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AFRICA IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION: WHAT IS OUR
FUTURE?
Presentation at
the Conference on
LAND
AND GLOBALISATION IN AFRICA:CHALLENGES FOR THE CONTINENT
Arrupe College Harare, Zimbabwe
31 March 2001
Peter
J. Henriot
Let me begin my presentation with a very provocative
quote from an Ugandan political economist:
Anybody with any degree of
intellectual integrity would see that globalisation of Africa --- or the integration of
Africa into the global economy from the days of slavery to the contemporary period of
capital-led integration has on balance of costs and benefits been a disaster for
Africa, both in human terms and in terms of the damage to Afircas natural
environment. There is scarcely anybody in
Africa who would talk of the last 300 years, including the last 40 years since the first
African country gained independence, in language flattering either to colonialism or to
governments that have taken over power since political independence. World Bank and IMF officials who see wrong only in
the policies of African governments choose to forget that their own fingers have written
the various documents on which these policies from important substitution to now
export orientation were based. It is
also a measure of their intellectual dishonesty, or ideological brainwashing, that they
cannot see the connection between globalisation and Africas poverty.[i]
You will agree with me that this judgement is indeed
harsh. But is it true? Yes, I believe it is, and I will attempt in my
paper to demonstrate both the validity of the
judgement and the urgency of the call to respond
effectively with keen analysis, strong ethical evaluation and viable alternatives.
First let me say that I appreciate the invitation to
be part of this important conference on Land and Globalisation in Africa: Challenges
for the Continent. I highly commend the convenors here at Arrupe College. I expect to learn from your own observations about
globalisation. And I also look forward
especially to the discussion about land issues. Land
is indeed an important topic also for Zambia, where I have lived for the past twelve
years. And I must say in passing, that,
coming from Zambia, Im very happy to
have the opportunity to engage in substantive conversation about some other topic than
third termism!
In addressing the topic of Africa in the Age
of Globalisation: What Is Our Future?, I want to look at four points:
1. What
are the signs of the times of globalisation in Africa today (and my entry
point will obviously be the southern part of Africa that you and I are more familiar
with)?
2. What
do we mean by globalisation and what are the historical roots and structural elements of
this phenomenon as it affects Africa?
3. What
is the impact of globalisation on Africa, in economic, political, cultural and
environmental terms?
4. What
are the alternatives to globalisation, the possible futures, especially according to the
values of the churchs social teaching?
1. Signs
of the Times
Cell phones, airport
disinfectant, USA soap operas and anti-AIDS drugs. These
are four signs of the times of globalisation that I observed when I spent several days in
Harare last week.
First, I was almost run over by a driver talking on her cell
phone who was ignoring my effort to cross the street.
Now her cell phone may have been linking her to points between Mount
Pleasant and Avondale, or between Harare and Bulyawo, or between Zimbabwe and Zambia. But it also might be linking her with personal or
business connections in London, Moscow, New York, Tokyo or Delhi. For at least some
Zimbabweans, the cell phone has indeed globalised their families, their businesses, their
lives.
Second, departing from the
Zambia Air flight from Lusaka, I was amused to note the dismay and distaste of passengers
departing from the British Airways flight from London who were obliged to walk over a
strong-smelling disinfectant mat. Then I read
in the Herald that globalisation could
mean that hoof and mouth disease from England will arrive soon in Zimbabwe! And you thought you had agricultural problems only
because of land issues!
Third, I noticed that Zimbabwe has the same new set
of television programmes that Zambia has just recently acquired, offered by something
called the African Broadcasting Network.
But I noticed, as Im sure you have noticed, that there is nothing
African in these offerings only USA soap operas like Passions,
USA sit-coms (situation comedies) like Cosby, and even USA advertising. Globalisation seems even to have meant a new
definition for African, at least for the African Broadcasting Network! (A Zambian friend of mine told me he felt insulted
by ABN and he wondered if he was alone in such a reaction?)
And fourth, much of the discussion about the scourge
of HIV/AIDS here in Zimbabwe (as well as in Zambia, South Africa and many other places on
the continent) has recently centred on the availability of the newly developed triple
therapy drugs. These drugs are prohibitively expensive for most Africans if
purchased from the major Northern pharmaceutical companies, but might be cheaper if
imported from India or Brazil. But whether
expensive or cheap that is, whether life or death determinative for Africans --
depends in our globalised world of today on the policies and decisions of the Word Trade
Organisation and its most powerful member states, which, of course, are the headquarters
of the major pharmaceutical industries.
Business connections, agricultural issues,
entertainment possibilities, and life-and-death medical choices in an age of
globalisation, what is the future for Africa?
2. Globalisation:
DEFINITION, History and Structures
Globalisation
is one of the most widely used and least clearly defined of the terms in political and
economic discourse today.[ii] In hopes of at least narrowing our discussion
today to manageable limits, let me suggest some words that describe various dimensions of
the linking of nations and people in our globe:
·
independent: a country stands
alone, without need of others
·
dependent: a country is subservient to another or others, in
basic ways
·
interdependent: countries are
connected in various ways so that their existence is closely related
·
integrated: countries are joined
in such basics that they function almost as one
Another set of descriptions could be:
·
National: one state by itself
·
International: several states
relating to each other
·
Multinational: one entity located
in various states, but principally in one
·
Transnational: one entity without
any localised national identification
·
Global: many entities integrated into one emerging reality
I want to use the term globalisation to
refer to the phenomenon of increasing integration
of nation states through economic exchanges, political configurations, technological
advances and cultural influences.
·
Economic exchanges include cross-border trade in
goods and services, capital flows and financial investments. Today almost two trillion US dollars moves around
the world every day, seeking not the best production but the best return on speculation. Of the one hundred largest economic entities in
the world, fifty of them are nation states and fifty are transnational corporations.[iii]
·
Political configurations are the new or renewed
structures of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International monetary Fund, the
World Trade Organisation, the blocs of the European Community, the North American Free
Trade Area, etc. These are not democratically
elected governments but have considerably more power than any such governments. For example, the expanded trade related
mandate of the WTO now touches areas like intellectual property, employment policies,
environmental regulations, etc.
·
Technological advances include the rapidly growing
utilisation of electronic communications (e-mail and internet) and the increasing ease of
transportation. We live in an information
age, we live in a borderless age, we live in a very fast age.
·
Cultural influences are obvious in the westernisation
of so much of popular culture in music, clothes, life styles, etc. Today the single largest export industry for the
United States is not aircrafts, automobiles, computers, but entertainment Hollywood
films and television programmes.[iv]
These are the integrating
factors of globalisation today.
But before looking at how Africa is experiencing
globalisation today, it is very important to note that this is but the fourth stage of outside penetration of the
continent by forces that have had negative social consequences on African peoples
integral development.
·
The first stage was slavery, when the continents most precious
resources, African woman and men, were stolen away by global traders for the benefit of
Arab, European and American countries.
·
The second stage was colonialism, when British, French, Belgium,
Italian, German and Portuguese interests dictated the way that map boundaries were drawn,
transportation and communications lines were established, agricultural and mineral
resources were exploited, religious and cultural patterns were introduced, and political
alliances were arranged.
·
The third stage was neo-colonialism,
the form taken by political pressures and economic forces that set trade patterns,
investment policies, debt arrangements, technological introductions, political alliances,
etc.
·
The fourth stage is now globalisation as we know it today and about which
we ask in this conference: what does it mean for the future of Africa.
The structures that are the foundations of
globalisation as we experience it today, and that guide its future development, are
important to identify. Some are obvious from
what I already have spoken of briefly in outlining the elements of the definition. Here let me speak of only a few of the more
important structures and then in the next section of my paper let me identify their impact
on Africa.
The first
structure is ideological. Globalisation as currently experienced is, in its
major direction, an incarnation of neo-liberalism.[v] In its extreme, this ideology is a kind of economic
fundamentalism that puts an absolute value on the operation of the market and
subordinates peoples lives, the function of society, the policies of government and
the role of the state to this unrestricted free market.
Neo-liberal policies support economic growth as an end in itself and use
macro-economic indicators as the primary measurements of a healthy society. It assumes almost a religious character, as greed
becomes a virtue, competition a commandment, and profit a sign of salvation. Dissenters are dismissed as non-believers at best,
and heretics at worst. Problems with the operation of this ideology -- even such massive
problems as the collapses experienced a few years ago in Asian economies -- are seen not
as mortal sins but as mere falls from grace that deserve more
penitential practice of the exercises that are demanded by the ideology.[vi]
The second structure is capital flow.
Even before trade in basic goods and services, by far the largest component
of globalisation is the movement of money across borders.
This is disconnected capital, institutionally managed money, that moves with
the speed of a mouse click on a computer, putting money into a situation for quick return,
pulling it out equally speedily for a safe return. The
severe problems experienced by the Asian Tigers were largely due to the rapid and uncontrolled movement
of capital.
The third structure is trade, usually under the guidance of the creed of
free trade. Because of the
technological advances in communications and transportation, goods produced in one country
move rapidly into other countries, frequently disrupting traditional productive patterns
in the second country. One can think simply
of the decline in the automobile industry in the United States because of competition from
Japan. Trade relationships may be free
but whether or not they are fair depends on factors of power, size,
experience, skills, etc. And in our world of
today, these factors are very a-symmetrical in distribution and utilisation.
The fourth structure is cultural. We
all have heard of, indeed, experienced, cultural imperialism, the imposition
of values and style of life by dominant forces. One
commentator has referred to the contemporary process of globalisation as the birth of the
McWorld a cultural integration of fast music (MTV), fast computers
(MacIntosh) and fast food (McDonalds).[vii] Cultural imperialism is not a new phenomenon, but
it assumes alarming proportions when driven by the new technologies and profit
propensities of the dynamics of globalisation. A
Jesuit economist friend of mine, Xabier Gorostiaga, working in Nicaragua, refers to the
predominance of geoculture over the geopolitical and the geoeconomic.[viii] Traditional cultural values such as family,
community, respect for life, hospitality, etc., come into strong confrontation and do
losing battle with the values communicated through Western music, movies, videos, cable
and satellite television, advertisements, and the idolised figures of entertainment and
sports.
The fifth structure is political. It
may surprise some of you that I mention this last, since I am by training a political
scientist. But this is deliberate, in order
to emphasise the point that the ideological structure, the economic structures of capital
flow and trade, and the cultural structure, are today more influential than the political
structure. With the end of the Cold War,
there has been a significant change in the geo-political structures shaped by the
East-West conflict. A bi-polar world has
given way to a design for a New World Order (proposed ten years ago following
the Gulf War). But the political dimensions
of this new order are themselves subject to the economic influences of available markets,
accessible resources, and technological arrangements.
The point made several years ago by Pope John XXXIII, that development of
global economic relationships has outstripped the development of political governance
structures to pomote the global common good,[ix] is more than ever true
today.
3. IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON AFRICA
So what does all this mean for
Africa? To return to the title of this
presentation, What is our future in this age of globalisation? Is the extremely harsh judgment of Yash Tandon
that I cited in opening my paper accurate, that there
really is a very close connection between globalisation and poverty in Africa?
Let me begin by acknowledging that there are many
Africas. To speak only of sub-Saharan
Africa, what might happen with the African super powers like Nigeria and South
Africa may in some ways be significantly different than what would happen in Zambia or
Zimbabwe, Tanzania or Gabon. So let me be
careful with generalisations qualifying them as trends that know exceptions but
nevertheless portray general directions. And
I do believe that these general directions, if left unaltered, are not at all favourable
to the seven hundred million people of sub-Saharan Africa.
I want to speak of only three of what I judge to be
the most important consequences: enlarging gap between rich and poor, increasing
marginalisation, and growing environmental threat.
The first thing to note is the enlarging gap between the rich countries of the
north and the poor countries of the south, with particular focus on Africa. Economic prosperity brought about through
industrialisation, technological innovations, trade and investment, etc., has not in fact
been widely experienced in Africa. Let me
offer a few empirical observations to demonstrate that fact.
Of the 64 countries ranked as low income
by the World Bank 2000 report, 38 are in Africa.[x] This ranking is on the
basis of strict economic calculations of GNP per capita.
Of the 35 countries ranked low human development by the UNDP
2000 report, 27 are in Africa.[xi] This ranking takes account of social calculations
such as life expectancy and literacy, revealing the human side of development.
That this situation of the gap has indeed worsened in the age of globalisation is shown in
the fact that the average annual rate of growth in GNP per capita between 1990 and 1998
has in the 43 sub-Saharan African states grown
·
by more than 4% in only one
country,
·
from 3-4% in 3 countries,
·
from 0-3% in 20 countries, and
·
less than 0% in 19 countries.[xii]
You may be familiar with the expression, the champagne
glass economy, a picture of the globe emerging from the recent UNDP Human
Development Reports that document that the richest 20% of the worlds population
receives 86% of global income, while the poorest 20% receives just 1%.[xiii] This is a picture of the globe in which the huge
majority occupies only the narrowest stem of the glass while the tiny rich majority enjoys
the broad bowel of affluence. In this
champagne glass, we all know where the majority of Africans fit!
You probably have heard these figures before, but
let us hear them once again:
·
the assets of the 3 richest
people are more than the combined GNP of all the least developed countries;
·
the assets of the 200 richest
people are more than the combined income of 41% of the worlds people;
·
a yearly contribution of 1% of
the wealth of the 200 richest people could provide universal access to primary education
for all.[xiv]
Is globalisation good for Africas future? Not, I would argue, in its present form that has
been exaggerating the gap between Africa and the so-called developed world.
Second, the current structuring of globalisation
creates an increasing marginalisation of Africa in the very process of
Integrating it into the global economy. For
there is a stark disparity between rich and poor in the global opportunities offered in
trade, investment and technologies. The
figures I cite here are for the world at large, but remember that when the poorest
are spoken of, the majority of poor countries are in Africa.
·
Trade: the shares of the world export markets of
goods and services go 82% to the richest 20% of the people living in the highest income
countries, the bottom 20% just 1%
·
Investments: the shares in foreign direct
investment go 68% to the richest 20%, just 1% to the poorest 20%
·
Technology: taking shares of internet users as one
example, 93.3% go to the richest 20%, 0.2% to the poorest.[xv]
Speaking of internet, to purchase a computer in
Zambia could take up to four years of the complete salary of a school teacher, but less
than a months salary of a US school teacher.
This marginalisation has increased dramatically in
recent years, and shows no signs of decreasing. As
the UNDP 1999 Report commented:
Some have predicted convergence. Yet the past decade [the decade of the most
intense globalisation!] has shown increasing concentration of income, resources and wealth
among people, corporations and countries
. All
these trends are not the inevitable consequences of global economic integration but
they have run ahead of global governance to share the benefits.[xvi]
A third observation deals with the growing environmental threat to Africa that comes
from a particularly disturbing aspect of globalisation, the phenomenon of global warming. As you know this phenomenon is caused mostly by
carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, power plants and industries that are, of
course, most heavily concentrated in the so-called developed countries. I just recently read a report circulated last
month by the United Nations Environmental Programme, based in Nairobi. It spoke in frightening terms of the impacts on
Africa of global warming, with rising levels of disease, famine and poverty. For instance:
heavy, monsoon-like, rains and higher
temperatures will favour the breeding of disease-carrying mosquitoes, allowing them to
thrive at higher altitudes. Higher
temperatures, heavier rainfall and changes in climate variability would encourage insect
carriers of some infectious diseases to multiply and move further afield The report cites
how malaria cases in the highland area of Rwanda have increased by 337 per cent in recent
years with 80 per cent of the climb linked with changes in temperature and rainfall which
improved breeding conditions for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. A similar link has been
reported in Zimbabwe
. Cholera, which is transmitted by water or food, could
aggravate health problems in many parts of the world including Africa. The scientists say
that during the 1997-1998 El-Nino excessive flooding caused cholera epidemics in Djibouti,
Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. [And, I might add, Zambia!]
There is evidence that El Nino, a vast
natural climatic phenomenon that can bring intense floods
and droughts in many parts of the globe, is becoming more frequent as a result of global
warming.[xvii]
The report goes on with more disturbing data and
analysis, but we here in southern Africa know well the story of struggling with
alternating droughts and floods. You might
tell me that these are effects should be blamed on nature
and not on humans. But we have to remember that the global warming is
indeed linked to a globalisation of economic forces that develop without ecological
concern and of political forces that support these forces.
We have had clear proof of that in the past few days with USA President
George Bushs blunt rejection of the Kyoto agreements to limit harmful emissions.
There are other dimensions of the impact of
globalisation on Africa that I could mention here, such as the arms trade (called by the
African Synod obscene), sex trade, drug trade, the suffocating burden of
external debt that is only partially lifted through flawed programmes like the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC), the dangerous dimensions of the WTOs
patenting of intellectual property, the continued imposition of harsh
adjustment programmes that do not promote long-term human development. (You know that the Structural Adjustment Programme
in Zambia is called SAP starve African people, or stop all
production, or, in ciNyanja, satana ali pano the devil is in our
midst!).
But I limit my remarks to the impacts that can be
described as the enlarging gap between rich and poor, the increasing marginalisation
through structures of trade, investment and technology, and the growing environmental
threat. I admit that I have painted a rather
grim picture of these impacts, and someone might say to me: But surely there are positive aspects of globalisation. I suppose there are but please invite
someone else to present that side of the picture! Perhaps
someone during our discussions here today will provide another side to the story. Im sorry, but for me I see too many of the negative sides in my life as a pastor in a poor
parish outstation and in my studies at the JCTR to offer what might appear to be a more
balanced picture.
4. ALTERNATIVES to Globalisation from the
perspective of the Churchs Social Teaching
While I may be negative in my analysis of the impact of
globalisation on Africa, on the people of Africa, I can be positive in my offering of alternatives to the
orientation, organisation, operation and outcome of globalisation. That is because I both as a political
analyst and as a policy activist am heavily influenced by the churchs social
teaching. And Im not shy when it comes
to speaking about that teaching![xviii]
I believe that
the churchs social teaching found in scripture, in the writings of
theologians both ancient and contemporary, in the statements of popes, councils, synods,
regional and national pastoral letters, and in the lives of good people everywhere
offer a vision and suggest structures that can create alternatives to what we
are experiencing today.
Let me say a
word about alternatives. To Margaret Thatcher
is attributed the TINA phrase: There are no alternatives! (She was speaking about free market approaches.) But I and millions, probably billions
prefer the TAMA phrase: There are many alternatives! For are we to accept the fact that globalisation
is inevitable? To answer that it
is necessary to make an important distinction between:
·
Objective forces driving globalisation, such as the
facts of technological production and electronic communications, that, left to themselves,
would concentrate in the hands of the already powerful any benefits of globalisation.
·
Subjective choices shaping globalisation, such as
the policies that contribute to its direction, for example, regulation, taxes, governance
structures of accountability and participation, etc., that can be changed to spread the
benefits of globalisation.
To influence the subjective choices, I believe it is necessary to
follow a three-fold path (suggested in another context by a specialist in the churchs
social teaching in the States, J. Bryan Hehir) that includes:
·
Working with globalisation
·
Working against globalisation
·
Working towards globalisation
Working with globalisation means utilising the objective
forces that can indeed benefit humanity. For
example, in my social justice work in Zambia, I personally benefit from the internet,
though I am aware that I am part of a very small and very privileged minority in Africa,
indeed, in Zambia. And I hope I use it for
the benefit of others.
Working against globalisation is to do the critical
analysis necessary to expose its counter-development consequences and to struggle to
confront the actors personal, political and corporate who promote those
consequences. Much publicity has been given
in recent months to the demonstrations occurring in Seattle, Washington DC, Prague, Davos
and elsewhere by the forces of anti-globalisation. I know many of those involved in such
demonstrations and the most important part, the strongest part, of their confrontation has
not been sporadic violence but consistent analysis.
Working towards globalisation is to offer the
alternatives, the strategies and tactics, that will shape our future, not only here in
Africa but around the world.
For me, the churchs social teaching
offers the vision and suggests the structures that can assist in all three endeavours. Let me offer a framework of three varieties of
globalisation that embody both vision and structures that have meaning for us here in
Africa today.
Globalisation
of solidarity: This is a counter-emphasis, indeed a counter-cultural emphasis, to the
structures that drive globalisation today. This
emphasis is summed up by John Paul II in his World Day of Peace Message in 1998, when he
called for a globalisation in solidarity, a globalisation without marginalisation. Solidarity can also be expressed in the beautiful
African proverb, I am because we are; we are because I am. My personal existence, identity and worth is only
within community; and the order, function and beauty of community is only possible with my
personal contribution.
Solidarity means, especially in the
writings of John Paul II, awareness and caring, actions and programmes. It is a contemporary expression for commitment to
the common good. It is a response to the
recognition that true development is not only of the whole person but also of the whole
person within the whole community. This is a
vision that contains the social values grounded on the fundamental dignity of the human
person.
This solidarity of globalisation would mean
a globalisation with:
·
Ethics less violation of human rights, not
more
·
Equity less disparity within and between
nations, not more
·
Inclusion less marginalisation, not more
·
Human security less instability of societies
and less vulnerability of people, not more
·
Sustainability less environmental
destruction, not more
·
Development less poverty and deprivation,
not more[xix]
Where is this very eloquent list of values
found in the body of the churchs social teaching?
In many places to be sure, but this precise
list is found on the second page of the UNDP Human
Development Report 1999. And that it something that excites me! A secular institution like the UNDP is quite at
home in speaking the value language we ordinarily associate with the churchs social
teaching. Surely we should be equally at
home! For that is something essential to
promoting alternatives: to have an alternative
vision and to unabashedly push it.
Globalisation
of concern: this is simply the value that
emphasises the priority of people over profit, labour over capital and cooperation over
competition. It is an expression of a central
emphasis in contemporary churchs social teaching, the preferential option for the poor. A Jesuit moral ethicist who has lectured here at
Arrupe College, David Hollenbach, has argued that global public goods such as
environmental sustainability, protection from global transmission of infectious diseases
and promotion of peace and stability both nationally and internationally are goods that
cannot be expected to be produced in free market exchanges.
According to Hollenbach, these goods
are also both global and public in
the sense that any particular nation can enjoy them only when other nations also enjoy
them in some directly proportional way. An
individual shares in a global public good precisely because that nation is part of the
global whole in which that good is present.[xx]
Recognition of this strengthens our
critique of the free market ideology, since free markets do not produce global goods. As one ethicist commented, The free market
is potentially a useful servant, although it is certainly a bad master. (J. Philip Wogaman)
This means that the globalisation of
concern is a prerequisite for the well-being of all.
In our globalising Africa, it is indeed a prerequisite for survival.
Globalisation
from below: This happy turn of phrase focuses our attention on the fact that integral
human development, sustainable human development, depends more on harmonious human
relationships at the local level that on the organisation and operation of unaccountable
national or international political structures or an unfettered free market. A fundamental fault with globalisation, especially
as experienced in Africa, is that it is not rooted in community but structured from above
according to abstract economic laws. To
counter this situation in a creative fashion calls for implementation of what the churchs
social teaching calls subsidiarity. This is the building at local levels with peoples
participation of the structures necessary for development.
One such structure obviously is a strong
national government. The churchs social
teaching certainly does not support neo-liberalisms call for the retreat of the
state from its duties to promote the common good.[xxi] It is true that nations with strong political
structures, rooted in real democracy, are more likely to defend themselves against the
pressures and crises of globalisation than weak and inefficient states or even strong
states that lack public support. I believe
that this truth has lessons for both Zambia and Zimbabwe today!
Moreover, muchbut admittedly, not all
of the recent world-wide explosion in the so-called civil society, activities by
non-governmental organisation (NGOs), is one expression of this effort to build
globalisation from below. The womens
movement, human rights advocacy, environmental concerns all have strong
international networks of local groups. Two
recent campaigns have special relevance to Africa as examples of globalisation from below:
the campaign against land mines and the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation campaign. The fact that both these extremely complex and
difficult issues have been moved to the forefront of global concern is a tribute to
widespread efforts at the local level.
5.
CONCLUSION: THE
FUTURE FOR AFRICA OF GLOBALISATION
The problem with globalisation is that it
simply too global, too big a topic! I still
have at least ten or twenty more pages of analysis to offer you this morning. But Ill save that for another time
.
In dealing with globalisation in Africa, I
have tried in my presentation to outline some of the signs of the times, to sketch a few
points about the definition, history and structures of globalisation, to analyse what it
is meaning for Africa today, and to suggest some alternatives to pursue in both our
analysis and our actions, based on perspectives from the churchs social teaching.
I want to end with an eloquent statement
from Mahatma Gandhi, expressed earlier in the last century.
He said:
I do not want my house to be walled
in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I
want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.[xxii]
Personally, I have lived in Africa for only
twelve years and for almost all of that time in only one country, Zambia. But I have a sense deep down that Africa, that you
Africans, will also refuse to be blown off your feet by the winds of globalisation. And so I say to you: let your house be open, be
hospitable. But let is be your house, your
future. That is my hope and my prayer, and
that is your task and your challenge!
Thank you!
Peter J. Henriot
JESUIT CENTRE FOR THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia
Tel: 260-1-290410 fax: 260-1-290759
e-mail: phenriot@zamnet.zm
web: www.jctr.org.zm
ENDNOTES
[i]
Yash Tandon, Globalisation: Africas
Options, ISGN Monograph No, 2, March 1999; Quezon City, Philippines: International
South Group Network, p. 9.
[ii]
One of the most thorough overviews of the topic of globalisation, and a study I
have relied on heavily in this paper, is the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report 1999 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
[iii] Figures cited in The Rough Guide to
Globalisation, a CAFOD Briefing Paper, December 2000.
[iv]
Human Development Report 1999, p. 33.
[v]
For a clear explanation of this ideology with examples of its workings in Latin America,
see Neoliberalism in Latin America,: A Letter from the Latin American
Provincials of the Society of Jesus, in The Month,
July/August 1997, pp. 281-284.
[vi]
For a well-developed analysis of this economic fundamentalism and its implications, see
John Mihevc, The Market Tells Them So: The World
Bank and Economic Fundamentalism in Africa (Penang, Malaysia: Third World Network,
1995), especially pp. 21-42.
[vii]
See Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld, The
Atlantic Monthly, March 1992.
[viii] Xabier Gorostiaga, S.J., Citizens of the
Planet and of the 21st Century, SEDOS
Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 3, 19 March 1996, p. 9.
A significant international project on Globalisation and Culture is
currently being conducted by the Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University,
Washington, DC.
[ix]
John XXIII, Peace on Earth, 1963, #s 135-136.
[x]
See World Bank, World Development Report
2000/2001: Attacking Poverty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[xi]
See United Nations Development Programme, Human
Development Report 2000 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[xii]
Human Development Report 2000, p. 81.
[xiii] These figures are from the Human Development Report 1999, p. 3. The champagne glass figure was
introduced on the cover of the Human Development
Report 1997, which had the theme Human Development to Eradicate Poverty.
[xiv] Human
Development Report 1999, p. 38.
[xv] Human
Development Report 1999, P. 2.
[xvi] Human
Development Report 1999, p. 3.
[xvii] Global Warming: Africa
Hit Hardest, Press release about report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), from United Nations Environmental Programme, Nairobi, 22 February 2001.
[xviii] See Peter J. Henriot,
Edward P. DeBerri, and Michael J. Schultheis, Catholic
Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, Centenary Edition (Washington DC: Center of
Concern, and Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992).
[xix]
Human Development Report 1999, p. 2.
[xx]
David Hollenbach, S.J., Working for Solidarity in an Age of Globalisation,
presentation at Forum of Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, Lusaka, Zambia, 19
October 2000, p. 4.
[xxi]
See Peter J. Henriot, S.J., Retreat of the State: Political Consequences with Social
Implications for Zambia, Trocaire Development
Review 1997, pp. 39-60.
[xxii] Quoted in Human
Development Report 1999, p. 33.
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