CRITICISM OF GLOBALIZATION
DEEMED TOO LIBERAL
Several events have enabled the globalization that we
have known for decades, such as the Rio Earth Summit in
1992 or the Summit of the WTO in Seattle in 1999. Then,
the emergence and the development of new technologies
of information and communication was a springboard for
increasing mobilization and actions, particularly from a
distance. Thus, civil society, and especially associations
and NGOs, has gained in importance.
Nevertheless, globalization
based on neoliberal ideology
has been increasingly
challenged since the 1990s.
While collectivism is no longer
a credible option since the
collapse of the Soviet bloc, it's
time to find a third way. Indeed,
there is a clear desire to find a
way for a more inclusive and
better regulated globalization.
Also, current globalization is
criticized for a lack of
articulation between local
initiatives and global issues.
Finally, the supporters of this
third way would like to be able
to establish a democracy based
on ideological pluralism.
The rejection of globalization has
already been observed at World
Social Forums, the first of which
was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in
2001. The most recent took place
in 2021, online, for health reasons.
The Summits of the Earth are also
an opportunity to criticize
neoliberalism which seems to go
against the grain of notions of
social and environmental
sustainability. Conversely, the
summits held in favor of
globalization as we know it like
those of the G20, the most recent
of which took place in Rome last
October, also give rise to
mobilizations of protests with
many anti-globalization activists.
Great figures of this movement are notable such as whistleblowers
for example. The best known, Julian Assange, but also those who
brought to light major tax scandals (Panama Papers, LuxLeaks ..).
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALTER-GLOBALIZATION
REMAINS A DISUNITED MOVEMENT
This
challenge
to
neoliberal
globalization
is
completely
nebulous. Indeed, the alter-globalization movement brings
together a great diversity of statuses, demands, modes of
action but also ideologies. Many associations have been created
in reaction to neoliberal globalization and its consequences. In
particular, they produce analyzes and expertises, organize
conferences or take part in mobilizations.
Numerous political and religious organizations are also worth
mentioning, although they often have ideologies far removed
from anti-globalization movements. These are groups that often
question the opening of borders, want more protectionism, and
are attached to the principle of national preference. In Europe,
the score of nationalist and populist parties is on the rise.
However, we can note 3 limits to the alter-globalization
movement. First, the inability to define a concrete alternative
to liberal globalization that falls within the three pillars of
sustainable development. Then the lack of representativeness,
alter-globalization is a largely Western phenomenon, within the
“fourth world”, while the diffusion remains very slow in the
third world. Finally, media visibility is in difficulty because of
the lack of interest in part of the media for the movement
because it remains divided.
BETTER CONTROL OF
SPECULATION TOOLS
Financial speculation is one of the aspects of globalization
that
are
denounced
and
against
which
proposals
are
made. Speculation is the result of banks whose activities
have turned from deposit to the market. It is also the work
of investment funds ranging from sovereign wealth funds
to hedge funds. Large companies can make speculative
profits: 50% of the profits made by American companies
come from financial activities.
4 MEASURES TO LIMIT SPECULATION:
Reducing the
international
mobility of capital
is a first step.
China has
implemented
protectionist
capital controls
and has been
spared financial
crises
Prevent outright
speculation to other
investors by
prohibiting banks
from financing
hedge funds.
Germany has banned
these practices by
removing opaque
financial products
The adoption of
global
legislation
inspired by the
Glass Steagall
Act by
separating
commercial and
investment
banks
The distribution of
losses in the event
of an economic
crisis : involving
creditors in the
financing of crises
would lead them to
take less
speculative risks, as
in Greece in 2011
The fight against tax havens is necessary against
tax evasion. This practice is possible thanks to
complex
financial
arrangements
which
allow
front companies to be domiciled in tax havens.
Since 2009, a series of information exchange
treaties
between
the
tax
authorities
of
rich
countries and tax havens has been signed by the
World Forum. Several proposals have been made,
such
as
that
of
ATTAC,
for
a
worldwide
homogenization of taxation. The economist J.
Stiglitz proposes to prohibit multinationals from
having subsidiaries in tax havens.
BREAKING OFF THE MERCHANDISING OF
LIFE ACTIVITIES
Fight against the commodification of vital activities for populations
The “commodification” of the world is a central theme
in the rejection of globalization. The idea that all the
daily services can be considered as a source of profit is
more and more widely denounced since a
degradation and an increase in price of these services
were observed during their privatization So that since
the 2000s, in the countries of the South are spreading
a movement of remunicipalisation or waste
management.
The principle of securing public spending such as
social security and assistance to the unemployed is
one of the measures proposed.
Increase multilateral cooperation
Breaking with the commodification of
common
goods
requires
the
development
of
multilateral
agreements concerning intellectual
property rights or the management of
biodiversity.
In
the
area
of
​
biotechnology, Western firms have filed
for patents over the past 20 years to
obtain the genetic exploitation of plant
resources
in
Southern
countries.
Legislation ensuring the sovereignty of
States over their resources is gradually
being put in place. In 2002, the
Convention on Biological Diversity
made mandatory the equitable sharing
of the benefits arising from the
exploitation of genetic resources.
ANCHORLESS GLOBALIZATION
Globalization has an overwhelming dominance over local
governance and cultures. The challenge lies in inventing
"glocal" dynamics, i.e., articulating rather than opposing
or subjecting local logics, identities and cultures, and
local actors to those of globalization
The lack of democracy is one of the
recurrent criticisms levelled at
globalization. It is based on the
observation that international
institutions are powerless or
subjugated, and that there is
collusion between powerful
economic and political actors. The
weight of transnational civil society
is then identified as a solution. The
reinforcement of the weight of local
democracy is a widely diffused
demand. The Occupy and Indignant
movements (Appendix 1), which
emerged at the end of the 2000s
with the worsening of the economic
crisis in northern countries,
correspond to a rejection of
economic neoliberalism. But these
activities denounce the excesses of
the democratic system as it exists in
developed countries. These
experiences reflect the desire to
consolidate direct and local forms
of democracy as a counterweight to
global governance, which is
perceived as increasingly remote
and confiscated by the powerful.
Since the 1970s, we have
witnessed a compression of
space-time and thus an
acceleration of cultural contacts,
acculturation and situations of
multiculturalism. These
phenomena are neither new nor
standardizing, but they feed the
fear of a loss of national identity.
And the pattern is simple: if
populations turn inward, policies
will follow and multilateralism
has no chance. The
Euroscepticism of these parties is
strongly based on their
opposition to immigration
because it is linked, in their minds
and in the minds of their people,
to the failings of the Schengen
area. This unmitigated
nationalism attacks the loss of
autonomy that the deepening of
the union implies.
Beyond the economy and politics,
globalization concerns culture.
A comparison can be made here: if the European
Union is globalization, the deepening of the
Union
is
similar
to
multilateralism
efforts
(creation of institutions to regulate together).
Thus, in the same way as for the integration
process
in
the
European
Union,
it
is
the
functioning of international institutions that is
criticized, since they lack a real consideration
for the case by case.