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1/2/2002 Whilst
the economically and politically powerful are meeting at the Davos
World Economic Forum in New York, thousands of miles away in southern
Brazil, a very different gathering, with a diametrically different
agenda, will assemble at Porto Alegre for the Second World Social
Forum. Amongst them will be, Dr Caroline Lucas, a member of the
European Parliament's Trade Committee and a member of the Green
Party. In this article Matthew Wooton explores the radical alternative
of 'less trade' that she advocates. Green MEP for South-East England, Dr Caroline Lucas, a member of the European Parliament's Trade Committee, and a member of the Parliament's delegation to the recent WTO meeting in Doha, will be contributing to this process by setting out the proposals from her recently published report, Time to Replace Globalisation (available at www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk). This focuses on one alternative in particular - localisation - the process of protecting and rebuilding local and national economies both North and South. She will argue that two trade shocks, both Asian in origin, are likely to help shift the global economy into precisely this direction of localisation: "China's recent membership of the WTO will accelerate its expansion into the domestic and foreign markets of its developing world competitors, with disastrous results for jobs in places such as Mexico, as well as Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand. For example, with Chinese wages at 20-25 cents an hour compared with $1.50 for Mexico, the big three motor manufacturers are moving car component production there not just from the US, but also from Mexico." "The other shock to globalisation comes from the world's biggest democracy, India. In 2000, the WTO forced India to remove import barriers with its ruling in the case on Quantitative Restrictions, causing farm prices, and hence rural incomes, to fall dramatically. The response has been for both Indian academics and activists to demand a return to import controls." In July a report by the prestigious Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Global Trade Systems and Development identified the import of foreign goods and services without quantitative and tariff restrictions as instrumental in destroying India's agriculture and industry, and causing further unemployment. It called for more emphasis on domestic investment and protection of domestic employment through the curbing of foreign investment, selective capital controls and higher tariffs. Dr Lucas says that the alternative of 'localisation' is a model that is beginning to be increasingly advocated both North and South. "In essence it means that the purpose of a country's economic policy is to protect and strengthen its local and national communities by producing as many goods and services as feasible and appropriate from within its own borders. This obviously does not mean putting an end to all trade. It simply means trying to meet more of our basic needs from closer to home. Anything that cannot be obtained locally is then sought in the region or continent. Finally long distance trade reverts to its original purpose - the quest for what cannot be easily obtained domestically." She concludes: "the slogan for the World Social Forum declares that 'Another World is Possible.' The need for a detailed route-map to such a world has never been greater." Porto Alegre will be a critical opportunity for these civil society groups to set out directions for achieving the equitable and sustainable economies that they claim 'corporate-led' globalisation cannot provide. The views in this article do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of EuropaWorld ©EuropaWorld 2001 - Copyright Policy
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