
carried out by a veritable offensive against labor: a reduction of its
role in the social production, by reducing real salaries;
deregulation; displacements; reduction in social security;
weakening of labor organizations.
2. Reduce the role of the State as a re-distributor of wealth and
social arbiter, which was done through waves of privatization, not
only of economic sectors, but also of public services, with the
policies of austerity imposed by international financial
organizations, in particular the IMF (Structural Adjustment Programs).
If we analyze the principal mechanisms of current economic globalism,
we can note the following. First, an integration comes about of the
processes of production and distribution that does not have to
recognize boundaries. We also experience a concentration of
production, distribution, and communication in the hands of less and
less numerous large companies. Financial capital is what
predominates, and, finally, there is an extension of the boundaries of
capitalism, both geographical and technological.
Social and cultural consequences and resistance movements
The process of globalization has, as a consequence, a series of
destructions involving humanity collectively.
1) Destruction of the economy.-
If economy is the human action designated to establish the material
bases of physical and cultural life of all the human beings in the
entire world, then capitalism is the most ineffective system in human
history. Never have there been so many impoverished people, never
has there been so much social distance. This constitutes the first
basis of the revolts and resistance movements.
2) Destruction of nature.-
Exploitation with the idea of short-term profit spells ecological
disasters, both climatological and in the exhaustion of natural
resources, which in recent years has led to the development of many
ecological movements.
3) Social destruction which is twofold.-
a) Extension of the direct relations of capital/labor, that is, the
salaried labor, which now extends into the entire world, even though
not in a majoritarian manner and in all sectors of collective
activity. Labor and farm movements have appeared in new geographical
areas and in new sectors of economic activity.
b) Extension of the indirect relation of capital/labor, which affects
increasingly more social groups in the world. We speak of the
indirect mechanisms of the logic of capitalist organizations of the
economy, such as the setting of prices for raw materials, the foreign
debt, the re-exportation of capital, tax havens, etc.; all obstacles
to true development of local economies and with consequences which
affect hundreds of millions of people. Thus we witness an ever-
increasing number of resistance and social movements.
For instance, women are particularly affected by the feminization of
poverty and the increase of violence; women are affected simply
because the logic of the system of capitalist exploitation utilizes
gender relations as a function of its own interests (for example lower
salaries, national accounting that fails to take into account the work
of reconstitution of productive forces carried out by women, to speak
in economic terms, etc.)
Indigenous resistance is also involved; they are the first victims of
the new economic policies, and through their resistance they redefine
their sense of identity. Also, we have the caste movements in India,
where the struggles of the Dalits (those without a caste) have
multiplied since the moment of the adoption of a neoliberal
orientation. We also have youth movements, as well as ethnic
conflicts, highly linked with macroeconomic mechanisms, such as the
drop in certain agricultural prices, etc.
Evidently it is not capitalism that invented or initiated chauvinism
or patriarchy, the oppression of the indigenous peoples, the
contradiction of castes, ethnic conflicts, or the marginalization of
the youth. However, capitalism—and this can be proven—has sharpened
the conflicts and many times has used them to construct its
organization of labor and its strategies of absorption of
overpopulation.
4) Cultural destruction
We witness a true deviation of the sense of education, of the means of
communication, of philosophy and even of religions, as a function of
the values of capitalism, with its own definition of modernity, and by
the instrumentalization of cultural apparatuses in order to support
its project and to legitimize its objectives. Also, as examples of
related resistance movements, we note new movements of ideas, cultural
resistance, elaboration of theologies of liberation, etc. At the same
time, temporal cultural movements develop, which are expressed in
various types of fundamentalism as defense mechanisms in the face of a
modernity which despises cultural traditions.
5) Political destruction
Democracy, already relatively limited in the perspective of
parliamentary political organization, makes less and less sense, when
the political powers, emanations of popular voting, see their powers
of decision reduced, especially in the economic order. As a reaction,
we also witness new forces of decentralization of decisions, of
participatory democracy, of reconstruction of a politics with popular
bases.
The situation can be defined, in summary, by stating that in the face
of a capitalism that constructs the bases of its worldwide
reproduction, thanks to new technologies, we see an increase, but also
a fragmentation, of the resistance movements of struggle, both
geographical and sectorial.
The current stage of the globalization of capital
Two statements can be made in relation to the current stage, which are
important in order to conceptualize the organization of the resistance
movements and their internationalization.
1. The neoliberal project is not abandoned, even though it loses
credibility. It is weakened because it has relatively short-term
strategies. This is manifested in different aspects:
-economically: the financial system; the system of production and the
public services…
-ecologically: ecological limits are increasingly visible.
-socially: the increase of poverty and social distance, the
migrations…
-culturally: intellectual, artistic and popular criticism of the
system.
2. Capitalism now adopts new strategies in various sectors:
-economic strategies: it moves progressively from a neoliberalism pure
and hard to a neoclassicism, centered on the reconstruction of
conditions of competition by means of new regulations (re-
legitimization of the State).
-ecological strategies: new measures of urgency are adopted (Kyoto
protocol)…
-social strategies: There are coordinated policies focused on the
fight against poverty, which were initiated by the World Bank;
cooptation of the NGOs, of voluntary associations, of the Churches and
of religions, in order to diminish their forces of resistance and to
obtain a legitimacy; administrative repression and gradually also
police repression, without mentioning the military aspect in
international matters.
-cultural strategies: adoption of an ecological language and of the
concepts utilized by resistance movements, such as civil society,
participatory democracy, etc., transforming the meaning of the
concepts.
Strategies of struggle against the globalization of capital
The grand outline
We can present some guidelines of the strategies initiated and to be
developed in the immediate future.
1) De-legitimize the system, not just with condemnation of its abuses,
which various ethical entities do, such as the social doctrines of the
religions, but rather with denunciations of the logic of the
capitalist system which constitutes the basis of the various
destructions.
2) Construct the convergence of anti-systemic struggles, each one
safeguarding its specificity, but also understanding its place in the
greater movement.
3) Formulate alternatives to the three levels expressed: utopias,
medium-term, and short-term.
4) Find formulas of political expression, also in the form of
convergences, because the four aspects (economic, ecological, social,
and cultural) all have a political dimension, and without the presence
of this dimension it is not possible to arrive at effective solutions.
5) Do not allow oneself to be marginalized by the economic and
political system, that is to accept being limited to a corner where
one can speak out and express opinions, and not allow oneself to
“floklorize,” especially by the means of communication which emphasize
certain types of violence or cultural expressions that are apparently
“strange.”
The criteria for selecting topics and actions
Three principal criteria appear to be important.
1) To keep in mind the current popular sensibility towards certain
topics, and in particular the appearance of new publics, which upon
being affected directly or indirectly by globalization, seem ready to
enter into a convergence of resistance.
2) To articulate concerning events in conjunction, such as the
international conferences on racism, Río Plus Ten, the ratification of
the Kyoto Protocol, the policies such as “Star Wars,” etc.
3) To approach topics that already have been prepared by specific
groups and that can contribute towards concrete alternatives.
It is in relation to these considerations that panel topics,
workshops, seminars, and a coherent organization of the Porto Alegre
program can be proposed.
A dream
I may finish by stating that I have a dream. Not like the World Bank,
which has inscribed at the entrance of its building in Washington: “We
have a dream, a world free of poverty,” below which I would like to
write: “and thanks to the World Bank it remains a dream.” But rather
in the sense of Dom Helder Camara who used to tell me, when I worked
with him in the Second Vatican Council, that one could not understand
Brazil without understanding Carnaval and soccer. What role will
Carnaval and soccer have in Porto Alegre? It is a way of wondering
how to symbolically express the values we want to affirm: grand
orientations for humanity today that contradict the fundamental logic
of capitalism. We can conceptualize two principal orientations: the
contemplation of nature, and the inter-human solidarity.
Respect, love, and contemplation of nature
Reexamining great texts of world religious traditions, including the
indigenous religions (Pacha Mama), the great creation myths, and texts
of poets from various peoples, one can affirm that nature is not an
object of exploitation, but rather we are part of her and we want to
express a sense of admiration and contemplation. This could be
expressed with songs, dance, and recitations, with participation of
everyone in a collective act.
Inter-human solidarity
In the same cultural and religious traditions one can find everything
which celebrates brotherhood, love, peace, and the rejection of
aggressiveness and violence, as well as economic individualism. It is
not a matter of romantically celebrating those types of values, but
rather focusing on the concrete social relations of capitalism and all
its human consequences, and also expressing the need for new ethics
for a new world.
*François Houtart, Belgian economist, is the Director of the Tri-
continental Center and Vice President of the World Forum for
Alternatives. This present text summarizes the presentation of the
author at the meeting of the International Council of the World Social
Forum (Sao Paulo, 9-11 June 2001).
https://www.alainet.org/es/node/106216?language=es
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