Case studies in alternatives

How do we challenge neoliberalism and corporate globalisation? Can we develop demands that enjoy the support of those most severely affected and simultaneously lay the ground for an alternative system? How do we develop educational programmes that encourage critical thinking in countries where such thought is actively discouraged? Can the demand for reparations for damage caused by neoliberalism and its predecessors be conceptualised as part of a process of fundamental change? These are the types of questions that are tackled in the series of articles in this week’s Pambazuka News. The articles reflect a growing debate on economic alternatives to neoliberalism from countries as far afield as Mauritius, Swaziland and Mali. In this article, guest editor George Dor, who was responsible for bringing together these articles, introduces some of the issues playing themselves out in the debate over alternatives.

The search for alternatives to neoliberalism is increasingly being identified with the need to transform the entire capitalist system. Debate on socialism is gaining increasing prominence. It is not just the nature of the alternatives that is being explored. The perhaps even more critical question of the process towards these alternatives is also a focus of increasing attention. There is a clear recognition that abstract academic formulas will not provide lasting solutions. Alternatives have to be developed from the ground through struggle. This entails the development of appropriate strategies, with workers, the unemployed and the poor at the centre of decision-making. It also entails the development of a vision of a new society as well as the values and principles that should underpin it.

Resistance and Alternatives

The debate on alternatives has its roots in the relatively recent growth of resistance to neoliberalism and corporate globalisation. In keeping with international developments, there has been an emergence of organisations across the continent around issues such as debt, trade, privatisation, land, food security, water, large dams, conflict and war.

Much of the initial emphasis in these new organisations and related networks was on resisting the very real hardships faced by people in impoverished rural and urban areas, as well as on developing a greater awareness of the neoliberal causes of these hardships. But, even as these organisations were being formed, the question of alternatives was already appearing on the agenda.

As early as 1999, newly-formed Jubilee campaigns and anti-debt coalitions met in Lusaka, Zambia, and identified the need for an “Africa Consensus” in opposition to the Washington Consensus. The concept was further developed by the African anti-debt formations at the launch of Jubilee South later in the year and was renamed the “African Peoples Consensus” in recognition of the very different class interests on the continent. It received further support at a large event of organisations representing a range of sectors and interests, held in Dakar, Senegal, at the end of 2000.

The formation of the World Social Forum sparked forums at continental, regional, country and local levels. The African Social Forum (ASF) was first held at the beginning of 2002, and the Southern African Social Forum (SASF) met before the end of 2003 and for the second time in October this year. Many countries have held national social forums. Discussion on alternatives is an increasingly prominent feature of these forums.

The African Peoples Forum

A West African initiative, the African People’s Forum, has been convening every year since 2002. Just as the World Social Forum is counterposed to the World Economic Forum, the African Peoples Forum is held in opposition to the G8, at the time of the G8 annual meetings.

The four editions of the forum have been held in different outlying towns in Mali. There has been representation from, amongst other countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DRC, Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The forums have included large numbers of small-scale farmers from the eight regions of Mali and the forum held in Fana this year had over 1000 participants.

Mrs. Barry Aminata Toure, Chairperson of CAD-Mali, a coalition for alternatives to debt, highlighted the importance of the forum in contesting the G8 and neoliberalism: “This People’s Forum is a critical opportunity to inform and sensitise African social movements on international political and economic mechanisms, which constrain the national policies of developing countries of the South. Faced with the G8, which plays the role of a totally illegitimate world board of directors, African social movements are organising themselves to formulate alternatives to current neo-liberal policies and are firmly resolved to show their determination.”

The forum in Fana was promoted under the slogan, “From Resistance to Alternatives”. It included debates on alternatives to the system of indebtedness and structural adjustment policies, reinforcing regional integration, finding a new approach to North/South relationships, the need to reinvent the education system in Africa, public funding and community participation in the management of basic social services, the possiblity of withdrawal from cotton agriculture, alternatives to the over-indebtedness of the farming community, alternatives to rice imports from the North and rural women’s access to land and agricultural inputs.

Given the large numbers of farmers, food sovereignty was a central issue. The forum concluded: “We refuse to become the waste bin of the world. We ask for just international regulations that guarantee an equitable trade. The international community should recognize our right to maintain, protect and develop our food capacity, while respecting the diversity of our crops and without threatening other countries’ food sovereignty. This right for each country - or region - we call the right to food sovereignty.”

Debating Values and Principles

Recently, there have been various activities on economic alternatives in Southern Africa, including an afternoon seminar at the African Social Forum in Lusaka, Zambia, in December last year and an economic alternatives workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May this year.

The Lusaka event was a well attended and very well received event, highlighting the importance of engaging in debate on alternatives at events of this nature with a wide range of participants from different organisations and countries. There was a tangible sense that there is a widespread desire to take forward debate on alternatives.

The Johannesburg workshop built on this event by bringing together a somewhat smaller group of participants central to the question of alternatives in their organisations, sectors and countries. The nature of the workshop allowed for a more intensive interrogation of neoliberalism and debate on the nature of economic alternatives, including the process towards developing them.

The workshop concluded that it would again be important to further the debate at the Southern African Social Forum in Harare, Zimbabwe in October this year, including discussion on the values and principles that should underpin alternatives.

The forum was organised very differently to the Lusaka African Social Forum. The organisers deliberately organised the event outdoors in the major public park in central Harare to make it more accessible to people. In general, this proved to be very successful. There was participation in substantial numbers, perhaps some 3 000 in all, including many from the Harare townships and other parts of Zimbabwe. The event had the feel of a forum, with lively discussions, heated debates and very impressive cultural activities. This represents a significant advance on previous forums in Africa, which have often been criticised for coming across more as conferences than social movement events.

However, this did have the unfortunate consequence in that the venues for the different discussions were not easy to find. The economic alternatives activities were some of those negatively affected. The forum programme included various organisations that had applied to make presentations on different aspects of economic alternatives, but only three of these organisations were able to locate the venue.

The South African Centre for Economic Justice (SACEJ) took up the role of facilitating the day-long discussion. Other participating organisations convened a discussion on socialism at a different venue on the same afternoon. Unfortunately, these events took place separately. SACEJ facilitated discussion in a way in which participants were given the opportunity to express their views as to the vision they have of an alternative society and the principles that should guide us towards the realisation of that vision.

It was stressed that current conventional development processes are not acceptable to the majority. Few have benefited. The colonialists and those in post-independence leadership “enjoying the class system hierarchy” had and have ulterior motives. It was passionately stated that “it is time to rise up as people and fight this capitalism.”

The development of alternatives by consultants from abroad and the “NGO syndrome” was criticised. It was argued that universities intellectualise knowledge and make it irrelevant. Universities are not generating holistic, environmentally and economically sustainable approaches to development. Urban, male and age biases were noted and it was asked whether we at the forum, reflecting these biases, are qualified to raise the discussion on alternatives.

It was argued that there is a need to develop theories relevant to alternative economics. Students should be drawn in. We are not sharing information and documentation. People and organisations should pull together across clusters and sectors in developing economic alternatives. There is a need to strengthen and consolidate alternative networks and develop a think tank that interrogates alternatives.

There was a fairly extensive discussion on language. This was sparked off by points raised on the corruption and the black market. The phrase, “black market”, has a negative connotation and is but one example of the way in which the word “black” is used in negative terms. It also assumes that the legal market has an ethical standing. Why not rather use a phrase such as “parallel market”?

The forum itself proved to be far from immune to the use of problematic language. There was widespread dissemination of stickers attacking “Zhing Zhong” goods, motivated by concern at the increase in imports from China, but encouraging the racist conclusion that Chinese people are the problem, masking the neoliberal roots of unfair trade.

It was argued that there is a need for a paradigm shift. We need to move beyond criticising and start the important task of identifying true values and establishing clear principles. Values have to come from the heart. We should look at ourselves. “Are we social ourselves?” Capitalism is not far away, in fact it is within us. The “I factor”, “what do I get out of this”, tends to dominate even in forums like the Southern African Social Forum. We have to change our mindsets, we have to practice the values we identify, it starts with us: “Let’s start by socialising ourselves”.

We also need to be more proactive in setting the agenda. This needs to draw on past values. We have to rethink what we have been doing. For example, in the agricultural sector, we have been changing to modern systems, thus abandoning organic farming and indigenous systems, losing a lot of traditional knowledge. We must engage in research as to what is suitable and what is not.

There were many points made on culture and values. Marginalisation and Westernisation has destroyed cultural and social values. Family forms are being eroded. People have become selfish and corruptible. All too often the poor are exploiting the poor. We need to cultivate a positive image of us as African people, as against, for example, pentecostal values that counter our values. We must introduce cultural values into educational materials and instill these values into the educational system, radio and TV.

The process towards developing alternatives was also addressed. One shouldn’t impose external alternatives. We should be mere facilitators to assist the emergence and strengthening of people’s structures. Inclusion to the benefit of people and participation in decision-making are crucial. An alternative society should embrace the positive qualities of inclusivity and maximum participation of the historically marginalised. It should take into account all of its members.
There must be democratisation throughout society. Those who produce have more control over their lives. There must be democracy in the workplace and educational institutions.

Participants tried the difficult, if not impossible, task of capturing the essence of the values and principles of an alternative society in a sentence:

- An inclusive society where processes and structures combine to allow people to coexist and actively participate in economic and social systems and live a life of dignity and justice;

- An alternative society portrays and projects positive values about human existence and livelihood into economic and social production and encourages development processes with a respect for human dignity

The discussion on values was located within the current context of neoliberal power. It was asked how we work towards a society with our values given existing power relations. Transnational corporations have financial resources, machinery, technical expertise and patents and control trade. To defeat the enemy, sometimes you have to use their tools. For example, small sugar producers should come together to increase their power. Where rights are not given, they must be taken. The building of strong organisations is central to the task of taking up the struggle against neoliberalism and for an alternative society.

It was again stressed that: “It is not supposed to end here.” The discussions need to be taken forward. It was suggested that we need to continue to engage ourselves through a centre that can take up the tasks of disseminating information and networking around the issues.

* George Dor is with the Southern Africa Centre for Economic Justice

* Please send comments to [email protected]