[asia-apec 933] Fwd: "Alternatives to Globalization" Conference Statement

[Roberto Verzola]

I don't think the statement below has been circulated on this list.
The statement was adopted during the "International Conference on
Alternatives to Globalization", which was held in the Philippines,
November 7-9th, 1998. I believe around 100 participants attended.

Perhaps the organizers Ibon Databank or Bayan can include the complete
list of organizations which endorsed the statement?

Roberto Verzola
Secretary-General
Philippine Greens

---------------------------------------

Conference Statement
Approved November 9, 1998
Tagaytay City, Philippines

We, as individuals and groups from 31 countries in Asia and the
Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Europe and North America, representing
people's movements, networks, organizations, centers, institutes and
academe, have come together in the International Conference on
Alternatives to Globalization with two objectives: first, to seek a
deeper understanding of the global economic crisis and its causes;
second, on the basis of our shared views and experiences, to explore
and develop alternative strategies and paradigms in confronting
globalization.

Directly linked to the crisis is globalization - the neoliberal
offensive or contemporary conveyance of monopoly capital to maximize
the extraction of profit. To this end, globalization uses modern
technology (such as robotics and information technology) and the
political prescriptions - liberalization, deregulation and
privatization - of the triad multilateral institutions, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and World Trade
Organization (WTO).

Globalization has worsened the effects of the destructive paradigm of
"growth and development." Instead of economic prosperity and social
stability that it promised for all nations, globalization has brought
about economic turmoil, political and social tension, and widespread
devastation to the world's peoples and resources. The myth of
globalization has thus been fully exposed and debunked.

The impacts of the global crisis are all so clearly seen today.

The gap between the rich and poor in all nations, industrial and
non-industrial alike, and between the rich and poor countries is
widening rather than narrowing. Moreover, with the trend towards
mergers and acquisitions, increasingly much more wealth - and power -
is being concentrated in the hands of fewer monopoly capitalists who
control the transnational corporations (TNCs).

The systematic assaults on labor is dissipating the working class
gains, causing widespread unemployment, job insecurity, loss of
benefits, the destruction of trade unions. The massive displacement of
workers leads to the rise and further commodification of migrant
workers.

The peasants' limited gains in agrarian reform are likewise being
reversed, resulting in more landlessness, rural unemployment and
penury.

Exploitation of women labor, especially unpaid labor, in farms and
factories is intensified. The crisis causes more women and children to
be displaced, commodified and economically and sexually exploited as
modern-day slaves.  Patriarchy remains a key problem and physical
violence on women and children, both inside and outside the home, is
prevalent.

The indigenous people's struggle against exclusion, for their right to
self-determination, recognition of equal rights as citizens and right
to ancestral lands or historical domain is rendered more difficult. In
many instances their very survival is being threatened by
environmental degradation, mainly caused by TNCs, and by the state
policies of disguised genocide.

Global environmental abuse is being accelerated primarily by
globalization. The ill effects include climate change, ozone
depletion, air and  water pollution, ocean resource depletion and
pollution, deforestation, extinction of species and dangerous genetic
manipulation.

All these problems are arising because of the irrational pursuit of
profit by rampaging capitalism.

Everywhere globalization is eroding the gains of social movements in
all aspects (political, social and cultural). There is a general
regression of democracy, as economic impositions by states entail
increasing human rights violations, not only of economic, social and
cultural rights, but of political and civil rights as well. In the
third world, as the majority of the people are marginalized
economically, they are also disempowered politically.

State power in defense of the people's rights and welfare is
increasingly undermined. On the other hand, state power is, more than
ever, being used to step up the implementation of the neoliberal
prescriptions of globalization, in the form of national legislation,
bilateral agreements with IMF and WB, multilateral pacts under the WTO
regime, and regional and other arrangements.

The very proponents of globalization have acknowledged that the global
crisis embroils the entire capitalist system. They likewise admit the
inevitability of cyclical crises as inherent in the system. They warn
of its recurrence even as they confess failure to find a solution to
the current global crisis.

Far from nearing its end, the crisis threatens to get even worse. As
the liberalization and deregulation drive is being pushed to the
maximum - via the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the
WTO - the situation can only deteriorate.

Inexorably, the crisis has set in motion a growing opposition to
globalization among the adversely affected peoples, both organized and
unorganized, in all regions of the world. The rising level of popular
opposition is manifested in organized as well as spontaneous protest
actions, and in various creative, if less dramatic, ways.

The International Conference on Alternatives to Globalization is one
manifestation of this growing opposition. It is a closing of ranks of
diverse movements and initiatives toward more effective resistance to
globalization.

United in resisting and rejecting globalization, we are determined to
develop, through our separate and unified initiatives, effective
strategies and paradigms of economic and social development different
from the "growth and development" paradigm that has driven peoples to
further economic marginalization and political disempowerment.

Over the long term, we shall strive to develop alternative paradigms
that uphold and safeguard the peoples' interest, rights, welfare and
values, ensures their sovereign control of their natural and human
resources, guarantees economic democracy, democratic governance, and
their right to determine their national destiny.

Certainly, we have different ways and means to achieve such
paradigms, and we respect each other's independence in pursuing the
goal.

In the short term, we shall take steps to strengthen the capacities of
peoples and communities to defend themselves against the onslaughts of
globalization. We shall take recourse, principally, in expanding and
strengthening our organizations, sustaining education and pursuing
actions of resistance and struggle that have been proven effective,
while we explore and develop new ones as conditions may require.

Specifically, we call for the following urgent actions:

* Expose and oppose the MAI and prevent its negotiation within the WTO
by immediately launching sustained national and international
campaigns. Work for the withdrawal of the harmful agreements on
agriculture and TRIPs from the WTO.

* Campaign for the non-payment of foreign loans by nations in crisis.
Oppose the signing of new letters of intent with the IMF and reject
all onerous loan conditionalities.

* Oppose foreign military intervention in the internal affairs of
nations as it violates their sovereignty and right to
self-determination.

* Support the OilWatch declaration against new fossil fuel
exploration.

We firmly resolve to expand, intensify and sustain worldwide
resistance against globalization.  Separately and together, we shall
consistently wage militant struggles until we defeat this modern
scourge.