“Planetary perspectives.” |
The role of NGOs should
be to foster the emergence of a worldwide civil society, the first step towards making
globalization a more democratic affair
 NGOs
were not born yesterday, but the rising number of conflicts that have reverberated
in recent decades around a world globalized in the neo-liberal mould has led
them to multiply and diversify into highly visible bodies.
Who are the main players in this process of globalization? Governments (politics)
and the market (the economy) are the twin pillars supporting the productive systems
and structures of modern societies. So who has the legitimate right to change them?
The societies themselves, for they alone are made up of citizens grouped together
as a people, a nation or a country. The right does not belong to governments, state
structures, corporate executives or markets. This is why, as NGOs, our attention
is directed at civil society itself.
At the global level, our basic task is to foster the emergence of a worldwide civil
society as a precondition to calling for a new style of globalization: “world governance.”
Our mission is to encourage the re-founding of globalization along more democratic
lines by taking part in public debate and promulgating the concept of world citizenship.
The political stances we take and our lobbying activities, therefore, do not come
out of the blue, but are efforts to transmit the main currents and aspirations of
public opinion and make this opinion stronger and clearer.
The
tripartite mirage
All NGO actions
are based on a obvious priority, namely that of supporting social protests and public
pressure during major negotiations taking place within the main circles of power.
That is why the agreements we conclude and the alliances we forge are above all else
aimed at organizations and movements arising from civil society. That is also why
we build forums, coalitions and networks that straddle national borders. On the basis
of our approach, we can think globally, set up links between the particular and the
universal, swap experiences and keep ourselves regularly informed.
Today, global power is monopolized by major multilateral organizations, and is fundamentally
anti-democratic in its structure and workings. In their current form, these organizations’
claims to embody democracy and universal citizenship ring hollow. In fact, their
only possible claim to legitimacy is through the vote. But not all the national governments
represented in international organizations have been elected by popular suffrage,
and very few of them represent all the different social forces that go into making
up their nations.
Does this mean that NGOs, which are supposed to embody civil society, should claim
to represent these peoples? Does it mean that our goal should be to win a place at
the heart of a future new world democratic order? Does it mean that we are fully
entitled to a seat in some new tripartite structure—made up of government, companies
and civil society—that some people are campaigning for? In my opinion, all of that
is just a mirage; even worse, we risk losing sight of our most useful and most legitimate
purpose if we embrace that vision.
Small
players, big issues
NGOs are not
out to conquer power or win elections, be they world, national or local bodies. We
are not set up like political parties, even though our activities are public and
seem highly politicized. We cannot even present ourselves as representatives of civil
society because civil society has not entrusted us with any such mandate.
So what do we want? To reach out, mobilize, educate, get across messages, suggest,
innovate, persuade and politically strengthen various groups in civil society and,
more specifically, those excluded from the decision-making process. We want to give
a voice to ideas, values, questions and proposals that involve social justice, a
more equitable distribution of wealth, respect for the environment, the struggle
against poverty and social exclusion.
Who are we? Small players, compared to the other pillars of civil society, such as
trade unions and professional organizations, or bodies in the state or the market.
But we are also—and this is something new—“big” players, because our mission and
our field of action are not limited to a given society, national economy or single
government. Our task is to form a bridge between the local and the global: in other
words, to deal with what is universal, with what is common to all humanity. Human
rights, social crises and environmental protection are global issues. We deal with
them in specific situations, but our perspective is always planetary.
So where does our legitimacy lie? In the quality of the values, principles and ideals
we defend. In the relevance and the importance of the issues we raise. In the inventiveness
of the proposals we put forward. Our only source of legitimacy is our ability to
develop ideas aimed at action—ideas that are up to the standards of public duty to
which we aspire.
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