Summary
Rural
Development, Preservation of People's Identity and Ecological Balance in the
Era of Globalization
Dr. Christoph Stückelberger
General
Secretary of the Swiss Development Organisation "Bread for all",
Associate
Professor of Ethics at Basel University,
President
of the Consultative WTO-Commission of the Swiss Governement
1. The concept of
sustainable development is the basis of balanced land settlement
1.1
Definition of sustainable development
A
sustainable development allows a life in dignity for the present generations,
without threatening the life in dignity of the future generations and of
nature.
1.2 Five
dimensions of sustainable development
Sustainable
development inseparably includes the ecological, economic und social dimension.
So far, the cultural and religious dimension of sustainability has not yet been
considered enough, although both ought to be inseparably included.
1.3
Interdependence of the five dimensions
No
biodiversity without cultural diversity. No economic sustainability without
respect of religious diversity. No social and political sustainability without
cultural and religious sustainability.
2. Different Speeds of
Development are a Source of Tension
Tension is
created by the great differences of speed in the globalization of the five
dimensions of sustainability. The fast-moving economic globalization needs to
be slowed down, the relative slow political, ecological, ethical and in
particular the cultural and religious globalization needs to be speeded up, in
order to enable a sustainable development and a balanced land settlement.
3. We need Multilateral
Social, Cultural and Religious Policies
The
multilateral institutions have to complement their globalised economic policy
with their global social, cultural and religious policy.
4. Globalisation and
Contextualisation are two sides of the same
Balanced
land settlement seeks to establish a balance between a globalised form of
ethics and a contextualised form of ethics. Sustainability in a globalised
world requires basic values globally agreed upon and at the same time a
manifold differenciation of these basic values depending on the particular
context and region.
5. Balanced land
settlement needs strong legal instruments and good governance
Land
settlement in developing countries is often a question of illegal situations.
Legal instruments are necessary in theequal distribution of land, land rights
also in oral traditions, an International Soil Convention for sustainable land
use, legal security and reduction of violence and programmes to combat
corruption.
6. The role of the private
sector, especially transnational companies
The private
sector, especially the transnational companies, can and should play an
important role for balanced land settlement, preservation of peoples rights and
sustainability. Instruments are: to include more cultural and social aspects in
there business ethics, codes of conduct for companies and to include ethical
criteria of sustainability in the financial sector.
9.3.99/CS\artikel/indone99a.doc
Rural
Development, Preservation of People's Identity and Ecological Balance in the
Era of Globalization
Dr. Christoph Stückelberger
General
Secretary of the Swiss Development Organisation "Bread for all",
Associate
Professor of Ethics at Basel University,
President
of the Consultative WTO-Commission of the Swiss Government
1. The concept of
sustainable development
as the basis of balanced land settlement
At the end
of the 20th century, freedom has become the primary guiding principle for
development Ð yet, this freedom is understood as the economic freedom by way of
liberalization of the global markets. Since the UN-Conference on Environment
and Development in Rio in 1992, the principle of sustainability has been „promoted“
to the second most important guiding principle. Since then, various concepts
for a Sustainable Development have been elaborated on international, national
and local level (local Agenda 21).[1] Everybody favours sustainability,
however, there are many interpretations of what it really means. Balanced land
settlement in the era of global trade must hence be judged by the goals of
sustainable development.
1.1 Definition of
sustainable development
A sustainable development allows a life in
dignity for the present generations, without threatening the life in dignity of
the future generations and of nature.
This is my
definition of sustainable development. It is similar to the one of the global
Brundlandt report 1987[2] and the Rio-conference 1992, but
having two important differences: What has been called „human needs“ by the
Brundtland report, I propose to be changed into „life in dignity“. It includes
our basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, education, but it respects
the local understanding more of what a dignified life might mean: Depending on
the context it can include respecting the freedom of opinion, cultural or
religious diversity, democratic participation. Life in dignity must include
human rights! In addition, my definition includes life in dignity also for the
animals and plants, the non-human creation. They have their own dignity being
different from human dignity, but nevertheless it needs to be respected.[3]
1.2 Five dimensions of
sustainable development
Sustainable development inseparably includes
the ecological, economic und social dimension. The point is that a general agreement exists
on this point in theory - even on international level; but no agreement exists
in practical terms. So far, the cultural
and religious dimension of sustainability has not yet been considered enough,
although both ought to be inseparably included.
Economic Ecological
dimension dimension
Social/political cultural
dimension dimension
religious
dimension
The
economic dimension of sustainable development includes the production and
(just) distribution of goods and services for a life in dignity for the present
and future generation and for nature.
The
ecological dimension of sustainable development includes the preservation of
the necessaries of life, of resources and of the ecosystem for a life in
dignity for the present and future generation and for nature.
The social
und political dimension of sustainable development include the just balance of
interests through participation by everybody in all decisions essential for a
life in dignity for the present and future generation and for nature.
The
cultural dimension of sustainable development includes the functions of culture
that create identity and community for a life in dignity for the present and
future generation and for nature.
The
religious dimension of sustainable development includes the functions of
religion that create identity, community and a meaningful existence for a life
in dignity for the present and future generation and for nature.
Whenever
there are conflicts because of mining resources on indigenous land in rural
areas or because of growing religious fundamentalism in the case when development
strategies neglect the religious dimension, we can interpret them as signals,
that sustainability cannot work if apart from the economic, ecologic and social
dimensions the cultural and religious dimensions are not included.[4]
The social
dimension of sustainable development includes in particular social freedom, as
well. If we discuss with multinational corporations, the concept of sustainability
is usually reduced to ecology and economy. However, we cannot talk about
ecology and economy without touching upon the threat to and the promotion of
peace, upon social freedom and the potential of conflicts emerging of a
non-sustainable way of life. I remember the famous sentence of C. F. von
Weizäcker: „There is no peace with nature without peace among people“ - and the
other way round. In many concepts of sustainability there is no clear picture
of this kind of sustainability. If I may come back to the example of Indonesia
during the Suharto regime: The riots that broke out, because trade union rights
and freedoms werde demanded, clearly show that sustainability in such a context
of Indonesian realities cannot be effective as long as social peace and a
change in the forced relocation policies are not tackled at the same time.
1.3 Interdependence of the
five dimensions
No biodiversity without cultural diversity. No
economic sustainability without respect of religious diversity. No social and
political sustainability without cultural and religious sustainability.
The five
mentioned dimensions of sustainability are inseparably connected to each other
and interdependent. Development cannot be sustainable if one of the dimensions
is missing or is not linked up to the others. This relationship - this
interdependence between the dimensions - could be easily shown for all
relational versions between the five dimensions in question. Two examples are
enough to illustrate the mutuality of matters:
There is a
correlation between the decline of the biologic diversity of species and the
decline of the cultural diversity of languages[5]: Globalization threatens both
diversities, if misunderstood as a system of simple rules of action that are
accepted worldwide and if complex diversities are reduced to the rules of
mainstream society.
A second
example of interdependence of the five dimensions of sustainability: No
economic sustainability without religious sustainability through respect of
religious diversity. If development is forced by one-sided economic
modernization strategies they keep failing or undergo severe setbacks, whenever
these strategies do not include the deep-rooted religious value systems of the
respective society and whenever no effort is made to implement a careful,
appropriate transformation and to seek a dialogue between the different religions.
Iran's one-sided modernization pushed through by the Shah, superseded by the
Islamic fundamentalists; the seizure of power of the Hindu party and the
aggravation of religious conflicts in India; the increasing potential of
religious conflicts in Indonesia that has been exemplary for the co-existence
of different religions Ð these are only three examples of how economic
development (being a vital dimension of sustainability) suffers from setbacks, because
the religious and cultural dimensions are not adequately considered. Just an
example: On the Indonesian island of Kalimantan, its surface doubling the size
of France, the outburst of forest fires triggered off an environmental disaster
of global extent in 1997. At the same
time churches were set on fire and Chinese shops pillaged. Sustainability
understood as balanced land settlement is simply impossible to be realized
under such circumstances, unless the cultural, religious, social and political
conflicts are also taken into account. Hence, it is not possible to extinguish
the burning forests of Indonesia, if the people are not allowed to discuss the
issues of the burning churches, the government policy of forced relocation and
the rights of the Dayak, the indigenous people of Kalimantan.
2. Different Speeds of
Development – a Source of Tension
Tension is created by the great differences of
speed in the globalization of the five dimensions of sustainability. The
fast-moving economic globalization needs to be slowed down, the relative slow
political, ecological, ethical and in particular the cultural and religious
globalization needs to be speeded up, in order to enable a sustainable
development and a balanced land settlement.
In
liberalized and globalized markets, economic development processes linked to
the technological developments move extremely fast. Biological development and
transformation processes happen much slower by nature and can only be speeded
up under certain limited conditions. Political development processes, that are
supported by democratic participation of the population, also need alot of
time: Conscientization and education programmes are the key to such processes Ð
they move forward in a slow pace, even if democratic reforms of the
governmental system allows to accelerate the process. Still, it needs several
generations until cultural identities and ethical values of a society are
transformed.
Sustainability
is threatened by dangerous tensions due to these different speeds of
development. These tensions should be released (chart): The technological and
economic development has to be slowed down in a way that the ecological,
social, cultural and religious development can take place on equal terms and in
a similar rhythm. Hence, before the start of the next WTO-negociation round,
the governments should have to ask themselves the question whether not to take
seriously the signs of overstrain and increasing resistance against the
globalization and liberalization speed; and whether it would not make sense to
reduce this speed for the benefit of respect and innovation of ecological,
social, cultural and religious aspects of world trade. The respect of the
cultural and socio-political dimension in the Multilateral Investment Agreement
MAI is another example for this interdependence of sustainability.
Ethically
as well as ecologically, the man-made development speed and all possible
changes need to consider the weekest. Nature and the people of rural areas are
thus to be included in all decision-making processes.
But on the
contrary, the ecological, socio-political, cultural and religious developments
need to be speeded up in order to release tensions in the technological and
economical development. This means to extend global governance by strengthening
the UN-system and other multilateral political institutions, by intensifying
regional and global cultural and ethical dialogues and exchanges, etc.
Chart: The necessity to adapt the speed of
development
Today
Global
economy global
politics global ethics
Vision
Global
economy global
politics global ethics
No world
governement, no world culture, no world religion, but unity in diversity
through: global human rights standards, international law, equal participation
of all countries in multilateral institutions, respect of cultures and
religions
3. Multilateral Social,
Cultural and Religious Policies
The multilateral institutions have to
complement their globalised economic policy with their global social, cultural
and religious policy.
One of the
consequences of the third thesis is the fact that the multilateral organisations
(e.g. IMF, WB, WTO, OECD) have to include a social, cultural and religious
policy into their globalised economic policy (which increasingly includes good
governance-elements, as well; ex. OECD). Only in so doing the multilateral
organisations take seriously the principle of sustainability which they have
themselves consented to. The dimension of a global environmental policy must
now be fully implemented, even more as its concept has already been generally
accepted.
At the
UN-Social Summit of 1995 in Copenhagen, a sound approach to a global social
policy was formulated. Yet, its results need to be consistently implemented in
the national development policies[6] and in the strategies of
multilateral institutions. In the field of culture, the UNESCO-Conference of
1998 in Stockholm represents an important step of a growing consideration of
this particular dimension of sustainability. The discussion about cultural
development within the structures of globalisation has however only started and
is of essential importance for the rural development.[7] Here, cultural rights are included
as part of human rights[8].
Yet, there
is no prospect of a global religious policy. Although we find some endeavors
for building up a world ethic concept including the active participation of the
world religions, as well as for a dialogue between the different religions, all
theses efforts are usually still undertaken by non-governmental bodies.
Governments may deal with this matter within human rights' issues (the right to
religious freedom), however only within the UN-Human Rights' Commission and
hardly within the multilateral institutions mentioned before and hardly in
relation to trade and economic policies. The growing religious fundamentalism
with its economic effects should give enough reasons for economists and
government representatives to deal with this matter. Most probably, the
enlightened, secular understanding of a state system that is inherent to
Western nations needs to be revised and further developed in the light of
today's global communication.
4. Globalisation and
Contextualisation
Balanced land settlement seeks to establish a
balance between a globalised form of ethics and a contextualised form of
ethics. Sustainability in a globalised world requires basic values globally
agreed upon and at the same time a manifold differenciation of these basic
values depending on the particular context and region.
No
generation before ours existed with such an extensive worldwide integration as
we today. Just to mention two examples to illustrate the times of change we
live in: At the beginning of the nineties, almost all the countries of the
world entered into the global market as it was formed after overcoming the
polarising two block-model of international policy; world communication seems
to be unlimited in its functions and tools. This integration of humanity into
one world community is essential for world peace. In addition, it could serve
the global increase of wealth and the just distribution of goods. Also from the
ecological point of view it would make sense to consider the earth as one
common living space of human kind (eg. the issue of global warming). On the
other hand, global integration leads to gigantic ecological destructions, in
particular in rural areas, due to excessive mobility, for example.
The
question arises whether isolation or self-sufficiency should be pursued as
ethical and ecological guiding principles. Apart from the tendencies to more
integration we cannot fail to see an upcoming of regionalisation: Together with
the European integration we hear the call to a „Europe of the regions“ and we
witness the mushrooming of new forms of nationalism and ethnocentrisms. The
so-called bio-regionalism, as eg. in depth ecology and as supported by many
environmental movements in the US, pursues the „rootedness of living in place“
by taking into account the distinct ecological, cultural and economic features
of a particular region[9].
Global
integration is ambivalent in ethical terms. From the point of view of peace ethics
and of the principle of just distribution global integration may seem to be
desirable. However, if we judge global integration by what it has caused to the
environment and how the question of justice has been treated so far, then it is
rather quesionable. Yet, bio-regionalism is also ambivalent in ethical terms:
From the point of view of environmental issues, it is desirable, but there is a
danger of a global disintegration of solidarity and the upcoming of new forms
of ethnocentrism. Thus, when we talk about Sustainable Development we talk
about „searching a new balance between global market and region“[10], between globality and
contextuality, about solidarity between urbanisation and rural development.
The balance
between globality and contextuality lies in the principle of subsidiarity,
which is rooted in ethics. It means that as much as possible should be decided,
produced and culturally embedded as close to the people concerned as possible.
The most important tool to reach this goal is certainly the fixing of sales
prices: If products would reflect the ecological input of the manufacturing
process Ð i.e. transport costs would cost four times as much as today Ð, then
automatically as many goods as possible would be produced as close to the place
of consumption as possible. Hence, rural development would be promoted by
control mechanisms of market economy.
5. Balanced land
settlement needs strong legal instruments and good governance
Land
settlement in developing countries is often a question of illegal situations.
5.1 Land rights: The unequal distribution of
land among the population is a source of conflicts and instability for a
socially, ecologically and culturally sustainable land settlement. In Brazil,
60% of the land is in the hand of 1% of the population! The result is that 70%
of the population live in towns bigger than 50'000 people.
5.2 Land rights in traditional societies
are often based on oral tradition as I have seen in Cameroon or other
countries. To legalize oral land rights in modern societies by written legal
decisions (Notariate und Gerichte) is very costly and many people or
institutions cannot afford it. Balanced land settlement therefore needs funds
for legal procedures and competent advise.
5.3 The
ecological aspect of soil fertility is very important for a balanced land settlement.
To avoid the rapid soil destruction the proposal of an International Soil Convention is a very helpful step forward. It
could bring forward the awareness and internationally coordinated efforts for
the preservation of soils which is a condition for balanced land settlement.
5.4 In
instable countries with civil wars or heavy internal tensions between different
population groups or social classes, people often are affected by violence in
the countryside and they go to town not only to look for jobs but also for
security and protection. Legal security
and reduction of violence is therefore an important part for rural
development.
5.5 Corruption: In many countries the legal
basis for the right to use forests are quite satisfactory but reality is much
worse: In many countries (for example Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) studies
have shown that the clearcutting of tropical forests mostly happens illegally
and is dominated by a vast system of Mafia and corruption. Therefore,
internationally coordinated programs to combat corruption are essential for
balanced land settlement and especially for sustainable forestry. The
OECD-Convention about corruption (December 1997) and activities of Transparency
International with so called "Island of Integrity" are concrete steps
in this direction.
6. The role of the private
sector, especially transnational companies
The private sector, especially the
transnational companies, can and should play an important role for balanced
land settlement, preservation of peoples rights and sustainability.
The
national and transnational corporations play a key role in balanced land settlement.
With there economic power they can weaken or they can strengthen the governmental plans for balanced land settlement.
6.1 Business ethics already includes in a broad
way ecological aspects of sustainability. But it is very much necessary to
include more cultural and social aspects.
Especially transnational corporations with their common strategies for a
company throughout the world need to respect cultural values, ethnic and
religious diversity.[11]
6.2 These
aspects should be included in codes of
conduct for companies which already exist and which should be modified in
the above sense including also anti-corruption clauses. The code of conduct of
Shell as a result of the conflict with the OGONI in Nigeria are an example for
that.
6.3 An
important instrument for balanced land settlement could be the financial sector including the fast growing ethical investments and ethical funds
as ETHOS in Geneva or the Sustainability Fund in Zurich are examples which
could include criteria for balanced land settlement.
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