it's a pity I didn't have time to work on this essay! I think it's a rather interesting topic and it's worth writing about...and the prizes are not bad at all. haha. anyways, next time I will know in advance and prepare better. so far so good :) hope you enjoy. comments are welcome. i will try to polish it later! :)
Ivana Koleva
“The principal dilemma provoked by globalization is inequality” [1] This sentence is derived from the book “Getting Globalization Right: The Dilemmas of Inequality”, in which the authors state that the question that still remains unsolved around the issue of globalization is not whether it should be supported or refuted but how to get it right, “in the sense of making its benefits more available and making them more equitable between countries and within countries” [2] by making a set of policies aimed at solving the existing problems. During the 2007 United Nations Ministerial Conference on ‘Making Globalization Work for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)’[3], held in Istanbul (Turkey), the participants agreed that the central question and challenge remains how to maximize the gain while minimizing the pain in LDCs . All the parties who were there emphasized that “the current phase of globalization will be judged by whether it is able to transform itself into a vehicle of eradicating poverty, marginalization and inequality, and for promoting sustainable development.” The voices of the people who took part in this conference proclaimed that “This is the imperative of our time. Putting LDCs in the driver’s seat will be a prerequisite for this”[4] .
So, what is the optimal way of achieving this goal? How to make globalization work for the poor as well as the rich? Can it serve as a driving force for the development of all mankind or just a handful of corporations and powerful people? What did globalization bring with it and what are the prospects for its future? Did it undermine character and community or enhance their strength and role?
The answers to these questions can give us a glimpse of the work accomplished and that still unfinished in the process of globalization and will help us assess its influence on communities and character.
After the Cold War, there was a period marked with exhilaration over the victory of democracy and consequently liberal markets and free trade. The ‘Washington consensus’, promoting the liberalization of markets and opening of free trade, despite its positive effects though, eventually proved rather unsuccessful in various countries, often increasing tremendously the inequality gap between the poor and the rich, thus making the rich richer and the poor poorer. These have been referred to as the winners and the losers of globalization. When the prescribed medicine proved to be short of panacea capabilities, the world reconsidered its views on development and its true definition. Through this process of reassessment and redefining, the development concept evolved and transformed from simply meaning economic growth measured in GDP (in the 50’s-60’s), to a more comprehensive definition, acknowledging that development should be essentially used to mean human development and therefore it should encompass areas like health, life longevity, education access etc. This was a revolutionary transformation which led to many subsequent improvements and progress.
In 1987, the concept of sustainable development was put forward officially for the first time in the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, called “Our Common Future” [5]. It was used to mean "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Nevertheless, it was not until the mid-90’s and especially in the new millennium, that people have started to really understand, appreciate and pursue sustainable development, as a comprehensive, effective and necessary development approach. Before this, multinational corporations (MNCs) benefited largely from the unequal distribution of wealth, served political interests, used ‘sweat shops’ to pursue higher profits and were considered the biggest beneficiaries of the process of globalization. Many people blamed both, governments for their inability to control the MNCs and the corporations themselves, for impoverishing the already destitute people and becoming rich through sacrificing the development of these people.
In these rather uncertain, transitional times, a new phenomenon arose. Of course, it has existed in many forms since the early mission trips across the globe started, but its extent and functions had never been as broad and as distinguished as they have been since the 90’s. This phenomenon is known as ‘community service’ and ‘community-based development’. Despite the various programs the UN and its agencies had launched throughout the years, it was increasingly apparent that the gap between the rich and the poor in many countries is broadening rather than shrinking and it was becoming more difficult to reach the really poor and needy and provide them with the necessary services. Not only this, but, since most ‘third world’ countries were (and some continue to be) under a semi-authoritarian, authoritarian regime and lacked transparency, suffered from chronic corruption and regularly misused the funds they received, therefore, the provision of help was undermined and often, the most destitute never saw the humanitarian aid sent through big agencies.
I first became acquainted with the term ‘community service’ when I arrived in the USA. It was the year 2001 and I was sponsored by Rotary International with a full-year ambassadorial scholarship. The spring of 2002 a bunch of ladies from my college and I went off to Macon, Georgia to participate in a one week spree of constructing 12 houses for a poor neighborhood, with another 300 students from around the US. The experience taught me what it means to belong to a community and to serve a community. The entire community was involved in its own reconstruction (renovation) and everyone was a part of everyone else’s life, committing their time and efforts to assure each other’s wellbeing and better future. This is the principle by which Habitat for Humanity, the organization in holding the event, operates, and it has contributed to the building of thousands of affordable houses around the globe, but even more importantly, it has built communities, which are now better equipped to face the challenges of life. The spirit of belonging to a community truly inspires people to put more efforts, to perform better; it also gives them a sense of belonging and dignity. In the bible Jesus said, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ [6] and through community service and community building, one can truly learn to love, appreciate and cooperate with his/her neighbor. This is, one of the foundations for sustainable development.
More and more non-profit organizations started working on the ground, establishing grass-root organizations which possessed the knowledge of the specific needs and desires of the given communities and therefore were quite successful in delivering just the right services to the most needy. The bottom-up development approach transformed the landscape of development. In this new landscape, the most important engines of development became the citizens and members of the community, as parts of a whole, not separate parts. They were not to remain passive recipients of aid anymore, but they were to be empowered to realize their full potential and escape the vicious cycle of poverty.
In the beginning of this process of transformation, private enterprises did not play a significant role and were rather isolated, only participating in the development process through seldom charity events and donations. This was largely due to their own wrong perception that no profit could be generated through helping the poorest, and as companies, their goal is to generate as much profit as they can, whilst the role of the government is to provide for the poor. Another obstacle for the active involvement of corporations in the development process was the suspicion with which they were looked upon by skeptics, who believed that nothing good can come out of engaging the ‘profit-generating machines’ in non-profit generating activities. Corporations were often associated with immoral and unethical behavior, mostly comparable with the Karl Marx’s description of capitalism and the monopolists who exploited the working class. Such stories were not rare, especially the evidence of wide-spread use of child labor and ‘sweat shops’ established in various developing countries. At the same time, the belief that many corporations used neocolonial style techniques to strip the raw- material rich countries from their resources and not really bring any development to them, was pervasive [7]. Nevertheless, this was soon to change. First of all, the concept of sustainable development gained ground and prompted many companies to reconsider their activities and especially the impact they have on the environment and on human development. The UN Global Compact Initiative, the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative, was established. The companies participating in this initiative, have to adhere to the ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption [8] . These principles have served to assure the important role that private enterprises have come to play in the process of development and globalization. The principle of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) also became popular and is increasingly becoming imperative for companies to adopt as part of their core programs. People demand transparency and accountability from companies and it is increasingly becoming a common knowledge that the role of private enterprises and businesses, in general, in achieving the common goals of humankind for development is crucial. CSR does not simply imply charity events and donations, but a transformation of the core values of private enterprises, working together with all other international and local actors to establish a society based on the principle of sustainable development.
A development that brought all actors on the international stage together is the so-called ‘international community’ phenomenon. This concept has gained much interest and attention in the last decade and it is increasingly believed that an international community is arising, which shares common goals and ideas, and which, united, can achieve much progress and development.
In the year 2000, during the Millennium Summit, the UN General Assembly adopted the “Millennium Declaration”, focusing on the essential principles of sustainable development that all countries should adhere to. Following the adoption of the declaration, the international community, including governments, government-based organizations, non-government organizations etc. actors, all agreed upon eight common development goals, later known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have to be achieved by the year 2015 [9]. These common goals have urges and stimulated the entire international community to unite efforts in the fight against poverty, inequality, and towards justice, peace, and sustainable development. Goal number 8 recognizes the significant role that the economy and especially free markets, play in enhancing the development of the least developed countries. Some of its targets include more cooperation with the private sector in bringing new technologies to the poor and increasing their opportunities for more fair access to markets.
Since the adoption of the MDGs by the international community, a multitude of different efforts, varying in scope and success, have been launched to assure the achievement of the goals. One of the key features of these efforts has been the active participation of the local communities and their empowerment. Despite the definite need of the state to create and implement pro-poor development policies, like poverty reduction plans etc., the need for bottom-up development approach has become more and more widely accepted. It is exactly there that a new kind of economic activity has spread and has born many fruits. Microfinance. In the past, private enterprises, banks, etc. considered microfinancing, especially microfinancing targeted towards the poorest, a waste of time and resources, since it was believed that these people cannot benefit from it, cannot generate profit, and cannot operate efficiently. Therefore, often times, companies and other donors preferred to send aid, rather than to invest in equipping the poor communities with entrepreneurship skills. Nevertheless, this time has passed and “to date, a successful microfinance industry has been built that is effective in reaching millions of poor people, in providing them with financial services, and in reducing their poverty”[10]. Even though “like many other development tools [microfinance] has insufficiently penetrated the poorer strata of society”[11] , in recent years more and more emphasis is put on the improvement of the services of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to ensure their successful outreach to the most underprivileged communities and people. MFIs have been instrumental in empowering entire communities, especially women, previously denied the right to perform economic activity. The importance of entrepreneurship has been widely acknowledged as a rather optimal choice for development. One of the recent examples of a leader in great favor of promoting empowerment of the communities through entrepreneurship is the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, who has put forward an ambitious plan to transform its country into an entrepreneurship society.
What is, after all, the link between globalization, community and character? In recent years, globalization, defined as the rising global civic community, involved in the building of a better future for all, fighting for the eradication of extreme poverty and striving to bring equality and justice to all communities, has been instrumental in empowering local communities and bringing the benefits of the process to the poorest. The catch phrase “Think globally, act locally” is not simply a phrase anymore, it is reality. It is the way forward, the right development approach which builds active and socially responsible citizens, aware of the problems of their communities and involved in solving these problems! Therefore, globalization has the potential to bring up a new generation of global citizens, who think both globally and locally, as well, as contribute to the development of even the most impoverished communities.
The pursuit of human development, and not just blind economic growth has become the core goal of the international community. It is true that globalization has contributed greatly toward the increased levels of inequality present in the world now, but globalization is also the key to solving this problem, and delivering a better future to all.
The key to the success in the fight against poverty is for communities, enterprises, governments, NGOs etc. members of the international community to unite efforts and meet the challenges and opportunities together. United, their unique contributions of funding, technical skills, know-how or strategy are able to bring about tangible, positive and lasting change in the world.
Can character and communities survive in an age of globalization then? Yes. Even more so than before, because communities have started to arise, to unite, to be empowered and to seek their own well-being, while globalization has the potential to equip them with the necessary tools to reach their goals faster, more efficiently. People’s mind-sets have started to transform as well, and from being self-centered and seeking their own good alone, they have began to realize the great joy and harmony that exist in sharing responsibilities and benefits. Now, this is a major shift in character! Globalization has lured us with prospects for quick success and development, but here and now, we have the chance to experience a different aspect of its multi-faceted nature. Globalization has stirred the passion and desire in communities and individuals to unite and act together, to fight and achieve together, to become confident and responsible citizens, whose aim is to make their backyard, neighborhood, village, town, country and ultimately the world a better, more just and more equal place! All that is needed is enough will and faith in the power that arises when people are willing to put aside their differences and focus their strengths, talents, and resources on achieving their common goals!
[1] Tulchin S. Joseph, Gary Bland ed., Getting Globalization Right – the Dilemmas of Inequality, (Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder London), 2005, p.2
[2] Ibid, 2
[3] The United Nations Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries, ‘Making Globalization Work for the LDCs’, Turkey, 2007
[4] Ibid, 5
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Common_Future
[6] Bible, NIV, Rom.13:9
[7] Moon Jeremy, The Contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility to Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development, 15, 206-306 (2007) (accessed through Wiley InterScience, www.interscience.wiley.com)
[8] http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/index.html
[9] http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
[10] Daley-Harris Sam ed., Pathways out of Poverty, Kumarian Press, Inc, 2002, p.4
[11] Ibid, 5
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