John's Blog: Transforming Globalism (Part 1 of 8)
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Transforming Globalism (Part 1 of 8)
This will be the first in a series. Over the next 3 days, I will be attending the 2004 New England Conference on Economic Justice, sponsored by The New England Conferences of the UCC, and the Justice & Witness Ministry United Church of Christ. The theme of this year's conference is "Transforming Globalization Through Community". The brochure defines this as "a dynamic and interactive conference explaining and exploring the effects of globalization here in the U.S. and worldwide, particularly in the two-thirds world." I will be taking my laptop along on which to type up notes throughout the conference, and posting them to this 'blog after I get back.
I'll give a bit more background by describing the main speakers:
David Korten (Keynote Speaker), best known for his book, When Corporations Rule the World, is a leading thinker, speaker and writer on matters of economic and environmental justice. Korten’s current work is focused on the articulation of a new story of the American Experiment, one which would critique the present "bottom line" criterion for policy making and offer a more humane and deeply spiritual one in its place.
Dr. Richard Horsley (Theological Reflector) is Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. His recent book, Jesus and Empire, looks at the response of the early church to Imperial Roman occupation, draws parallels to the American Empire of our time and raises important questions for persons of faith particularly, as well as for all U.S. Americans.
Dr. Edith Rasell, Minister for Labor Relations and Economic Development with the UCC Justice and Witness Ministry, will be the guest preacher for our principal worship time. Dr. Rasell has both a medical degree and a Ph.D in economics and is well suited to address the issues of globalization from an economic and deeply grounded faith perspective.
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Coincidently(?), the May issue of Soujourners Magazine arrived earlier this week, with a big cover story on "transforming the globalized community into a force for good", written by Vinoth Ramachandra, secretary for dialogue and social engagement (Asia) for the Internatial Fellowship of Evangelical Students and co-author of The Message of Mission.
The article summarizes the limitations of global capitalism to be "the world's savior", such as rampant indebtedness, which Ramachandra claims is not due only to IMF and World Bank policies ("the favorite scapegoats and the target of left-wing critics"), but "more often the result of poor strategic planning and fiscal management .... States that run up large foreign debts lose control over their macro-economic policy." He argues that "therefore, the recovery of politics is central to any attempt to 'redeem' the global economy and the process of globalization."
Another issue of globalization is the homogenization of culture. "The illusion is fostered that the world's people are different from each other, but merely different. Serious engagement with the genuinely other is sidestepped."
To make a slightly longer story short (it's getting late and I haven't packed yet), the answer lies in the vision of the world-wide body of Christ, where instead of asking nationalistic questions such as "Is this good for America?" or "Does this serve Indian interests?", we ask "How does this promote or hinder the cause of Christ's kingdom which is taking shape among the weak, the voiceless, and the excluded around the world?" This is the key to not simply detaching ourselves from the local in favor of the global, but rather "seriously engaging with the local as members of a global community that has re-defined our identities."
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