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Read the first chapter of the Progressive Globalisation pamphlet by Michael Jacobs, Adam Lent and Kevin Watkins.
'Globalisation' has become one of the words of the age. Originally an obscure construct of sociologists and political economists trying to understand the new trends shaping the world in the late 20th century, it has now become the embodiment of an entire ideological conflict. There is not only 'globalisation' but 'anti-globalisation'. What was once simply descriptive has become value-laden. National politicians, international economists, non-governmental organisations and street protestors all cite globalisation or its negation as their cause. The media report occasional dramatic events – ministerial summit meetings ringed by angry protests in Seattle, Prague, Genoa, Cancun. Yet despite, or perhaps because of, its ubiquity, the daily impacts of the complex of forces summarised in the term globalisation – impacts in developed countries such as the UK as well as in the so-called Third World – still remain little understood.
Globalisation is all around us, yet precisely what is going on is not always clear.
This is particularly true of the politics of globalisation, where the intense polarisation between those 'in favour' and those apparently 'against' now frequently militates against understanding.
This pamphlet is a response to this. Its aim is to offer a more useful conceptual and political framework, not only for explaining the processes and impacts of globalisation, but for thinking about its politics. In particular, it seeks to offer a prospectus for those on the progressive wing of the political spectrum – for all those angered by economic and social injustice who seek feasible ways of shaping the world for the benefit of the least advantaged.
The approach we take is in many ways a familiar one. We argue that what is needed is a more managed form of capitalism, and a more redistributive and democratic form of international governance. In essence, what we propose is a global form of social democracy. We are struck by the historical parallels. Social democracy on a national scale emerged in the 20th century in Western Europe after the Second World War. But that war marked the terrible end of an earlier period of globalisation.
Despite the claims of its newness, the internationalisation of economic and cultural activity which we have witnessed over the last two decades is not in fact unprecedented. In the fifty years after 1870, the world experienced a similarly large increase in international commerce and investment, and the development of a new global culture and communications networks promoted by technological advance. Some countries experienced major growth in prosperity; others did not. Economic and political pressures led to the mass migration of peoples, notably from Europe to the United States. There was both world war and the creation of new multilateral institutions to attempt to avoid it.
But those institutions failed. By the 1930s the first phase of globalisation was ending in cataclysm. Nations proclaimed their right to act unilaterally, and self-interest took unashamed priority over international justice and cooperation. Whole populations were increasingly gripped by racism, xenophobia, political violence and extremist ideology. And as financial uncertainty and protectionism spread, the world was thrust into a deep economic depression. This combination of nationalism and economic collapse was ultimately to lead to the most bloody war humankind had ever suffered.
It is fatuous to claim that history repeats itself. There are crucial differences between the first era of globalisation and the current one. The earlier phase was driven more by European countries' colonial plans to internationalise the division of labour and industrialise their domestic economies and less by global trade and capital liberalisation. Economic and political structures today are more sophisticated – not least, because of the knowledge we have of the past. Nevertheless, the similarities are also noteworthy. Particularly striking, given the world's current uncertainties, is the way in which a drive to expand global economic, political and cultural relations, in part based on commercial and national self-interest and in part on ideals of human co-operation and peace, can be violently undone by a resurgence of nationalism and ideological or religious extremism. In turn these violent reactions can arise and spread in response to the perceived encroachments of dominant foreign interests on national cultures and economic security.
We argue in this pamphlet for the management of globalisation by multilateral institutions under principles of social justice. If this is not done – if globalisation is managed only in the interests of the powerful and wealthy – there is a clear risk of worsening the trends, already apparent, towards greater inequality, economic instability, social dislocation and political conflict. But if a balance can be struck between self-interest and the higher ideals of equality and justice, then the opportunities which globalisation offers may be realised, and the threat of conflagration contained.
It was just such a balance which social democrats struck after the Second World War in Western Europe. Through Keynesian economic policy and redistributive welfare states, social democracy at the national level proved that the worst impacts of unfettered capitalism could be controlled. Capitalism could be managed in the public interest by a democratic state, bringing huge gains to the mass of the population while retaining business profitability. For all the attempts during the 1980s and 1990s to roll it back, that social democratic settlement is still largely in place.
The core argument of this pamphlet is that the social democratic politics which transformed the lives of millions of people in Western Europe in the second half of the 20th century now needs, in the first half of the 21st, to be applied to the global stage.
Obviously the national model cannot be lifted wholesale. The international arena is different in vital respects from the national one. Social democracy was not, and is not, perfect, and there are fierce arguments in most European countries about how it should now respond to contemporary social and economic trends. But the essential principles of social democracy remain valid, and they have powerful relevance at the international scale. Indeed, one of the arguments now underway within European social democratic parties (including Labour in the UK) is how they should respond to globalisation.
This pamphlet argues both that the management of globalisation requires the application of social democratic principles at an international scale, and that by bringing these principles to bear, social democratic parties in Europe can reinvigorate their own domestic political appeal.
The argument is divided into three parts. The first part presents an analysis of the current phase of globalisation and the social democratic approach. The second part outlines what we describe as the 'four pillars' of progressive globalisation: equitable international trade, global economic regulation, redistribution of global wealth, and democratic global governance. The third explores the politics of change: the roles of social democratic parties, governments and campaigners in making progressive globalisation happen, drawing again on the lessons of social democratic history.
The need for a new political approach to globalisation is large and urgent. We live in a world of terrible suffering and deep insecurity. But there is an alternative.
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