Possibly, the most scathing of the recent crop of books against globalization. Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith collected essays by a list of contributors such as Vandana Shiva, Ralph Nader, William Greider, David Korten and Jeremy Rifkin to demonstrate the failure of globalization: an expansion of international trade that threatens our environment, our jobs, our culture and our families.
Editors: Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith
Publisher: Sierra Club Press
ISBN: 0-87156-352-5
Libraries: Alternative
Year: 1996
Pages: 550
After the fall of communism, a new ideology, neoliberalism, took hold in the world. Now, it's believed that the greatest good to the greatest number happens automatically when unrestricted "free markets" are allowed to do their work. Only if capital and goods are free to cross international borders, it is claimed, will people in the developed and developing worlds experience a continuously rising standard of living.
Although neoliberalism is rarely questioned in offical discourse, reality tells a different story. Increasing numbers of people are unemployed and underemployed in the US and Europe, and things are getting worse instead of better in the third world. What's gone wrong?
More than 40 leading thinkers from around the world answer that question in The case against the global economy.
The first section, "The Multiple Impacts of Globalization" contains essays about the harm that globalization has done to workers, to the third world, to the environment, and to our culture. Increasing competition forces us to participate in a process that has homogenized education and culture. Trade deals such as GATT and NAFTA undermine democracy by overriding environmental and worker protection laws passed by elected legislatures in member nations. Advances in biotechology are putting our genetic legacy and food supply into the hands of a small number of corporations.
The second section, "Panaceas that failed" addresses the specific claims of the globalizers, such as the myth that free markets make optimal decisions. Although our economy is still based on exponential growth, the limits of our finite planet make that a prescription for disaster. Wolfgang Sachs argues that it's not enough to cope with environmental crises after they arise, but that we need to stop them by controlling population and economic growth. Further essays explore the connection between globalization and old-style colonialism and the effects of "structural adjustment" programs that have allowed international banks the opportuntity to restructure the economies of third world nations for their own profit.
The third section, "Engines of Globalization" confronts the forces that drive the global economy. Wiliam Greider describes GE's lobbying efforts during the Reagan years, while Jerry Mander contributes two essays critiquing the organization of corporations and the effects of technology in the McLuhanesque vein of his Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.
The last section, "Steps towards relocalization" advocates a return to local economies. Most critics of globalization believe that the global system in on the verge of a catastrophic failure, and that we'll need to turn towards our local resources and communities to survive. Satish Kumar discusses Ghandi's ideas about sustainable economics as applied in India while Daniel Imhoff explains how Community Supported Agriculture makes it possible for small farmers to stay in business. Faced with threats such as NAFTA, activists are learning to organize across borders, linking causes in both the developed and developing worlds.
The Case against the global Economy can be overwhelming and depressing at times, making a clear case that the current economic and political system threatens our survival. Faced with the strength of corporate power, it would be easy to give up. Yet, as the global economy breaks down, doubts will appear in the minds of both the elite and general population -- the resulting chaos will make opportunities for movements for social change.
