Dear cj,
This "Hanasaari Statement" seems to make a great deal of sense... notice
how it's title is very close that of my/our book "Achieving a livable,
peaceful world". In particular, I liked this:
>It is the economics of power, not the power of economics,
> that drives modern market forces. This single most significant
> market force today is the corporation. Similarly, the global process
> we are experiencing today is not the power of globalisation but
> the globalisation of power.
The following, however, gave me pause:
> 4) Some of us believe that, in the Gandhian tradition, we have a
> moral duty to resist through non-violent civil disobedience
It's not that I disagree with it, but it raises a question... when is the
time for civil disobedience? It seems to me that when there is a massive
movement, and the establishement ignores or suppresses it, then civil
disobedience is called for. If we haven't built the massive movement yet,
then perhaps civil disobedience is premature. Thoughts invited.
rkm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Fw: from Ward Morehouse
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 22:45:07 -0700
-----Original Message-----
From: Teena DiNota <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.••• <•••@••.•••>
Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 08:44
Subject: from Ward Morehouse
PROGRAM ON CORPORATIONS, LAW AND DEMOCRACY
777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C
New York, New York 10017
Tel. (212) 972-9877 - Fax (212) 972-9878
e-mail: •••@••.•••
Co-Directors:
Richard Grossman & Ward Morehouse
October 7, 1998
(Dictated in Vinalhaven, ME
September 29, 1998)
TO: TOESers
FROM: Ward Morehouse
The attached Hanasaari Statement which I was actively involved
in drafting, "Building a More Just, Sustainable and Democratic World:
Some Tasks Ahead", may be of interest. Sign-ons are still welcome.
WM/td
*****************
14
September 1998
BUILDING A MORE JUST, SUSTAINABLE AND DEMOCRATIC WORLD:
SOME TASKS AHEAD
Statement by Participants in the Gathering on Expanding People's
Spaces in a Globalising Economy at the Hanasaari Culture Centre in
Espoo, Finland (4-9 September 1998) and Other Like-minded Persons
The Nature of the Hanasaari Statement
The statement which follows is not a consensus document reflecting
the lowest common denominator of agreement. It rather reflects some of the
salient concerns brought to the table at this gathering by grassroots
activists and others from over 40 countries struggling to build a more
just, sustainable and democratic world.
It is also not a statement by the gathering as a whole but only
those who have chosen to sign it. And they have endorsed the general
thrust of the statement while not necessarily agreeing with every single
proposition in it.
Nor is it confined to participants in the Hanasaari Gathering.
Other persons who share these concerns are invited to sign on.
The Global Problematique
Globalisation -- i.e., corporation-driven integration of the world
economic system -- has brought an unprecedented shift in power, as state
sovereignty has been eroded by giant multinational corporations and
financial institutions, the biggest of which are now larger than most
nation-states. Indeed, the gross domestic product of Finland, the 39th
largest economy in the world today, is dwarfed by the gross incomes of
Mitsubishi, General Motors, Ford, and half a dozen other giant corporations.
Concurrent with this shift, the world has been experiencing ever
deepening environmental degradation, widespread unemployment and economic
insecurity, displacement of peoples and cultures, violence against women,
pandemic poverty, an unraveling of the social fabric, and an assault on
democratic institutions and spiritual values. The situation is becoming so
desperate that the founder and current director of the Davos World Economic
Forum warned recently of a mounting backlash against globalisation that
"can easily turn into revolt."
This problematique has drastically shrunk people's spaces over the
past half century and especially the past two decades as the global
concentration of wealth and power has accelerated. The rate of capital
accumulation of the top 200 corporations is truly stunning. Measured as a
share of world GDP, the assets of this group of corporations has grown from
17 percent in the mid-1960s to 24 percent in 1982 to over 32 percent in
1995.
It is the economics of power, not the power of economics, that
drives modern market forces. This single most significant market force
today is the corporation. Similarly, the global process we are
experiencing today is not the power of globalisation but the globalisation
of power.
But this problematique has also provoked resistance by those at
the bottom in both South and the North who have all too often been squeezed
the most by globalisation, especially women. Local bonds of solidarity and
co-operation have helped poor communities in all parts of the world to
survive. Their experiences offer exciting promise for the future in the
determination of those communities to shape their own destiny as we seek to
expand people's spaces in a bottom-up process of what might be called
people's globalisation. In country after country, women are in the
vanguard as this process moves forward.
We also recognise the vulnerability of the giant corporations and
financial institutions which dominate today's global political economy. The
contradictions in neo-liberal economic policies have been sharply exposed
in recent months by the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, the recession
in Japan, and the near collapse of the Russian economy. Key players in
this house of cards have shown how stupid and short-sighted they can be,
driven as they are by greed and the insatiable demand for continued growth.
Some Next Steps
The central task before us is finding ways to expand people's
spaces in the global political economy in the face of these contradictions.
That search must take into account the reality that people's spaces are
many and varied and there is no single path to achieving this goal. With
that qualification in mind, here are a few of the next steps which we
believe will help move us toward the goal of expanded people's spaces.
1) Peoples throughout the world are being alienated from their
spiritual roots by the dominant forces of materialism unleashed by giant
corporations in their never-ending quest for bigger markets. This quest is
redefining cultural values as human beings everywhere are being turned into
global consumers. The challenge before us begins with our inner selves as
we seek to reclaim our cultural heritage and redefine spirituality in
relation to life and struggle. We must learn once again how to preserve
and share our own stories, not those manufactured for us in the marketing
department of some remote corporation.
2) Participatory Action Research (PAR), which seeks to link popular
and academic knowledge in popular struggle, assumes renewed importance as
we seek to expand people's spaces in a world increasingly ruled by giant
global corporations. PAR is a positive approach to social change which
celebrates traditional values and relationships within the framework of
programs of political and economic action to resist the forces of
globalisation.
3) Democratic values and institutions are under severe attack in our
globalised world. Corporations, the principal agents of globalisation, are
fundamentally anti-democratic. Therefore, a major challenge in expanding
people's spaces is revitalizing democratic decision-making at all levels
from the community to the nation and the world. But we must be wary of the
formal trappings of democracy which often hide the concentration of power
in few rather than many hands. Our objective must be real democracy which
means empowerment of the people.
4) Some of us believe that, in the Gandhian tradition, we have a
moral duty to resist through non-violent civil disobedience injustice
through the usurpation of the people's ownership of the means of production
by global corporations as we work to decentralise systems of production and
consumption. Still others of us argue that giant global corporations are
beyond control by the state and that therefore the only logical strategy,
if we are to build a more just, sustainable and democratic world, is to
work toward dismantling the 1000 largest corporations on the face of the
Earth.
5) We categorically reject and will work energetically to defeat the
Multinational Agreement on Investment which the Director General of the
World Trade Organisation is alleged to have called "the constitution of the
single global economy" but which we regard as a bill of rights and freedoms
for transnational corporations and a charter for corporate rule of the
world.
6) We heartily endorse and will work with equal energy to achieve the
goal of Jubilee 2000: Cancellation of the unpayable debt of the world's
poorest countries by the year 2000.
7) We applaud efforts by the poor to organize themselves and build
links with poor people's movements around the world in order to resist
their marginalisation and exploitation in a global political economy
controlled by multinational corporations. We must lend all possible
support to these efforts.
8) As resistance to globalisation has grown in recent years,
networks, coalitions and alliances of popular movements have multiplied.
The time has come to link these formations in order to speak with stronger
voices in the struggle against global structures of power. We therefore
urge that the first steps be taken toward creating a global people's forum,
not as a single event or place but rather as a framework for connecting and
strengthening the many existing forums and networks. Its objectives should
include exposing the human rights, environmental and spiritual impacts of
globalisation, identifying appropriate frameworks for resisting these
impacts and for revitalising democracy, and building broadly based public
support for the actions needed to achieve the foregoing goals.
NAME ORGANIZATION* ADDRESS
To sign on, send an e-mail message "Endorse
Hanasaari Statement" to •••@••.•••
with your name, organizational affiliation
if any, and address (postal and e-mail) or
send the same information by fax to
1-212-972-9878 or by mail to Hanasaari
Statement, Suite 3C, 777 United Nations Plaza,
New York, New York 10017, USA.
*) Organizational affiliation for identification only.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
a political discussion forum - •••@••.•••
To subscribe, send any message to •••@••.•••
A public service of Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
(mailto:•••@••.••• http://cyberjournal.org)
Non-commercial reposting is hereby approved,
but please include the sig up through this paragraph
and retain any internal credits and copyright notices.
To see the index of the cj archives, send any message to:
•••@••.•••
To subscribe to our activists list, send any message to:
•••@••.•••
Help create the Movement for a Democratic Rensaissance
crafted in Ireland by rkm
A community will evolve only when
the people control their means of communication.
-- Frantz Fanon
Share: