People all over the world are made to believe that
globalisation is a good thing. Goebels, who was Hitler's propaganda
chief, said already in the thirties: "A lie repeated a thousand times
becomes a truth". This is what is happening with the neo-liberal
discourse on free markets. Neo-liberal and globalised capitalism is
supposed to bring progress and well-being to the world. In fact, the
gap between rich and poor is increasing. Tapping the dynamism of
markets is all right, of course, provided that it does not lead
policy-makers to a complete surrender to its money-oriented logic.
Unfortunately, this is what is taking place nowadays. We are
easily deceived by globalisation because there is obviously also
something very positive about it, namely the chances offered to people
on this planet to communicate, travel and interact. This is a wonderful
new opportunity to acquire a global planetary consciousness and to
develop new solidarity links. Greenpeace, Amnesty International,
e-mail, Internet and international travel are some of the positive
aspects of globalisation. Yet, even e-mail is a mixed blessing ! Two
Bangladeshi people, one living abroad, used to communicate by letters
written in the Bengali language and script. With e-mail they
communicated faster but in another script and language. English
superseded Bengali. This is one of the ambiguous blessings of
globalisation. (It is interesting to note that, after some months, they
decided to allow themselves the pleasure and "luxury" of hand-written
letters in the language and the script of their own culture.)
The advantages of e-mail having thus been made relative, we
may agree that globalisation can help us to promote what the Thai
Buddhist participant calls the "spirit of a global family". At the same
time, we must keep in mind that this is something quite different from
the much heralded globalisation of markets: it is the intensification
of human relationships not of the maximisation of profit. Globalisation
is like Janus, the Roman god with two faces, a negative one and a
positive one.
Globalisation as it is promoted today leads to the theocracy
of the market forces and a process of "Dysneyfication, Microsoftality
and McDonaldization" of the world. Today multinationals govern the
world. This is the first effect of globalisation. Its underlying
economistic logic leads to the reduction of everything to commodities
to be bought and sold on the market. Social bonds are progressively
being dissolved by competitiveness and obsessive profit orientation.
Globalisation is the destruction of mystery. Indeed, instant
gratification and consumption prompted by globalisation (for those at
least who can afford it) tend to erase slowness, silence, shadows and
poetry. Humankind has never read or heard as little poetry as nowadays.
The urge to quantify and to reduce the complexity of the human being
and of society to simple measurable components so as to achieve better
social control is very harmful.
The attempted purchase by the USA of "rights to pollute"
poorer countries which are relatively less polluted is one of the most
preposterous example of the callousness to which the market logic can
lead. If this US drive had not been refused by the other states, the
international efforts to have everyone pollute less would have led to
the right of one of the most polluting nations to carry on
unchallenged, just because that nation had the money. In this
globalised world of ours it seems that, more than ever, might is right
…
Globalisation has far-reaching effects on world culture. What
arose in the modern West has now become global and universal.
Aggressive human drives (which capitalism takes over) have spread all
over the world and created a kind of exhilaration. It is desirable to
be the best, to push others out, to beat them at school or in the
company. Bonding, feeling with nature and other gentle and
non-commercial ("gratuitous") approaches to life are being marginalised
if not ridiculed.
As our research and discussions indicate, we strongly believe
(and will argue) that the only way out is to ensure cultural
transformation. But the word culture itself has been impoverished
because it has been reduced by the market logic to mean something
shallow ("entertainment"). The Roots and Wings group therefore
preferred to speak of spirituality. To us, culture and spirituality are
very close concepts. Culture, at a genuine and deep level, is what
enables people to give meaning to their lives, as well as a sense of
direction. This is also what spirituality is all about. One might say
that spirituality is the very core of a genuine culture.
Many participants reported on their experience of "genuine
universality" as opposed to "shallow globalisation". They mean by that
their discovery that the deeper they delve into themselves, the closer
they feel to other people, even to those having different cultures and
religions. Many participants stressed that it is in the uniqueness of
one's own personality and one's particular life experience that one
discovers genuine universality and a sense of deep commonality.
A Brazilian participant observed "In the face of my
orishas (the godly spirits in the Afro-Brazilian religion of
Candomblé), I can also see Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed and
Rama. In the revelations of the oracle of Ifa and in our sacred songs
and dances I can hear the words from the Koran, the Torah, the Vedas,
and the sounds from the djeriddu and from the rites of kuarup. I can
understand better the wisdom of my ancestors when I hear it
transfigured through these other voices. My dream is that this new
world of global communication can give us the opportunity to know each
other's voices and views better, and to take them as ours in the sense
that every voice, every vision is the echo or reflection of an
intangible wholenes"
It is interesting to note that in Cebuano, one of the main
languages of the Philippines, "to have knowledge" ("aduna ko'y
kalibutan") would literally be translated in English as "I have the
world within me". This prompted somebody to say: "Globalisation has
to develop inside people before it can be positively carried out in the
outside world". This means that the present trend towards
globalisation is calling human beings to become more mature, more open
to global concerns and planetary solidarity. If this change in
mentality and ethics is not achieved, globalisation will remain a
superficial and threatening process. Without a global consciousness and
wholeness inside, there cannot be a "whole" world outside. Conversely,
it is up to each one of us to turn globalisation into a humane and
positive phenomenon. As is written in the Koran: "there is a hidden
treasure that yearns to be known in us and in creation".
2.1 Sustained action needs spirituality
Most participants admit to the importance of spirituality and
the proper care for their "soul" as an essential component of their
inner strength. Spirituality provides mental hygiene to avoid the
well-known burn-out syndrome of many activists. It helps to combat
so-called "compassion-fatigue". It enables to keep in mind the ultimate
aim and the meaning of what we do.
"My outward tasks lack conviction because I have not made
my inward journeys. Concretely this means that spirituality must play a
major role in social action if we are to get anywhere with our social
action". To clarify this notion of spirituality, an Indian
participant used the metaphor of the bow and arrow. If you want to
shoot an arrow you have to pull the arrow inwards. In modernity we lack
the inward journey. The bow and arrow metaphor shows that an inward
journey is necessary to allow an outward thrust. Our shooting
exclusively outward is a fake shooting of arrows. It reaches nowhere.
The same participant warned however against religious
intolerance: "We are now witnessing a period in Indian society,
where, in the name of Culture and Religion, people are being killed,
women are being raped and property destroyed. Elections are won and
lost on the basis of religious intolerance. Many social activists are
also not free from these prejudices. This is one of the emerging
scenarios in India. Clearly we need to see ourselves as human beings
first before we see ourselves as being part of a religious tradition.
We are talking increasingly of 'secular spirituality', a spirituality
that transcends the limitations of particular religions, that is
helpful in fostering relations of trust and compassion." Not
everyone would agree to adhere to a secular spirituality at a personal
level. But at the level of a whole state, this is an interesting
proposition as it allows to go beyond religious clashes.
Carl Jung once referred as such to the calling of the human
being: "to live as fully as possible so as to fulfil the divine in us".
Many in the group added that living fully leads them to be concerned
with society and to act accordingly. They are of the opinion that an
effective and sustainable commitment to justice, peace, human rights or
any other social or political ideal is strengthened by the fact that
the activist has "an inner fire and a deep sense of mission".
This sense of a calling which comes from beyond one's ego helps one to
commit oneself fully. It also helps to be, as the Hindu Baghavat Gita
says "detached from the fruits of one's action". Such detachment is
obviously a difficult exercise. Yet, most religious traditions advocate
such a selfless attitude as a guarantee against greed, hunger for
power, corruption, and all the well-known evils which average
politicians and social leaders and activists have to cope with within
themselves. As another Indian activist says: "in each of us there
is a liberator and an imperialist at the same time ! It is our
responsibility to choose, every day of our life, which of the two we
want to be."
To conclude, one might suggest that spirituality can have a
positive impact on action at three levels:
- the instrumental level: spirituality helps to avoid "burn out";
- the strategic level: spirituality ensures attention to the broader
context, to others;
- the fundamental level: spirituality provides the wellspring and
foundation (meaning and orientation) for social action.
2.2 The individual and the collective are connected.
As one of the Indian voices in our Workshop put it: "We
are to see the divine in all creation and experience a feeling of
sacredness about everything all around." Many participants refer in
their papers to their experience of unity and oneness with the
surrounding world. Oneness with all, as well as interconnectedness
through invisible bonds, is a recurrent theme.
Is there a link between inner transformation and world
change? The conclusion of the group was that there is. "I am part
of the cosmos and, consequently, I have to transform myself as much as
I have to contribute to social transformation." We cannot change
the outside world without changing the inner self. In the Christian
tradition, this is expressed by the interdependence of all beings
within what is called "the mystic body of Christ". Gandhi expressed
this as a basic law: if you want to change society, you must change
yourself at the same time He asked his disciples to fast and pray
before engaging in a satyagraha demonstration. He would never advocate
any behavioural change without first testing it on himself, and
practising it faithfully. He would not even advise a boy to eat less
sweets (as the boy's mother had requested Gandhi) before first having
stopped himself eating any sweet…
© 2000,
South-North Network Cultures and Development