Forum

ANNEX 1

Asia Pacific Charter of People’s Right: Globalizing Solidarities, Groups and Individuals Working to Defend and Assert Pacific Rim Peoples’ Rights

Gathered in Montréal on November 15th, 1997 with the aim of building solidarity for people´s empowerment, this working document was adopted and identifies key issues concerning the peoples of the 18 APEC member countries, the document serves as a starting point and debate on peoples’ rights in the context of globalization.

THE CHARTER OF PEOPLE´S RIGHTS

• Against market globalization
• Against the commodification of our rights
• Against globalization – a war machine used against peoples
• And for People´s Sovereignty,

In solidarity with those struggling,

We assert, therefore, respect for the fundamental rights of all peoples to a decent standard of living, to health, education and work in a society that guarantees equality, solidarity and democracy, and that fully respects the right to development, peace and sustainable development.

We therefore adopt

The Charter of Peoples’ Rights

The right:

• to food, clothing and shelter;
• to health, education and work;
• to full equality, without exploitation or discrimination;
• on the basis of solidarity between peoples and societies;
• through democracy and sustainable development.

We assert:

• that governments are responsible for guaranteeing the full realization of these civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the right to development;
• that any policy that does not allow for the realization of these rights, with freedom, of course, but also with equality and fraternity, is a policy opposed to the rights of peoples to development and to a healthy
• and sustainable environment;
• that it is the responsibility of each government to provide unconditional support for the democratic development of all peoples through social justice;
• and that it is the responsibility of each people, in its own context and with its own forms of struggle, to demand these universal rights and give them specific expression.

We see that the realization of these rights is incompatible with the current APEC liberalization project (Kyoto Declaration, Japan, 14 November 1995), and that it will be impossible to apply these principles without fundamental changes to the social system.

* We demand that Governments participating in the APEC “Summit” undertake the implementation of a democratic program to guarantee justice, ensure dignity and provide for the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of all peoples, and protect our natural heritage for the children of our children (Declaration: Manila Peoples Forum on APEC – November 21 24, 1996), and that they ratify and apply international conventions and agreements on human and labour rights (Kyoto, Nov. 1995).

We will struggle to establish, in our countries, a social, economic, political and cultural order that will preserve us from foreign domination and protect us from exploitation and oppression, enable us to develop our natural resources and our talents for the greatest good of our peoples, and rely on international cooperation based on equality, respect and mutual benefit. (Declaration of People´s Conference Against Imperialist Globalization, Quezon, Philippines, 23 Nov.1996)

We will struggle to ensure that in each of our countries, the principles of this Charter of Peoples’ Rights are formally adopted and dictate the actions of those who govern us.

Fair Trade

States must guarantee the conditions of fair trade.

We consider unfair and unacceptable any trade based on violation of the rights of peoples and human beings, including the right to sustainable development, a healthy environment, and food security.

Put an end to the impunity of corporation which violate those rights.

Ways must be found to provide consumers with guarantees that the products they buy are not produced through the social and environmental exploitation of marginalized regions.

National Sovereignty and Democratic Development

We assert that relationships between sovereign states is contingent upon people’s self-determination.

This implies:

• that peoples must participate democratically, freely and genuinely in policy-making;

–including policy development and implementation,

–which cannot be left to the laws of profit and markets;

• that corruption is incompatible with democracy

- and that there is no democracy without accountability;

• that national sovereignty extends to natural resources.

We denounce

– the use of debt as a way of depriving peoples of their right to self-determination and sovereignty.

Social, Economic, Human, and People’s Rights

In response to the multiple violations of rights caused by liberalization policies,

We assert again

• that human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interconnected (Vienna, 1993);
• that the systematic violation of the economic and social rights of peoples is an international crime that must not go unpunished. It is the responsibility of the State to respect, protect and promote all human
• rights and insure the right to due process;
• • that the liberalisation and the intensification of international trade exchanges has led to impoverishment, unemployment and the exclusion of whole sectors of societies, and that women and children often suffer the greatest hardship as a result.

 Right to Land and Food Security

We assert

• that the land belongs to those who cultivate it; and that the right to eat includes the right of access to land, the control of its use and its production;
• that a landholding system is only fair if it guarantees food security for all;
• that food security must have priority over export requirements and debt payments.

 Workers’ Employment

We assert

the fundamental nature of the right to work and of all the rights of working men and women;

that these rights include equal access to paid employment, and fair distribution of income, in safe and secure working conditions;

that these rights include all trade union rights and freedom of association;

that migrant workers should be guaranteed equal treatment as citizens;

that we will struggle everywhere for the adoption of a Charter of Labour Rights and the Right to Work with strong and effective monitoring and implementation mechanisms

Environmentally Sound Development for and by the People

Against imperialist plunder of the Third World and destruction of the environment.

We assert

• principles which imply responsible, equitable, and optimal use of natural resources and protection of ecology and environment from abuse and destruction,
• and which forbids the dumping of industrial and toxic waste, and especially the imposition of technologies, modes of production and consumption unsustainable in less developed countries.

 ANNEX 2     — Tips on How to Oppose Corporate Rule

Reference:

Dr. Jane Kelsey

Associate Professor of Law, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Dr. Kelsey has devised what she calls a Manual for Counter-Technopols – containing suggestions and ideas for actions that challenge corporate rule; the following tactics and strategies are excerpted from that manual.

Tips on How to Oppose Corporate Rule [not in any particular order of importance]:

1. Be skeptical about fiscal and other “crises.” Examine the real nature of the problem, who defines it as a crisis, and who stands to gain. Demand to know the range of possible solutions, and the costs and benefits of each to whom. If the answers are not forthcoming, burn the midnight oil to produce the answers for yourselves.
2. Don’t cling to a political party that has been converted to neoconservatism. Fighting to prevent a social democratic party’s capture by right-wing zealots is important. But once the party has been taken over, maintaining solidarity on the outside while seeking change from within merely gives them more time. When the spirit of the party is dead, shed the old skin and create something new.
3. Take economics seriously. Neo-liberal economic fundamentalism pervades everything. There is no boundary between economic, social, environmental or other policies. Those who focus on narrow sectoral concerns and ignore the pervasive economic agenda will lose their own battles and weaken the collective ability to resist. Leaving economics to economists is fatal.
4. Expose the weaknesses of their theory. Neo-liberal theories are riddled with dubious assumptions and internal inconsistencies, and often lack empirical support. These right wing theories need to be exposed as self-serving rationalizations which operate in the interests of the elites whom the policies empower.
5. Challenge hypocrisy. Ask who is promoting a strategy as being in the “national interest,” and who stands to benefit most. Document cases where self-interest is disguised as public good.
6. Expose the masterminds. Name the key corporate players behind the scenes, document their interlocking roles and allegiances, and expose the personal and corporate benefits they receive.
7. Maximize every obstacle. Federal systems of government, written constitutions, legal requirements and regulations, supra-national institutions like the ILO and the UN, and strong local governments can provide barriers that slow down the pace of the corporate takeover.
8. Work hard to maintain solidarity. Avoid the trap of divide and rule. Sectoral in-fighting is self-indulgent and everyone risks losing in the end.
9. Do not compromise the labour movement. Build awareness of the corporate agenda at union local and workplace levels. Resist concessions that tend to deepen co-optation and weaken the unions’ ability to fight back.
10. Maintain the concept of an efficient public service. Resist attempts to discredit and dismantle the public sector by admitting deficiencies and promoting constructive models for change. Build support among client groups and the public which stresses the need for public services and the risks of cutting or privatizing them.
11. Encourage community leaders to speak out. Public criticism from civic and church leaders, folk heroes and other prominent “names” makes corporate and political leaders uncomfortable. It also makes people think. Remind community leaders of their social obligations, and the need to preserve their own self-respect.
12. Avoid anti-intellectualism. A pool of academics and other intellectuals who can document and expose the fallacies and failures of the corporate agenda, and develop viable alternatives in partnership with community and sectoral groups, is absolutely vital. They need to be supported when they come under attack, and challenged when they fail to speak out or are co-opted or seduced.
13. Establish an alternative think-tank. If one already exists, make sure it is adequately funded. Neoliberal and neoconservative think-tanks have shown how well-resourced institutes on the right can rationalize and legitimize the corporate agenda. The need is obvious for one or more equally well supported think-tanks on the left. Uncoordinated research by isolated critics will not suffice.
14. Invest in the future. Provide financial, human and moral support to sustain alternative analysis, publications, think-tanks, and people’s projects that are working actively to resist the corporate agenda and work for progressive change.
15. Support those who speak out. The harassment and intimidation of critics of the corporate takeover works only if those targeted for attacks lack personal, popular and institutional support. Withdrawing from public debate leaves those who remain more exposed.
16. Promote ethical investment. Support investors who genuinely respond to social and ecological concerns. Expose unethical investors who don’t. Boycotts have proved a powerful force in environmental, anti-nuclear and safe product campaigns. Companies that ignore social and environmental concerns can be embarrassed and called to account.
17. Think global, act local. Develop an understanding of the global nature of economic power, and those forces which are driving current trends. Draw the links between these global forces and local events. Target local representatives, meetings and activities which feed into the global economic machine.
18. Think local, act global. Actively support international strategies for change, such as people’s tribunals, non-governmental forums and codes of conduct, and action campaigns against unethical companies and corporate practices. Recognize that international action is essential to counter the collaboration of states and corporations, and to empower civil society to take back control.
19. Develop alternative media outlets. Once mainstream media are captured by the right, it is difficult for critics to enter the debate, and impossible to lead it. Alternative media and innovative strategies must be put in place. Effective communication and exchange of information between sectoral groups and activists are essential, despite the time and resources involved.
20. Raise the levels of popular economic literacy. Familiarize people with the basic themes, assumptions and goals of economic fundamentalism. Convince them that economic policy affects everyone, that everyone has a right to participate, and that alternatives to the corporate agenda do exist.
21. Resist market-speak. Maintain control of the language, challenge its capture by the right, and refuse to convert your discourse to theirs. Insist on using hard specific terms that convey the hard realities of what is going on.
22. Be realistic. Recognize that the world has changed, in some ways irreversibly, and that the past was far from perfect. Avoid being trapped solely into reacting and defending the status quo. Defending the past for its own sake adds credibility to the claims of the right and wastes opportunities to work for genuine change.
23. Be pro-active. Start rethinking visions, strategies and models of development for the future. Show that there are workable, preferable alternatives from the start. This becomes progressively more difficult the longer you wait to respond to the corporate agenda.
24. Challenge the TINA (“there is no alternative”) claim. Convince people–individually and collectively–that there are real and workable alternatives. Present options that combine realism with the prospect of meaningful change. Actively promote these alternatives and have them ready to be implemented when the corporate agenda fails.
25. Promote participatory democracy. Build a constituency for change through alternative information networks and media. Use community, workplace, women’s, church, union, First Nations and other outlets to encourage people to take back control. Empower them with the knowledge they need to understand the right-wing forces affecting them and how they can fight back most effectively.
26. Hold the line. The corporate takeover is not yet complete. Social programs have not yet been entirely dismantled. Unions have not yet been destroyed. Not all environmental protections have been eliminated. There is still time, through sustained and co-ordinated action, to hold the line.

*

ANNEX 3

Global Principles Governing International Trade and Investment:

An Alternative to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)

Draft prepared for Community Coalition Against the MAI.

by Roger Peters, November 5, 1997

Need

We now live in a global economy where international trade and investment link the economies of all countries and determines the current and future state of the world’s communities and peoples. The bulk of this international investment is made up of the savings, pension funds and shareholdings of ordinary citizens.

There is a need therefore for a comprehensive agreement on international trade and investment, which all countries would be invited to sign, that regulates the activities of international corporations and investors to the world’s overall benefit while providing some protection for investment and a common set of rules.

Such a global agreement would differ from the currently proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in that it would set legally binding international community standards and then provide investment rules based on these standards. The MAI, on the other hand, sets common rules to protect investors’ rights but with only voluntary exceptions for community interests.

Values

Rules governing trade and investment should be based on the following values:

• democratic decision making and governmental accountability to a nation’s citizen
• social citizenship and the collective responsibility for our fellow human beings
• the need to preserve and protect our environment
• the subordination of private corporations and property rights to the common good
• the ability to reasonably benefit from our labor and investment

Principles

The principles governing trade and investment should be as follows:

1. It is the democratic right of communities, through their governments, to set the rules regulating all international trade and investment, and to approve these rules through legally binding national and local consultation.

2. All investments would be treated equally but be covered by a common set of rules, but would be required to meet legally binding international standards and performance requirements. A comprehensive set of international standards should be established which govern all trade, investment, and business practices. These standards would be based on current international agreements and seek to set the highest standards for the following community values:

• protection of human rights as set out in the U.N. Declaration
• universal access to education, health care, and social services
• a living wage
• a safe and equitable workplace
• protection and repair of the world’s environment and resources as set out in Agenda 21
• public health and safety
• protection and community ownership of land and natural resources
• the rights of aboriginal peoples
• hazardous and dangerous products (inc. land mines, chemical weapons, nuclear waste, etc)
• the right to collective action

3. In addition, communities and countries, through their governments, should be able to make policies that provide special protection of, or incentives for, local development and protection of natural resources. This would include:

• financial and economic policies and budgets that serve community needs
• limitations on property rights and intellectual property
• provision of public funded education, health care, energy and public services
• preferential treatment of local business, public corporations, cooperatives, agriculture, etc.
• allocation of land and resources as parks and reserves
• special rights of aboriginal peoples
• control of the movement of capital
• rights to reward environmental and social responsibility over and above international standards e.g. special designation of high efficiency products or Eco logo and preferential buying policies
• regulation of the sale and content of products based on social impact, environmental impact, public health and safety, or….e.g. minimum recycled material content, banning of MMT
• preferential treatment of local cultural industries

4. Communities, through their governments, should be able to set legal performance requirements for domestic and international investment, business practices and development in the form of regulations to meet the above standards. Communities would also be free to sanction other governments and corporations which do not meet these standards and are not in compliance with U.N. and other international declarations, laws and agreements.

5. Any disputes between communities, country governments and investors would be referred to a fully independent disputes tribunal which would hear and resolve the dispute in the community or country affected through an open and democratic public process.

—-

ENDNOTES [for references in "From a Politics of Place to a Politics of Space..."]

1) “Return to Colonialism” is a title of a recent analysis of the prospects of the Lomé Convention which stipulates trade relations between Europe and some Pacific Nations, and the character of current European development assistance vis a vis the member States of Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP). See Greenidge, Carl B., “Return to Colonialism: The New Orientation of European Development Assistance,” DSA European Development Policy Study Group, DP#6, Brussels: ACP Secretariat, May 1997.

2) See Billig, Michael (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage Publications. See also Aijaz Ahmad (1994). In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literature. London and New York: Verso, especially pp. 37 39.

3)  Chatterjee, Partha (1986). Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, p. 40.

4) Chatterjee, P. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, Ibid.

5) Qureshi, Zia, “Globalization: New Opportunities, Tough Challenges.” Finance and Development, A Quarterly Publication of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Washington, D.C., March 1996.

6) See World Bank, World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World, New York: Oxford University Press. See also Brian Levy’s summary article, “How Can States Foster Markets?” in Finance and Development: A Quarterly of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, (September 1997), pp. 21 23.

7) “Globalization and Development,” Proceedings of the 8th General Conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), September 1996, Vienna, Austria. In Lomé 2000, No. 3, October 1996, p. 1.

8)  Karliner, Joshua (1997). The Corporate Planet: Ecology and Politics in the Age of Globalization. (Sierra Club Books).

9) Karliner, Joshua, The Corporate Planet, Ibid.

10) I should also alert you, if you don’t already know, of the very fine work that came out of last year’s APEC Peoples’ Summit meetings in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine organization BAYAN maintains a website where you can access these materials.

11) In Cumings, Bruce, “The Political Economy of the Pacific Rim,” Keynote Address to the 15th Annual Conference on the Political Economy of the World System, Honolulu, Hawai’i, March 28, 1991, p.2.

12) The East West Center, in Honolulu, Hawai’i, was established in 1960 by act of the U.S. Congress to foster cultural and technical understanding between East and West. The APEC Study Center used to be run by the Center’s International Economics and Politics Program. It has been relegated to another part of the Center, due do recent budget cuts. One can also access these study centers over the Internet.

13) Kelsey, Jane, “APEC: To Engage or Not to Engage?” [I have quoted from Jane Kelsey's article, posted onto the APEC Forum Listserve. I thank the GATT Watchdog organization for providing me with Kelsey's piece. (October 23, 1997).

14) In "Global Economy Out of Control, World's New Players Floundering," The Honolulu Advertiser, September 28, 1997, p. A1.

15) In Kelsey, Jane, "APEC: To Engage or Not to Engage," Ibid.

16) See Thiong'o, Ngugi Wa, Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. (1986). London: Heinemann.

17) See Slemon, Stephen, "The Scramble for Post Colonialism," (1994). In De-Scribing Empire: Post Colonialism and Textuality. Edited by Chris Tiffin and Alan Lawson, New York: Routledge, pp. 15 32 (22).

18) See Galtung, Johan, "In Search of Self Reliance," (1986). In The Living Economy: A New Economics in the Making. Edited by Paul Ekins. New York: Routledge, p. 100.

19) Masahide Kato is now writing a doctoral dissertation about resistance to imperialism, by using filmic images in the popular culture to explore the extent of peoples’ resistance. In particular, his explorations of the contributions of Bruce Lee and Bob Marley offer potentially new arenas in both martial arts and reggae music as well as other media in which to track popular resistance to various projects of empire.

20) In Tujan, Antonio, Jr., "APEC and Imperialist Globalization," Address given at the 1996 APEC Peoples’ Summit in Manila, November 1996, p.1. [Posted in BAYAN’s homepage.] Accessed November 10, 1997.

21) In Aldridge, Bob and Ched Myers (1990). Resisting the Serpent: Palau’s Struggle for Self Determination. Baltimore, MD: Fortkamp Publishing Company, p. 191. Walter Benjamin’s quote comes from his “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” (1969). In Illuminations. Edited by Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken, pp. 256ff.

22) Aldridge, Bob and Ched Myers (1990). Resisting the Serpent: Palau’s Struggle for Self Determination, Ibid., p. 7.

23) In “Statement by NGOs to the Main Committee at the [U.N.] Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States,” Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April 6 May 1994, p. 1.

24) In Ibid.

25) Williams, William Appleman (1980). Empire as a Way of Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 212ff. As quoted in B. Aldridge and C. Myers, Resisting the Serpent: Palau’s Struggle for Self Determination. Ibid, pp. 192 193.

26) See Greider, William (1997). One World, Ready Or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism. New York: Simon & Schuster.

27) Sforza Roderick, Scott Nova, and Mark Weisbrot (1997). “Writing the Constitution of a Single Global Economy: A Concise Guide to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.” Global Policy Forum, The Preamble Center, New York City.

28) Ferguson, Marilyn (1980). The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, p. 19. In describing a personal experience of naming a book devoted to a movement dedicated to the miracles of the human brain and the collective ability to transform human societies, only if the opportunity is nurtured, Marilyn Ferguson “came across a book of spiritual exercises in which the Greek novelist, Nikos Kazantzakis, said he wished to signal his comrades, ‘like conspirators,’ that they might unite for the sake of the earth.” After much pondering and speculation, she called this the Aquarian conspiracy.

29) In Grzybowski, Candido (1995), “Civil Society’s Response to Globalization,” Rio de Janeiro, p. 1. (In Corporate Watch Action Alert Site). Accessed November 10, 1997.

30) Grzybowski, Candido, “Civil Society’s Responses to Globalization,” Ibid, p. 4.

© Copyright 2011 Richard N. Salvador