[asia-apec 895] Declaration of Solidarity (Asia-Europe Consultation)

[AMC]

18 November 1998

Dear Friends,

Here is the text of the Declaration of Solidarity of the "Asia-Europe
Consultation on Challenging Globalisation: Solidarity and Search for
Alternatives", which was held in Hong Kong on 7-10 October 1998.

This meeting was co-organised by the Asian Migrant Centre, Asia Monitor
Resource Centre, Asia Alliance of YMCAs, Asian Human Rights Commission,
Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives, Committee for Asian Women,
Documentation for Action Groups in Asia;  and was supported by EZE
(Protestant Association for Cooperation in Development) and ICCO. The local
host was the HK Baptist University Social Sciences Department. The summary
proceedings will be published and sent out later.

With our best wishes,
Rex Varona
Asian Migrant Centre

****************

DECLARATION OF SOLIDARITY
Final Statement of the Asia-Europe Joint Consultation
on "Challenging Globalization: Solidarity and Search for Alternatives"
Hong Kong,  7-10 October 1998

This Asia-Europe Joint Consultation on "Challenging Globalization:
Solidarity and Search for Alternatives" takes place even as the 'Asian
financial crisis' continues to deepen and spread across continents. The
conference sees this Asian and world economic crisis  in the context of
globalization, as rooted in the structures, policies and politics that have
been shaping the global economic order in the last three decades under the
heading of neoliberalism.
 
Globalization as a historic process is not new.  It has been going on since
the inception of the modern world market system. However, it has acquired
new features with the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in the early
seventies and with the consequent emergence of finance capital as the
primary moving force in the world market. The policy pursued by the OECD
countries after the breakdown of the old financial order helped create new
financial markets in the so-called 'emerging markets' in the South and
Eastern Europe. At the same time, the new rules of the global market
formulated primarily by the World Bank, IMF, and more recently, the WTO,
and inspired by neoliberal economics have rendered the national policies of
some countries and regions irrelevant, exposing the most vulnerable sectors
of society to the mercy of the market while favoring only a few. In some
cases, whole countries have been marginalized and their development status
thrown back by as much as 20 years. 

The issue of the loss of national sovereignty to the transnational
companies today is much more complex since the transnational companies have
not only grown in power but have also managed to manipulate the policies of
nation-states in order to pursue their narrow corporate interests. Some
states have made efforts, in varying degrees, against the undesirable
effects of globalization. The adverse social and economic impacts of
globalization push people's movements, both in the North and the South, to
resist and struggle for positive social, political and economic changes
over a broad range of regions and issues. Globalization is not a unilinear,
monolithic process but a multifaceted and highly contradictory one. 

Globalization in general and neoliberal globalization in particular have
had a very deep impact on the fabric of social relations. Globalization
affects labor markets and labor relations, migration, the use and control
of resources, human rights, democracy, cultures and traditions and gender
relations; and has a tendency to increase ethnic and racial conflicts in
ways which have sometimes led to civil wars. Despite the adverse impacts of
globalization, however, peoples of both the North and the South have
managed to create space for struggle over the social, economic, political
and cultural issues impinging on their lives. People's organizations and
NGOs should contribute to widening these spaces for struggle and
resistance, and for seeking new alternatives. 

On October 7-10, more than 60 representatives of NGOs, advocates and groups
from Asia and Europe met in Hong Kong to jointly discuss the phenomenon of
globalization. Our objectives were to deepen our understanding of
globalization and its impact on people, discuss ways of challenging and
resisting globalization, explore alternatives, and forge stronger
partnerships.

The conference deliberated on the following issues: 

LABOR

The conference noted the following trends in the labor market:
fragmentation of work and the workforce at the national and international
levels; widespread informalization; intensification of labor migration;
feminization of labor; and massive retrenchments and layoffs aggravating
the crisis of employment associated with the pattern of jobless growth.
There has been a consequent radical erosion of labor rights, making it more
difficult for workers to represent their interests in the company and
political levels, and reducing the strength of traditional unions. Thus
there is a need for new ways of organizing and representing labor interests. 

With regard to the formal sector, the conference recognizes the importance
of universally observing core labor standards. It welcomes the various
relevant international agreements but demands more effective mechanisms for
implementing them. 

With regard to the informal sector, there is a need to develop strong
organizations for the protection and empowerment of workers and to adopt
minimum "safety nets." The conference takes note of the positive impact,
limited though it may be, of such initiatives to minimize labor
exploitation as pressuring transnational companies to observe codes of
conduct and pressuring governments to adopt and implement core labor rights
and international standards, including for migrants, informal sector
workers and the unemployed. 

The linkage between labor standards and trade/investment regimes as a way
of protecting workers remains a contentious issue even among civil society
groups. Advocates of this idea are calling for the rethinking of the
linkage to take WTO and other international bodies into consideration.

The conference participants are united on the need to address economic and
social issues as an indivisible whole. We see the need for increased
solidarity, defined in part as working against the further fragmentation of
the global workforce and the unemployed. One possible avenue for solidarity
action is pressure for the enforcement of core labor rights and standards. 




RURAL ECONOMIES

Neoliberal globalization has everywhere marginalized the peasant sector.
This marginalization has been intensified by the agribusiness TNCs'
domination of world agriculture facilitated by the "Green Revolution"; by
the unequal liberalization of agricultural trade, including especially
European Union and United States subsidy policies; by corporate monopoly of
biotechnology; and by the withdrawal of government supports for agriculture
and bias towards the industrial sector. 

Moreover, this marginalization is aided by governments' lack of political
will to carry out genuine agrarian reform. The overall effects of these
processes are the following: landlessness and joblessness; unviability of
farms; poverty, indebtedness and destitution of peasants; loss or erosion
of land rights, loss of on-farm decision-making; overexploitation of
natural resources; depletion of genetic resources; water scarcity; and soil
erosion.  The breakdown of rural economies, with its attendant massive
rural unemployment, has also led to migration and the displacement of
communities; beyond the peasant sectors, it has led to the loss of food
security at a global level.  

Other critical issues posed by globalization to the rural sector include
the monopoly of food production by the North, which contributes to
undermining food security; the effects of IMF structural adjustment
programs (SAPs); the withdrawal of necessary government supports in the
South; and a broad range of issues confronting indigenous peoples. 

HUMAN RIGHTS

Globalization creates pressures not only for economic but also for
political issues, which are increasingly interconnected. While political
accountability becomes ever more essential in response to the pressures of
globalization it also becomes harder to achieve because of these same
pressures.

One crucial focus in the struggle over globalization should be the pressure
for democratization on all levels and in all spheres of politics. This
includes both democratization at the national levels and the democratic
restructuring of international organizations, particularly the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization. 

The recognition of human rights is an essential element of democratization.
 The conference stressed the need for the implementation and adoption of
existing human rights instruments.  The basic values contained in the human
rights instruments have to orient the political sphere at the national
level; each state has the responsibility to fulfill the basic needs of the
people. But these values also have to guide the principles of politics
within the international organizations. Civil society has a crucial role to
play in confronting official decision-making bodies at all levels, in
forcing them to live up to their responsibilities. The central element of
democratization is the strengthening of civil society as a countervailing
power to the economically and politically dominant forces. Our
understanding of civil society is emancipatory.
  
The politics of Western countries are highly contradictory when it comes to
human rights. On the one hand they push for the recognition especially of
political rights, while on the other they pursue policies which not only
impede the realization of economic, social, and cultural rights (e.g.,
SAPs) but also endanger the exercise of political rights. This is becoming
perfectly clear in the present economic crisis.
 
The realization of social, economic and cultural rights has to proceed from
the understanding that these constitute a right to life. As a step in this
direction there is a need for systematic collation of data on the impact of
the economic crisis on such most vulnerable and affected sectors as women
and children; migrants; refugees; victims of violence; peasants; and the
unemployed, both in the South and the North. The commonality of these
problems calls for solidarity across national and North/South dividing
lines and for more creative and effective ways of working towards the
enforcement of human rights.  

Foreign debt has caused the impoverishment of peoples by depriving them of
their dignity and their right to survive. Debt cancellation for the poor
countries before the year 2000 is crucial to claiming people's basic rights. 

As substantive democracy is threatened everywhere in the world, there is a
need for deeper consultation on democracy among the participants of this
conference and for further North-South dialogues.

Thus the task for human rights is to improve the quality of and defend the
right to life. The right to life is the source of all other rights, yet it
is threatened everywhere by poverty and violence. North-South dialogue must
concentrate on the defense of the right to life, economically as well as
politically. The easy tolerance of death and destruction need to be exposed
as negations of the right to life. Democratization both in the West and the
East must be founded on the premise of defending the right to life.  

The conference stressed the need for the implementation of human rights
instruments. 

GENDER

Patriarchy has permeated all aspects of the lives of women and gender
discrimination has intensified in the age of globalization, as women have
become increasingly absorbed into worldwide economic processes. While these
processes may sometimes have opened up new economic possibilities for women
they have also almost invariably lead to new and serious problems. These
include such gender-specific forms of exploitation as trafficking in women;
forced prostitution; feminization of labor; feminization of cheap labor;
feminization of poverty; and feminization of migration. 

Women have suffered some of the worst effects of globalization. These
include the deterioration of public services as a result of privatization;
other measures of structural adjustment (subsidy cuts); the transformation
of the farming sector, including its ecological consequences; and the
breakup of families under the economic and cultural pressures emanating
from globalization. Work in the home and other forms of domestic labor
continue to be economically and socially undervalued. Globalization and
patriarchal culture entrench women in specific roles (domestic workers,
plantation workers, entertainment workers, etc.) while treating their
bodies as commodities. 

There is a need to strengthen the discussion of gender issues in political
communication dialogue and action. There is also a need to integrate gender
perspective in challenging globalization, patriarchy and other oppressive
systems as well as in building alternatives to them. Such an integration
would also reflect the increasing role women play in the present economic
and social struggles throughout the world. 

CULTURE AND IDENTITY

The impact of globalization on cultures is complex and ambiguous. While on
the one hand globalization has opened up new possibilities and
opportunities (worldwide communication, exchanges among people, etc.), on
the other hand it has created a lot of pressure on various cultures,
including trends towards the homogenization of lifestyles as in consumption
patterns; consumerist values; communication patterns; styles of
urbanization; and the loss of some cultural systems. Homogenization does
not exclude domination by centralized culture and the possibilities for
abuse and manipulation of cultural identities for political purposes.
Indeed, such manipulation seems to be increasing. 

The issue of identity has to be considered fundamentally and in relation to
our own work and environments. The negative effects of identity politics
(pitting one social group against the other) can operate even within and
among NGOs and people's organizations. Very often we are caught in the trap
of dualistic discourse, structured by the distinction between 'them' and
'us,' between 'dominant' and 'dependent' cultures. There is a need to look
for mutual respect and recognition and also towards open communication and
creative interaction between cultures, recognizing that cultures are not
static but have their own dynamics of change. Such communication and
creative interaction do not imply glossing over conflicts of interest but
could make it possible to spell them out more clearly. We recognize that
culture and communication are affected by the constellations of political
and economic power in which they take place.

We commend the struggles of indigenous peoples to maintain their cultural
self-expression and integrity in the face of colonialism and neoliberal
globalization.




CONCLUSION

Despite the often reiterated claims of its proponents, neoliberal
globalization will not solve the problems of inequality. Nor will it feed,
clothe, educate, and empower the majority of the world's people. On the
contrary it has been a major factor in rendering increasing numbers of the
world's people hungry, homeless, destitute, illiterate and powerless in all
areas of their lives. What will empower people is their resistance to these
processes and their participation in building viable political and economic
alternatives. The conference takes note of the need to develop new
development paradigms, ones challenging the dominant neoliberal thinking
which relies solely on market forces. The conference also sees the urgency
of peoples' movements and NGOs pressuring both national governments and
international institutions for reforms focussed on people's welfare and
basic needs rather than on policies favoring international capital.

Even as North-South issues have been sharpened, there is increasing need
for those in both the North and South who suffer the consequences of
globalization to act in solidarity with each other. Within this solidarity,
first and foremost, the issues of those who are 'losers' in the process of
globalization must be raised. But this by itself is not sufficient. The
issues do not only concern 'losers' and 'winners' but are in the final
analysis issues of unjust structures that demand alternatives to neoliberal
'business as usual' posturing. While solidarity incorporates the
willingness for each to listen to the other and to respect the other's
views it must be understood first and foremost as a question of justice
and, with justice, of humanity. 

The conference agrees on the necessity to develop varied and creative forms
of alliance and strategy in the aid of genuine solidarity.

For the grassroots who are everyday resisting and fighting battles for
survival, the urgent task remains: to organize, organize, organize. But in
organizing, we have to build new forms of organizations, patterns of
relationships that are more equitable and just, that integrate popular
participation, and that generate new cultures that go against the logic of
neoliberal control and manipulation and that generate fresh approaches to
the question of alternatives.

New, creative, and effective strategies for resistance need to be
continuously evolved. Cross-border solidarity and people-to-people
alliances are most urgently needed. Such alliances are strengthened by the
realization and growing consciousness that issues across borders may not
necessarily be the same but they are often interconnected. We need to
continue to strengthen international solidarity, including campaigns and
joint action-alert mechanisms. We need, however, to radicalize the notion
of alliance building so that it is not only limited to 'political projects'
but become the basis for cross-cultural dialogues and inter-paradigmatic
exchanges, thereby enriching not only the struggle for resistance but also
the common search for viable alternatives.

We, the conference participants, express our appreciation to the convenors
for this opportunity to explore and practice new and continuing forms of
solidarity based on justice. We fully commit ourselves to work for this,
through organization and action, from North to South, from South to North,
from South to South and from North to North.

10 October 1998

Participants:


Asian Migrant Centre
4 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2312-0031   Fax: (852) 2992-0111
E-mail: amc at hk.super.net   Web: www.hk.super.net/~amc


Asian Migrant Centre
4 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2312-0031   Fax: (852) 2992-0111
E-mail: amc at hk.super.net   Web: www.hk.super.net/~amc