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December6 1993 The Nation.

68

ARTICLES.

AFTER NAFTA

Global Village

or

Global Pillage?

JEREMY BRECHER

or most of the worlds people, the New World

Economy is a disaster that has already happened.

Those it hurts cant escape it. But neither can they

fford to accept it.

So

many are now seeking ways

to reshape it.

When

I

first started writing about the destructive effects

of globalization three years ago, The North American Free

M e greementwas widely regarded s a done deal.The near

defeat of NAFTA reveals pervasive opular doubt about the

wisdom of an unregulated international market. The struggle

against NAFTA represented the first major efforty Americans

who have been urt

by

global economic integrationo do some-

thing about it. Like many mass movements,

t

included con-

tradictory forces, such as the Mexico-bashing bigotry of Pat

Buchanan, the populist grandstanding of

Ross

Perot and the

nationalistic protectionism of some in the labor movement.

But other elements of the struggle against NAFTA prefig-

ure a movement that could radically reshape the New World

Economy. Out of their own experiences and observations,mil-

lions of Americans have constructed a new paradigm for un-

derstanding the global economy. Poor and working people in

large numbers have recognized hat NAFTA s not primarily

about trade; it isabout the ability of capital to move without

regard to national borders. Capital mobility, not trade, is

bringing about the giant sucking ound of jobs going south.

For the first time in many years, substantial numbers of

people mobilizedo act

o

broad class interests. havent seen

a movement for years in whichso many people at the grass

roots took their

own

initiative. Typicalwas the unexpectedly

large, predominantly blue-collar anti-NAFTA rally in New

Haven, where

a

labor leader told me, We didnt turn these

people out.

The

New Global

Pillage

NAlTA became a symbol foran accumulation of fearsand

angers regarding the place of working people

in

the New

World Economy.The NorthAmerican economic integration

that NAFTA

was

intended to facilitate is only one aspect of

the rapid and momentous historical transformation from a

system

of

national economies toward an integrated global

economy. New information, communlcation, transportation

and manufacturing technologies, combined withariff reduc-

tions, have made it possible to coordinate production, com-

merce and finance

o

a world scale. Since

1983

the rate of

Jeremy Brecher isa historian and

o-edltor

of Global Visions:

Beyond the New World Order South End).

world foreign direct investmenthas grown four times as fa

as world output.

This transformation has had devastating consequence

They may be summarized as the seven danger signals o

cancerous, out-of-control globalization:

Race to the bottom.

The recent quantum leap in the abilit

of transnational corporations to

relocate

their facilities roun

the world in effect makes all workers,ommunities and coun

tries competitors for these corporations favor. The conse

quence is a race to the bottom in which wagesand soci

and environmental conditions tend to fall to the level of th

most desperate.This dynamic underlies

U.S.

deindustrializ

tion, declining real wages, eradication of

job

security, an

downward pressureon social spending and investment; it

also largely responsible for themigration of low-wage, en

ronmentally destructive industries to poor countries likeMe

ico and China.

ational governments haveost

much

of theirpower

to

direct their

own

econorniex

Global stagnation. As each work force, community o

country seeks to become more competitive by reducing i

wages and its social and environmental overheads, the resu

is a general downward spiral in incomes and social and m

terial infrastructures.Lower wagesand reduced public spend

mean less buying power, leadingo stagnation, recession an

unemployment. This dynamic is aggravated by the accumu

lation of debt; national economies in poor countries and eve

in

the United States become geared o debt repayment at th

expense of consumption, investment and development. Th

downward fall is reflected inhe slowing of global NP grow

from almost

5

percent per year inhe period

1948-1973

to on

half that in the period

1974-89

and to mere crawl sincehe

Polanzatron

of

haves andhave-nots.

As

a result of glo

alization, the gap between rich and poor is increasing bot

within and between countries around the world. Poor

U.

communities boast world-class unemployment and infan

mortality. Meanwhile, tensof billions of dollars

a

year flo

from poor to rich regions of the world, in the form of deb

repayment and capital flight.

oss of democratic control.National governments have

much of their power to direct their own economies. The abi

ity ofcountriestoapply socialist or even Keynesian echnique

in pursuit of development, full employmentr other nation

economic goals has been undermined by the power ofcapit

to pick up and leave. Governmental economic poweras bee

further weakened throughout the world by neoliberal politi

movements that have dismantled government institutions fo

regulating national economies. Globalization has reduced th

power of individuals and communitles o shape their destini

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686 The Nation.

December

6. 1993

Walter Wriston, former chairman of Citicorp, recently

boasted of how 200 000monitors in trading rooms

all

over

the world now conduct a kind of global plebiscite on the

monetary and fiscal policies of he governments issuing ur-

rency.

. .

There is no way for

a

nation to optout. Wriston

recalls the election ofardent socialist FrancoisMitterrand

as French President in

1981.

The market took one look at

his

policies andwit in

ix

months the capital flight forcedim

to reverse course.

Udettemd ttumnational corpotutions.

ransnationals have

become the worlds most powerful economic actors,et there

re

o

international equident s

o

national antitrust,

consum

er

protection and other laws that provide a degree of corpo-

rate accountability.

Unaccountable global institutions.

The loss of national

economic control has been accompanied by a growing con-

centration of unaccountable power in international institu-

tions like the InternationalMonetary Fund, the World Bank

and the General Agreementn Tariffs and h d e

GATT).

For

poor countries, foreign control has been formalized in the

World Banks structural adjustment plans, but I.M.F. de-

cisions and G A m rules affect the economic growth rates of

ll

countries. The decisions of these institutions

also

have

an

enormous impact on the global ecology.

Global

c o f l i c t . Economic globalizations producing chaotic

and destructive rivalries. n a

swirl

of self-contradictory strat-

egies, major powers and transnationals use globalnstitutions

like

GATT

to impose open markets on their rivals; theypur-

sue trade

ars

against one another; and they

t ry

to construct

competing regional blocs likehe European Community and

NAFTA. In past eras, such rivalries have ultimately led to

world war.

In sum the result of unregulated globalizationas been the

pillage of the planet and its peoples.

lhnsnational

Economic Programs

What are the alternatives o destructive globalization?The

right offers racism nd nationalism. Conventional protection-

ism offers no solution. Globalization has also intellectually

disarmed the left and rendered national left programs ounter-

productive. Jimmy Carters sharp turn to the right in

1978;

Francois Mitterrands rapid abandonment of his radicalpro-

g r a m the acceptance of deregulation, privatizationnd trade

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We invite proposals for research on the intersec-

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Send project description CV three

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liberalization by poor countries from India to Mexico

and even the decision ofEastern European elites to abandon

Communism-all reflect in part the failure of national lef

policies.

But the beginnings of a new approach emerged from the

anti-NAFTA movement itself. Rather than advocate pro

tectionism-keeping foreign products out-many NAFTA

opponents urged policies that would raise environmental

labor and social standards

in

Mexico,

so

that those standard

would not drag down those in the United States and Cana

da. This approach implied that people indifferent countrie

have common interests in raising he conditions

of

those

a

the bottom.

Those harmed

by

theN ewWorld

Economy need notbepmsive

victim.

Indeed, the struggle against

NAFTA

generated new trans

national networks based

n

such common interests.A North

American Worker-to-Worker Network links grass-rootsabo

activists in Mexico, the United States and Canada via con

ferences, tours, solidarity support and a newsletter. Mujer a

Mujer similarly links womens groups.he Highlander Cen

ter, Southerners for Economic Justice, the Tennessee Indus

trial Renewal Networkand a number of unions have organ

ized meetings and tours to bring together Mexican and U.S

workers. There are similar networks in other parts of the

world, such

as

Peoples Plan

21 in

the Asian-Pacific nd Cen

tral American regions and the Third WorldNetwork n

Malaysia.

These new networks are developing transnational pro

grams to counter the effects of global economic restructur

ing. Representatives from environmental, labor, religious

consumer and farm groups from Mexico, the United State

and Canada have drawn up A Just and Sustainable Trad

and Development Initiative for North America. A paralle

synthesis, From Global Pillage to Global Village, has bee

endorsed by more than sixty grass-roots organizations

Related proposals by the Third World Network have recen

ly been published s Towards a New North-South Econom

ic Dialogue.

Differing in emphasis and details, these emerging alter

native programs are important not only because of the

so

lutions they propose but also because those solutions have

emerged fromadialogue rooted in such diversity of group

and experiences. Some require implementation by nationa

policy; some by international agreement; some can be im

plemented by transnational citizen action. Taken together

they provide what might be described as seven prescrip

tions for the seven danger signals of the unregulated globa

economy:

Internatronal rights and standards.To

prevent competiti

from resulting in race to the ottom, several of theseroup

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December 6, 1993 The Ndion. 68

want to establish minimumhuman, labor and environmental

rights and standards, as the European Communitys social

charter

was

designed to do. The nternational Metalworkers

Federation recently proposedten-point World Social har-

ter, which could be incorporated into GATT.

A Just and SustainableTrade and Development Initiative

for North America spells out in some detail

an

alternative

to NAFTA that would protect human and worker rights,

encourage workers incomes o rise in tep with productivity

and establish continental environmental rights, such as the

right to

a

toxics-free workplace and community. Enforce-

ment agencies would be accessibleo citizens and could levy

fines against parties guilty of violations. The initiative espe-

cially emphasizes the rights of immigrants. Activists from

nongovernmental organizations in all three countries have

proposed a citizens commissiono monitor the human, labor

and environmental effects of trade and investment.

Upwardspiral. n the past, government monetary and fis-

cal policy, combined with minimum ages, welfare tate pro-

grams, collectivebargaining and other means of raising the

purchasing power of have-nots, did mucho counter recession

and stagnation within national economies. Similar measures

are now required at international levels to counter he tenden-

cy

toward

a

downward spiral of inadequate demand in the

global economy.The Third World Network calls n the I.M.F.

and World Bank to replace their ruinous structural adjust-

ment plans with policieshat meet the broad goalsof devel-

opment rather than the narrower goal of satisfying the

needs

of

the creditors. It also demands a reduction of de-

veloping country debt. A Just and Sustainable d e nd De-

velopment Initiative proposeshat the remaining debt service

be paid in ocal currency into a democratically administered

development fund. Reversing the downward spiral lso ulti-

matelyr quir sa global Keynesianismn which international

institutions support, rather than discourage, national full-

employment policies.

An upward spiral also requires rising income for those at

the bottom-something that can be encouraged by interna-

tional labor solidarity. Experiments in cross-border organizing

8.P

_

>7 *B

g

by U S unions like the Amalgamated Clothing and Texti

Workers and the United Electrical Workers, in cooperatio

with independent unions in Mexico, aim to defeat transna

tionals whipsawing by improving the wages and condition

of Mexican workers.

Redistribution r o m haves to have-nots.

A

Just andSu

tainable Trade and Deirelopment Initiative calls for com

pensatory financing to correct growing gaps between ric

and

poor.

model would be the

European

Communityfund

that promote development in its poorer members. The Thir

World Network l l s for commodity agreementso correct th

inequities in the Souths terms of trade. It also stresses th

need to continue preferential treatmentor the South

in

GAT

and in intellectual property protection rules.

Strengtheneddemocracy.

NAFTA

GATT and simil

agreements should ot be used-as they now can be-to pre-

empt the rightof localities, states, provincesnd countries t

establish effective labor, health, safety and environment

standards that are higher than the guaranteed minimum i

international agreements.Above all democratizationrequir

a new opportunity for people at the bottom to participate i

shaping their destiny.

Codesof conduct for transnational Corporations.

Sever

transnational grass-roots groups

all

for codes

f

conduct th

would, for example, require orporations to report investme

intentions; disclosehe hazardous materials theymport; ba

employment of children; forbid discharge of pollutants; r

quire advance otification and severance pay when peration

are

terminated; and prohibit company interference with

organizing. UnitedNations discussions

of

such a code, lon

stymied by U.S. ostility, should be revived.

While the ultimate goal is to have such codes mple

mented by agreements among governments, global publ

pressure and cross-border organizing can begin to enforc

them. The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, for e

ample,

a

group of religious, environmental, labor, Latin

and womens organizations in Mexico nd theUnited State

has issued a code of conduct for U.S.corporations in

Me

ico and has used corporate campaign techniques

to

pre

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688

The Nation. December 6 199

sure them to abide by its labor and environmental provi-

sions.

Reform of

international institutions. Citizens should call

on theU.N. to convene a second Earth Summit focusing on

democratizing he

I.M.F.

and the World Bank, and consider

formation of new institutions to promote equitable, sustain-

able and participatory development. International citizen

campaigns, perhaps modeled on the Nest16 boycott and the

campaign against World Bank-funded destruction of the

Amazon, could spotlight these institutions.

Multiple-level regulation. In place of rivalrymong coun-

tries and regions, such programs implysystem of democrat-

ically controlled publicnstitutions at every level, rom global

to local.

After NAFTA Globalization From Below

These proposals provide no short-term panacea; they are

objectives to organize around.

The New

World Economy isot

going to vanish from the political agenda. Neither will the

passions and political forces aroused by the

NAFTA

debate.

Many of he same issues will resurfacen connection with the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and with G AV.

As

the fiftieth anniversaries of the I.M.F. and World Bank

approach, calls for heir reform are beingounded all over he

world.

The struggle against NAFTA has shownhat those harmed

by the New World Economy need not be passive victims.So

many politicians were so unprepared for the strength of the

anti-NAFTA movement because it representedan eruption

into the political arena of people who ave long been demobi-

lized. But to influence their economic destinies effectively,

they needa movement that provides an alternative to the Ross

Perots and

Pat

Buchanans. Such a movement must ct on the

understanding that the unregulated globalization of capital

is really worldwide attack

of

the haves on the have-nots. And

it must bring that understanding to bear on every affected

issue, from local layoffs to the world environment. From

Global Pillage to Global Village suggests

a

vision to guide

such a movement:

The mternationalization of

capital, produalon and labor

is now

being followed

by

the internationalization

f

peoplesmove

mentsandOrganizations.

Building

peoples nternational

organizations and solidaritywll be our revolution

from

with

MOVING?

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in:

a civil soclety without borders. This internationalism

or

globahzatlon

from

below

will be

the

foundation for turn

ing the global pillage into a participatory and sustainable

lob-

al village.

The organizations that have led he fight againstNAFTA

have a responsibility not to retreat to parochial concerns.The

must regroup nd begin addressing the broader impact oco

nomic globalization on people and planet.

YELTSINS ELECTIONS

Make

Them

Trulv

Democratic

r /

BORIS KAGARLITSKY

E

ections in Russia, which President Boris Yeltsin

has set

or

December, will be conducted accord

to the governments script, nder the government

control and by the governments rules. The Cen

tral Election Commission, appointed by Yeltsin and com

posed mainly ofurncoat former deputies,

is

denying the ri

to participate in its work not just to representatives

of

the op

position but to anyone with any degree of competence.

Throughout October, the commission

as

concerned main

with mapping out electoral districts. This was done in such

a manner that regions that had voted against Yeltsin in th

April 1993 referendum had anaverage of590 000 voters pe

electoral mandate, while in pro-Yeltsin districts the corre

sponding figurewas only 456 000. On the scale of he countr

as a whole, this means that millions of votesast for opposi

tion candidates will simply not count.

In any case, Westernlection observers will watch onlyh

people actually putting their ballots into thebox. The prep

aration for the elections and the formation of local electio

commissions, which will determine the registration of can

didates locally nd are supposed o createa level playing ield

are now under way, but without outside scrutiny. Foreigner

to use a Russian saying,will see how we obble theporridge

but not how It was cooked up. The independence of interna

tional observers will be severely restricted. They must regi

ter with the election commission, which mayt

ny

time stri

them of their authority

or

even deport them.

The present lackof oversightis in itself, sufficient reaso

to refuse to participate in the forthcoming elections, just a

democratic circles in Russia refused in

905

to participate in

the rigged Bulygin Duma. But boycott would make se

only if the majority

f

the opposition were united. On the co

trary, almost all opposition forces, from the Centrists to the

Communists, which criticized Yeltsins plans to elect the il

legal parliament, have already announced their willingnes

to take part in the vote. Only he Federation

of

Independen

~ ~~~

B o r n Kagarlrtsky

s a

political actrvrsl and

founding

mem

ber of Russias Party

of

Labor. He

is

the author of Th

Thinking Reed and Farewell Perestroika both Verso .

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