Globalization
In March 2000, the National Network of Grantmakers held a conference organized around the theme: "Globalization: Why Should We Care?" By the end of the first plenary, the answer to that question was fairly obvious.
Globalization refers to a specific economic strategy propounded and pursued by the governments of the wealthiest industrialized countries and the transnational corporations whose interest they largely serve. The key to that strategy is the unfettered movement of investment capital (and profits) across national boundaries. The main expressions of globalization today are free trade, privatization, the global production line and currency speculation. These policies and activities may seem remote from the interests of philanthropy, but they are not.
This page, a page in progress, will direct you to sites where you can learn more about gloablization, explore its economic, social, and environmental implictions, and find out how other donors are responding to the challenge.
Donor Activities
A Funders' Network on Trade and Globalization was formed after Seattle to exchange information on trends, prospective grantees, strategic directions and collaborative activities. This group is currently associated with the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders of the Environmental Grantmakers Association. For more information, contact Sarah Hansen, Executive Director, Environmental Grantmakers Association.
Overview of Globalization
In the opening plenary of the NNG Conference, Maude Barlow made it quite clear why philanthropists in the U.S. should care about globalization. A Canadian activist and author, Barlow rescues the discussion of globalization from the conference room of opaque language and eye-glazing numbers, and takes it down to earth. Click Here to read Barlow's speech at the International Forum on Globalization's Battle of Seattle Teach-in.
The closing plenary was addressed by Indian scientist Vandana Shiva. Knowlegeable, articulate and inspiring, Vandana Shiva is the Director of The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy, a network of researchers specialising in sustainable agriculture and development. She is also Ecology Adviser to the Third World Network, a good source of critical information about globalization. Click Here to read an interview with Vandana Shiva.
For a quick, clear introduction to globalization, try Global Economy 101 from Global Exchange. For a more complex discussion, see Globalization Studies Homepage, a website devoted to the teachings of former Netherlands Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, now a professor of globalization at Tilburg and Harvard Universities.
Globalization produces winners and losers. For a winners' view of globablization, check out what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has to say. For the losers' perspective, visit the website of the Group of 77. See especially the summary and documents from the South Summit in Havana, Cuba in April, 2000.
Gobalization is about the dominance of transnational corporations in global economic affairs. What do the corporations think about globalization? Even more important, what are they doing? Keep an eye on the transnationals with Corporate Watch, particularly their section on Globalization and Corporate Rule.
For general articles and selected news stories about globalization and its malcontents, go to One World's Guide on Globalization and 1world communications.
Resistance to Globalization
The Zapatistas opened a new era of resistance to globalization. Subcomandante Marcos writes that "the fourth world war" (against corporations) has started and that revolution is "no longer imagined according to socialist patterns of realism, with men and women marching behind a red flag". Rather, he says, "it has become a carnival." Check out current Zapatista perspectives in this December 2000 letter from Marcos to President Fox.
Globalization Alternatives North and South (GANAS) is a coalition effort of grassroots organizations
and national advocates throughout the Americas. This hemispheric network is building "globalization from below" by bringing together social movements to exchange analysis and experiences, develop regional advocacy strategies, and create
collective strength across borders.
Resistance to globalization is a global phenomenon. Don't take our word for it. Look at the The World Social Forum, an international meeting of anti-globalization organizations in Puerto Alegre, Brazil, January 2001.
The International Forum on Globalization organizes teach-ins and conferences on globalization, bringing together activists and researchers from all over the world.
A lot of the initial opposition to globalization has been aimed at the World Trade Organization. To find out why, and what's being done to curb the WTO, go toWTO Watch and WTOAction.org.
The Basmati Action Group and others are calling for a boycott of Rice-Tec, a Texas corporation which has patented a strain of Basmati rice, a South Asian staple for centuries. For more on the impact of intellectual property laws on agriculture and world food security, go to Rural Advancement Foundation International.
If you want to see what your kids are doing to gum up the works, check out Adbusters Culture Jammers Headquarters or the Ruckus Society, trainers in non-violent civil disobedience.
Other organizations that should be listed or comments on the currently listed organizations?
on our Discussion Board.
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