Globalisation and the new localism |
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| The old localism began in the days before money. People were more or less self
sufficient and traded by exchanging goods and services. They were very much in
control of what happened in their lives and knew very little about what was
happening in the rest of the world. Colonialism changed all of that. Ordinary people lost control over the use of their natural resources and became wage slaves and tax payers. Many of them went to school where they studied history and geography. Their knowledge and understanding about other nations and international trade increased. Now there is something called Globalisation. The box describes three theories about what the word means. Whichever theory is correct there has been, since the 1970s, a worldwide shift towards free market policies and a loss in government control over what happens in national economies. Structural adjustment policies have led to deregulation, privatisation, and decentralisation. This has made it easy for foreign companies to have a huge influence over what happens in local economies. This in turn means that a lot of power has shifted from elected politicians to unelected businessmen. As a result ordinary people have gradually lost interest in voting for representatives. They now take direct action through Civil Society Organisations and they form social movements to influence the specific problems which they are facing. The basics of the political process is as old as time. There needs to be a balance between politicians who want power, businessmen who want profit and ordinary people who want justice and fair play. It might be argued that global businessmen today have too much independence and that the system is out of balance. This is why there is so much poverty and environmental destruction. When the World Bank and the IMF set conditions for loans to the governments of poor countries they look in two different directions at the same time. When looking to the left they say that the Poverty Reduction Strategy should be built through widespread participation and consultation and therefore be locally owned. This means that there should be more democracy. When looking to the right they say that there should be deregulation and privatisation. This means that control will be given to businessmen who are not democratically accountable. The new localism fits into the spaces which are created by this situation. Local people have to understand the global forces which affect them. They can then form alliances with groups and movements in their own country and build their own non-profit undertakings, such as co-operatives, mutuals and social enterprises. In addition they can link with like-minded social movements in other countries to gather information and build their arguments (information technology can help with this). Representatives of ordinary people can then have a voice at table with politicians and businessmen. This is how ordinary people can help to argue the case for social justice and environmental sustainability. |
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