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See also other materials on "Globalisation"

2003:

Globalisation seen as a boost to corporate social responsibility in Asia [regarding study by Nottingham University International Centre for CSR] (Business Times [Malaysia], 11 Apr. 2003)

Michael Smith reports on Tata's army of worker-volunteers, who produce social capital as well as profits [India] -...The Tata group, one of India's largest private sector conglomerates (involving about 80 companies), is renowned worldwide for its commitment to social welfare...Housing for employees, company-run hospitals and schools, and rural development projects such road building, tree planting and well digging are all part of the Tata package...But now Tata's social ethos is under threat because of the forces of globalisation...The company has also sought the help of the Confederation of Indian Industries, in creating a network of like-minded companies that maintain community initiatives. They include Thermax and Forbes Marshall engineering in Pune and TVS, the scooters and automotive giant based in Bangalore. (Michael Smith, Guardian [UK], 10 Apr. 2003)

INVESTMENT: Developing Nations Get Venture Capital Advocate - In a move designed to spur the investment of venture capital in developing countries, Venture Exchange Network today announced the creation of an action group at a special session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. The Policy Action Group on Venture Capital, formed under the auspices of the Commission on Globalization with partners such as the International Chamber of Commerce, will create a channel for venture capital in developing countries. (UN Wire, 21 Mar. 2003)

• Venture Exchange Network announces formation of Policy Action Group on Venture Capital at the United Nations (Venture Exchange Network, 21 Mar. 2003)

GLOBALIZATION: IMF Warns Liberalization Can Harm Poor Countries - A new International Monetary Fund report indicates that the IMF is becoming more cautious about advising poor countries to open up to foreign capital, the Financial Times reported yesterday. (UN Wire, 19 Mar. 2003)

• IMF more cautious over poor countries - Financial globalisation may put poor countries at greater risk of slipping into crisis and should be treated with caution, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund. (Alan Beattie, Financial Times, 18 Mar. 2003)

ICFTU targets 11 key countries for grave violations - Violations of trade union and other human rights in 11 countries [including Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, South Korea, Burma, Belarus] as well as the issue of globalisation and its impact on respect for human rights will be on the ICFTU’s agenda for this year’s 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 14 Mar. 2003)

"Human Rights and Corporate Accountability" (speech by Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, at The Fund for Peace - Human Rights and Business Roundtable, 19 Feb. 2003)

"Human Rights and Ethical Globalization" -...On this occasion my intention is to consider how, by using the language and tools of international human rights, we can shape a more ethical globalization...there is increasing recognition that if fundamental rights are to be implemented it is essential to ensure that obligations fall where power is exercised, whether it is in the local village, the corporate board room or in the international meeting rooms of the WTO, the World Bank or the IMF...discussion is only now beginning on the fundamental question of how to ensure equitable access to life saving drugs...I hope, through my new work, to engage the major pharmaceutical companies in addressing these issues from a human rights perspective. (lecture by Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, at Stanford University, 12 Feb. 2003)

Balancing Trade Rules, the Environment and Sustainable Development -...AllAfrica's Akwe Amosu probed these issues with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the General Manager of the Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia. (AllAfrica.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

GLOBALIZE THIS! Respect for human rights. -...So we are not opposed to globalisation but we cannot accept a globalisation that dooms more than a billion people to lives of deprivation incompatible with basic human dignity. Why worry so much about expanding investment opportunities and so little about globalising respect for human rights? Why is all the attention on binding rules for trade disputes, and so little on international accountability in relation to states' human rights obligations?...For too long corporations operating globally have exploited weaknesses in national laws and have been party to human rights violations with impunity.  International human rights law is part of the solution to corporate accountability and to the creation of a global regulatory framework that allows for a globalisation consistent with freedom and dignity. (speech by Paul Hoffman, Chair of Amnesty International, to World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 25 Jan. 2003)

Globalization tops Social Forum agenda -...For Sergio Gomes, a metalworker from Sao Paulo, Brazil's industrial largest city, globalization "is the new name of colonization." "It means that industrial countries keep the clean industries, like electronics, and force developing countries to work with industries polluting the environment," he said. "They get the best, we are left the worst." (Harold Olmos, Associated Press, 24 Jan. 2003)

A Discussion On Ethical Globalization [includes discussion of human rights issues] (participants: Ernesto Zedillo, Mary Robinson, Jagdish Bhagwati, Arjun Appadurai, Gus Ranis, Drusilla Brown, Philip Alston, Thomas Hammarberg, Ayesha Imam, Ben Kiernan, Michael Merson, Harold Hongju Koh, in YaleGlobal, 15 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Indigenous women: UNIFEM Head Decries Feminization Of Poverty - Mexico's 6.7 million indigenous women, most of whom are employed in the informal sector, have seen their condition worsen with globalization...Heyzer called on countries to address the feminization of poverty by applying a gender perspective to budgets, taxes, employment and land use. (UN Wire, 3 Dec. 2002)

Earth on the market: Beyond the limits of sustainable growth - Despite all the hype, the UN-sponsored world summit on sustainable development in South Africa in August could not introduce any real constraints because they would have meant re-examining globalisation. So could sustainable development just be a pretext for maintaining a growth that must be, by nature, destructive to the environment? - ...Sustainable development has been diverted by business, which has equated it with sustainable growth (Sadruddin Aga Khan, Bellerive Foundation, Dec. 2002)

From Doha to Cancún: the Hypocrisy behind Western Compassion (Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium, message to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

A World without Frontiers (Aung San Suu Kyi, message to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Free trade can be a very powerful engine for growth and sustainable development (Donald J. Johnston, Secretary-General of the OECD, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

The Principle of Reciprocity (Dr. Aminata Dramane Traoré, Director of the Centre du Amadou Hampâté BA, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Making the World Trading System Work for All Countries (Govindasamy Rajasekaran, Secretary-General of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Sustainability and Leadership (Rémi Parmentier, Political Director of Greenpeace International, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Why Cancún Matters (Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

What Are the Most Urgent Questions to be Resolved for the South to Achieve a Genuine Development Agenda (Chee Yoke Ling, Deputy-Director of Third World Network, Malaysia, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Europe: Development is the Goal, Trade is the Instrument (Pascal Lamy Member of the European Commission, responsible for Trade, speech to Second International Conference on Globalisation, 26 Nov. 2002)

Analysis: Is relief for the poor embodied in the wealth of the rich?...the globalization of capital markets contains within its mechanisms the financial means to eradicate abject poverty while also addressing environmental degradation worldwide (Jeff Gates, President of Shared Capitalism Institute, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 3 Nov. 2002)

Defining Global Business Principles: Towards a new role for investors in promoting international corporate responsibility [refers to human rights, labour issues, environmental issues; includes sections entitled "Globalisation and coporate responsibility", "Global ethical principles", "The Global Business Principles Project"]  (Dr. Craig Mackenzie, Head of Investor Responsibility, Insight Investment, Nov. 2002)

Former U.N. official urges an 'ethical globalization' - One of the most important questions facing the world today is "how do we build an ethical globalization which bridges the current divides between north and south, rich and poor, secular and religious?" said Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations high commissioner on human rights (Yale Bulletin & Calendar, 18 Oct. 2002)

ICFTU Submission in October 2002 for the World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 10 Oct. 2002)

Outgoing UN Human Rights Chief Launches 'Ethical Globalization Initiative' - On her last day as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson said Tuesday she plans to head up a new 15-month project she calls the "Ethical Globalization Initiative." (Jim Burns, CNSNews, 11 Sep. 2002)

'Developing nations should monitor' food multinationals -...An FAO study, to be released today, warns that globalisation "has led to the rise of multinational food companies with the potential to disempower farmers in many countries". (Paul Betts, Financial Times, 20 Aug. 2002)

Workshop: Private Greed vs. Public Need? Ethical Issues in Globalization - 26 Aug. 2002 - Johannesburg (IUCN - World Conservation Union) [posted to this site on 7 Aug. 2002]

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: Global Disparities Growing, UNIDO Report Says -..."The least developed countries, still struggling to meet the basic human needs of their population, have had their health, social and economic standards slip over the last few decades," said UNIDO Director General Carlos Magarinos. (UN Wire, 30 July 2002)

World Bank and IMF reform vital to end poverty, says UN -...Calling for an end to rich countries' dominance of the institutions of global financial governance, the UN Development Programme says that decisions about how to manage globalisation must become more democratic. (Jonathan Steele and Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 24 July 2002)

From Rio to Johannesburg: The Globalization Decade - As part of our special coverage of the Johannesburg Earth Summit, CorpWatch is running three excerpts from the new book, Earthsummit.biz: The Corporate Takeover of Sustainable Development written by CorpWatch staffers Kenny Bruno and Joshua Karliner and co-published by Food First Books and CorpWatch...The excerpt below outlines the decade leading up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. (Kenny Bruno & Joshua Karliner, CorpWatch and Food First Books, 24 July 2002)

• EarthSummit.biz: The Corporate Takeover of Sustainable Development by Kenny Bruno and Joshua Karliner - Written especially for the Johannesburg Earth Summit, the new book EarthSummit.biz by Kenny Bruno and Joshua Karliner exposes the reality behind the propaganda of big business as it attempts to convey a public image of concern for environment, sustainable development and human rights...Published by the Institute for Food and Development Policy and CorpWatch. To be released, August 2002

IMF: Officials Respond To Book By Former World Bank Economist Stiglitz - International Monetary Fund officials and former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz have squared off in person and in print over a new book [Globalization and its Discontents] in which Stiglitz criticizes the fund for overemphasizing austerity measures in crisis countries. (UN Wire, 8 July 2002)

Globalization and Future of Poor Countries -...Many poor nations are unable to make the necessary investment and will slide back in the global race. Globalization of the culture of the rich, marked by extravaganza and lack of social commitments, is deeply troubling for the future of the poor. The mirage of an amoral, cynical and affluent lifestyle, constantly beamed and wired to the world, is fast destroying the moral fabric of economically poor, but culturally rich societies and endangering the peaceful advancement of human civilization. (M. Monwarul Islam, Independent [Bangladesh], 6 July 2002)

It's Too Soon to Gloat: America's Financial Scandals Won't Bury the US Model. But They Do Give Us a Chance to Rethink Globalization -...This seems a smart route for the anti-globalisation movement to travel: to move beyond the sterile debate about whether globalisation is good or bad, and decide what kind of globalisation it wants. (Jonathan Freedland, Guardian [UK], 3 July 2002)

Globalization for Whom? -...It will take a lot of work to make globalization's rules friendlier to poor nations. Leaders of the advanced countries will have to stop dressing up policies championed by special interests at home as responses to the needs of the poor in the developing world. (Dani Rodrik, Harvard Magazine, July/Aug. 2002)

Is inequality decreasing? David Dollar and Aart Kraay claimed in these pages that globalization reduced economic inequality. Three writers argue they got it wrong, and the authors respond. (Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

• original article: Spreading the Wealth: One of the main claims of the antiglobalization movement is that globalization is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots...The problem with this new conventional wisdom is that the best evidence available shows the exact opposite to be true. So far, the current wave of globalization, which started around 1980, has actually promoted economic equality and reduced poverty. (David Dollar and Aart Kraay, economists at the World Bank's Development Research Group, in Foreign Affairs, Jan.-Feb. 2002)

• Response: By the Numbers -...My own work, in contrast, shows a clear and severe global pattern of rising inequality in industrial pay, beginning in the early 1980s. (James K. Galbraith, in Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

• Response: Inequality Is No Myth - David Dollar and Aart Kraay's argument that globalization is a "powerful force for equality" is strange in light of widely accepted empirical evidence that inequality within and between countries has increased over the last 200 years. (Joe W. Pitts, in Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

• Response: Having It Both Ways - David Dollar and Aart Kraay's claim that "globalization ... has actually promoted economic equality and reduced poverty" is based on a selective use of data and dubious assumptions about causality. (Andrew Wells-Dang, in Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

• Dollar and Kraay reply (David Dollar and Aart Kraay, in Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

Review: The Globalization Wars: An Economist Reports From the Front Lines [review of Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz] (Barry Eichengreen, in Foreign Affairs, July/Aug. 2002)

World Bank conferences closes with words of hope for the poor - A World Bank conference closed Wednesday with words of hope for the poor and warnings of the threats of uncontrolled globalization and development. (Doug Mellgren, Associated Press, 26 June 2002)

ILO annual Conference adopts new measures to tackle the challenges of globalization - The International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded its 90th annual Conference today after adopting a series of measures designed to promote a more rigorous approach to tackling the challenges of globalization and create an "anchor" for personal security through poverty reduction, job creation and improved workplace health and safety. (International Labour Organization, 20 June 2002)

• LABOR: ILO Ends Meeting By Adopting New Measures On Globalization (UN Wire, 21 June 2002)

Fair trade demo attracts record numbers [UK] - Campaigners calling for a better deal for poor countries in the world trading system swamped parliament yesterday in the largest mass lobby of MPs to date (Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 20 June 2002)

100m more must survive on $1 a day: IMF and World Bank told to stop peddling discredited policies -...An in-depth [United Nations] study into the world's 49 least developed countries rejects claims that globalisation is good for the poor (Charlotte Denny & Larry Elliott, Guardian [UK], 19 June 2002)

Globalization Narrows Gender Gap: World Bank - Economic globalization has been proven able to reduce gender inequalities across the world, a senior economist at the World Bank said...However, globalization itself was not enough, and the support of governments was needed to step up efforts to eradicate gender disparities, said Andrew Mason. (A’an Suryana, Jakarta Post, 13 June 2002)

Globalisation Cast Millions to Poverty, Says ILO Africa Boss (African Church Information Service, 10 June 2002)

Taking Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection [Miliband Public Lecture on Global Economic Governance - The London School of Economics and Political Science] -...First, I briefly describe the main drivers of the anti-globalization backlash...Second, I summarize the key features of Kofi Annan’s Global Compact...Third, I locate that initiative within the broader universe of innovations in global governance, and I argue, with due appreciation for the irony, that the corporate sector, which has done more than any other to create the growing gap between global economy and national communities, has a critical role to play in bridging it. (John Gerard Ruggie, Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs - Kennedy School of Government - Harvard University, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, 6 June 2002)

Globalisation Must Not Harm People - The people have the right to question globalisation if its implementation leads to the loss of millions of jobs worldwide, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. The Prime Minister [of Malaysia] said although globalisation could not be avoided by any nation or group, it should be re-shaped to prevent discrimination and favouritism. (Firdaus Abdullah, New Straits Times [Malaysia], 4 June 2002)

Trade, Environment & Development Series Premieres: Top Experts Clarify, Propose Workable Solutions to Trade Issues - Attempting to break through the logjam of polarized debate over the nature, impact, and future of global trade, the Carnegie Endowment premieres the first policy brief in its Trade, Environment, and Development series. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 3 June 2002)

• Doha: Is It Really a Development Round? (Kamal Malhotra, Senior Civil Society Advisor at UNDP; Trade Environment, & Development Series; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2002)

There's Only So Much That Foreign Trade Can Do -...Contrary to the view of globalization supporters and even some critics, trade with the United States does not automatically provide Third World workers with the keys to wealth and happiness. (Alan Tonelson, Research Fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry Council Educational Foundation, in Washington Post, 2 June 2002)

The Burger They Love to Hate -...But to others, McDonald's is the archvillian, the target for a host of environmentalists, animal rights activists, vegetarians, trade unionists, and enemies of capitalism. (Eetta Prince-Gibson, Jerusalem Post [Israel], 31 May 2002)

Statement of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights -...the Committee observes with concern the overall decline in living conditions, particularly in connection with pressures of globalization and the shrinking role of the State, as more and more social services are turned over to non-State entities who have no comparable commitment to the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights, nor to the protection of the environment. The Committee has observed, for example, that the right to health is violated by "the failure to enact or enforce laws to prevent the pollution of water, air and soil by the extractive and manufacturing industries." [para. 3] (United Nations, Background Paper No. 5 for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Fourth Preparatory Session, 30 May 2002) [to download this pdf file directly, click here: http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/html/documents/prep4_background_papers/humanrights_background5.pdf]

Trade unions to fight globalisation - A pan-African trade union movement vowed on Thursday to fight globalisation unless world trade is democratised and made transparent and accountable (South African Press Association, 30 May 2002)

World Bank VP urges more leadership on environment - A senior World Bank executive said yesterday strong political leadership was vital to ensure a world environment summit in three months time did not add to the discontent felt by some about the process of globalisation. (Nick Antonovics, Reuters, 22 May 2002) 

Export at any cost: Oxfam's free trade recipe for the third world - A critique of Oxfam's trade report (Dr. Vandana Shiva, founder of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, 14 May 2002)

Making a Workable Tobin Tax: Interview with Joseph Stiglitz - As the world is becoming more integrated, globalization has occurred, we have more needs that need to be fulfilled at the global level, we have needs in terms of financing the war against AIDS and other international diseases, the war against terror, providing for a better environment...addressing poverty in developing countries. (interview of Joseph Stiglitz, Sonia Mikich, Monitor, 13 May 2002)

Globalization, Impact on Human Rights Is Discussed in Seattle (Valerie Taliman, Indian Country Today, 3 May 2002)

ASIA-PACIFIC: ESCAP Study Warns Of Growing Inequities From Globalization - Globalization is contributing to the widening of social and income gaps in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new study by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN Wire, 2 May 2002)

What's wrong with the Oxfam Trade Campaign -...I have a lot of respect for Oxfam, and I do agree with many things in the Oxfam report, but I feel that it provides the wrong focus and wrong direction for the movement against corporate-driven globalization during this critical period. (Walden Bello, Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, 26 Apr. 2002)

• Oxfam's response to Walden Bello's article -...At no stage of the report do we argue for neo-liberal export-led growth models, let alone for free-market prescriptions in developing countries...However...we do believe that exports can play a role in supporting poverty-reduction strategies (Oxfam, 3 May 2002)

• response by Walden Bello to Oxfam statement: The Oxfam debate: From controversy to common strategy (Walden Bello, Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, May 2002)

The corporatist manifesto -...People have forgotten that thanks to capitalism, life expectancy is up, infant mortality is down, education is richer, horizons are broader, environmental awareness is greater, global co-operation is possible and that capitalism is the reason we can offer reliable social welfare provision on a mass scale. (Steve Hilton, co-founder of Good Business, a London-based consulting group that advises companies on how they can help their business by helping society, in Financial Times, 18 Apr. 2002)

• Letters to the editor: Meanwhile, back in the real world - The superficial, one-sided account of the global and environmental benefits of corporate capitalism presented by Steve Hilton...was completely undermined by the report in the news pages of the same edition that Robert Watson," the outspoken leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading scientific body advising on global warming, was yesterday removed as chairman after pressure from the US government and Exxon, the US oil company". The reason: he was too effective. No further comment is required. (Letter to the editor, Dr. Anne-Carole Chamier, in Financial Times, 27 Apr. 2002)

• Letters to the editor: The lobbyists behind corporate 'altruism' - Steve Hilton's whitewashing of global capitalism...smacks of incredible naivety. A more honest appraisal would point out that large corporations would not be so altruistic if anti-corporate lobbyists had not put intense pressure on them to behave in a more socially responsible way. (Letter to the editor, Chie Higashino, in Financial Times, 4 May 2002)

Comments from the European Commission on the Oxfam trade report (European Commission, 17 Apr. 2002)

• Oxfam response to European Commission's comments on Rigged Rules and Double Standards (Oxfam)

Oxfam plays into hands of the anti-globalizers:...The report's coverage of the unfairness of many of the rules in international trade is mostly accurate and is a welcome reminder of the hypocrisy which underlies so much Western free trade rhetoric. However, Oxfam shows double standards of its own (Philip Bowring, International Herald Tribune, 12 Apr. 2002)

TRADE: Oxfam Critique of WTO Triggers Reactions from All Sides - Top officials from the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation rejected the analysis published Thursday by the humanitarian organisation Oxfam International about the inequities of the global trade system and the harm it purportedly causes developing countries. The report, part of Oxfam's "Make Trade Fair" campaign, blames WTO rules for relegating the world's poor regions and countries to misery, but at least one other humanitarian group says the report does not go far enough (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 11 Apr. 2002)

press release: The Great Trade Robbery: Rich world swindles millions from the benefits of trade as global wealth divide widens to all time high - OXFAM today accused the rich world of robbing the poor world of $100 billion a year by abusing the rules governing world trade and denying millions of poor people their best escape route from poverty. (Oxfam, 11 Apr. 2002)

• report: Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, globalisation and the fight against poverty (Oxfam, Apr. 2002)

• Oxfam demands end to 'unfair' trade: The international development charity Oxfam has called for a change in global trade rules, which it says are unfairly biased against poor countries. (BBC News, 11 Apr. 2002)

• Oxfam brands EU bloc as most protectionist:...A report by the international aid agency ranks the EU ahead of the US, Japan and Canada on the basis of 10 measures of trade protection. It accuses the four powers of practising "double standards" by urging poor countries to liberalise, while keeping their own markets closed. (Guy de Jonquieres,  Financial Times, 11 Apr. 2002)

• EU and US selling poor down the river: Oxfam report accuses west of double standards on trade - The European Union and the United States are robbing the world's poor of billions of dollars each year in export earnings by preaching free trade while protecting their own markets, development campaigners claim today. (Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 11 Apr. 2002)

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Consensus Eludes Preparatory Meeting - The third preparatory meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development ended Friday night with the lack of an anticipated agreement on consensus documents for the event prompting organizers to decide to meet again ahead of a planned ministerial meeting in May...Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth said the text's references to "private-public partnerships" are "essentially opportunities given to corporations to deliver the implement of sustainable development. ... Do they really have the interest of sustainable development at heart? ... We are talking about corporations taking advantage of global trade yet not willing to be accountable globally..." (Jim Wurst, UN Wire, 8 Apr. 2002)

Public-Private Partnerships to Save the World? Friends of the Earth today slammed the UK Government, the EU, and governments from other industrialised countries for putting big business before people and the environment during the preparations for this year's "Earth Summit". The environment group warned that the Johannesburg meeting looked set to become "the world's largest trade fair", unless governments seized the opportunity to address the negative aspects of corporate-led globalisation. (Friends of the Earth, 5 Apr. 2002)

More should be done to make globalization work for South Asia's poor: Despite the promises of globalization, about half a billion people in South Asia have experienced a decline in their incomes during the 1990s, according to the newly released Report on Human Development in South Asia 2001. By contrast, only a small minority of the educated urban population benefited from the region's economic growth. (U.N. Development Programme, 28 Mar. 2002)

GLOBALIZATION: ILO Panel Urged To Find Ways Poor Countries Can Benefit (UN Wire, 26 Mar. 2002)

ILO's World Commission on Globalization begins work:...It will seek to harness the globalization process to foster growth and reduce poverty...Mr. Somavia [ILO Director-General Juan Somavia]  said..."Labour unions, citizens and, increasingly, enlightened business leaders around the world have made their point: we can no longer ignore the social dimension of globalization." (International Labour Organization, 22 Mar. 2002)

• {···español} Inicia sus trabajos la Comisión Mundial sobre la Globalización (Organización Internacional del Trabajo, 22 marzo 2002)

• {···français} La Commission mondiale sur la dimension sociale de la mondialisation de l'OIT commence ses travaux (Organisation internationale du Travail, 22 mars 2002)

Globalization: Balancing act - Interviewed by Australia's Business Review Weekly, ICC President Richard D McCormick dismissed as "a crazy idea" the notion that globalization hurts developing countries (International Chamber of Commerce website, 21 Mar. 2002)

Global market growth seen failing to feed poorest: Global market growth is failing to relieve hunger among the world's poorest people, scientists advising the United Nations' world food body said yesterday. (David Brough, Reuters, 21 Mar. 2002)

A Rights Based Approach to Development: Presentation to the World Social Forum Seminar on Globalization and Human Dignity - Porto Allegre (Jorge Daniel Taillant, Executive Director of CEDHA - Centro de Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente/Center for Human Rights and Environment, 2 Mar. 2002)

Review of Seeking Social Justice Through Globalization: Escaping a Nationalist Perspective by Gavin Kitching (G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, Mar./Apr. 2002)

Novo Nordisk and globalisation in Reporting on the Triple Bottom Line 2001: dealing with dilemmas (Novo Nordisk, Mar. 2002)

The latest Novo Nordisk Triple Bottom Line report: 'Reporting on the Triple Bottom Line 2001: Dealing with dilemmas' [social/environmental report by Novo Nordisk; includes sections on: globalisation and its implications for business, access to healthcare in developing countries, intellectual property rights, diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace] (Novo Nordisk, Mar. 2002)

Beyond the Monterrey consensus: A trade union agenda for the governance of globalization -...We demand that Core Labour Standards as set out in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up be at the centre of global and sustainable development strategies. (WCL [World Confederation of Labour] & ICFTU [International Confederation of Labour], Mar. 2002)

• {···español}  Más allá del consenso de Monterrey: Una agenda sindical para el gobierno de la mundialización -...Demandamos que las estrategias de desarrollo global y sostenible estén centradas en las Normas Laborales Fundamentales tales como figuran en la Declaración de la OIT sobre Principios y Derechos Fundamentales en el Trabajo y su Seguimiento. (CMT [Confederación Mundial del Trabajo] & CIOSL [Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres], marzo 2002)

• {···français} Au-delà de consensus de Monterrey: Agenda syndical pour la gouvernabilité de la mondialisation -...Nous exigeons que les Normes fondamentales du travail, telles que définies dans la Déclaration de l’OIT sur les droits et principes fondamentaux au travail, ainsi que leur suivi, soient au centre des stratégies pour un développement mondial durable. (CMT [Confédération Mondiale du Travail] & CISL [Confédération internationale des syndicats libres], mars 2002)

Are global poverty and inequality getting worse? Robert Wade vs Martin Wolf (Prospect, Mar. 2002)

ILO Tackles Social Consequences of Globalization: The International Labour Organization (ILO) today launched a top-level commission comprising Presidents, politicians, academics, social experts and a Nobel Economics laureate which, for the first time, will address the social dimension of globalization. (International Labour Organization, 27 Feb. 2002)

Making Globalisation Work: Speech by Mike Moore (WTO) to Global Unions Taskforce on trade, investment and international labour standards (Mike Moore, Director-General, WTO, 20 Feb. 2002)

Responses to the Challenges of Globalization: A Study on the International Monetary and Financial System and on Financing for Development (European Commission, 13 Feb. 2002)

The Poor Speak Up: Leaders of the developing world are rising up with a strength not seen since Tito, Nasser and Nehru, challenging the rules of globalization as defined by both Western governments and Western activists (Rana Foroohar, Newsweek International, 12 Feb. 2002)

Dita Sari Spurns Reebok Award [Indonesia]: Prominent women’s labor rights activist Dita Indah Sari has rejected a $50,000 human rights award from sporting apparel giant Reebok in protest against the meager salaries the company pays its Indonesian factory workers [includes text of Dita Sari’s Statement on Reebok Human Rights Award] (Laksamana.Net [Indonesia], 6 Feb. 2002)

• Running From Reebok's Hypocrisy [concerning rejection of Reebok Human Rights Award by Indonesian labour rights activist Dita Sari]: "We've created a cottage industry of monitors and inspectors and drafters of codes," Ballinger says, "but all these workers ever wanted was to sit down in dignity and negotiate with their bosses, and this has never happened." (Alexander Cockburn, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2002)

U.N. Panel Wants Globalization to Work for Workers: The United Nations labor arm [International Labor Organization] will soon set up a commission to explore how globalization can better serve the needs of employees as well as their bosses, its director said on Tuesday. (Reuters, 5 Feb. 2002)

Action has to follow ‘Davos in New York’ say unions: "We need a rights-based approach to globalisation and are we going to find the funds to alleviate poverty and kick-start the global economy?" said Mr Ryder [new acting General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions] (Global Unions, 5 Feb. 2002)

UN's Annan Warns Not to Punish Poor for Being Poor: Declaring globalization could backfire on the world economy, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned business leaders on Monday they ignored the billions of poor in the world at their peril. (Evelyn Leopold, Financial Times, 5 Feb. 2002)

The bottom line is hope: Companies must take the lead in ensuring that globalisation benefits the many, not just the few, says Kofi Annan (Kofi Annan, Financial Times, 4 Feb. 2002)

Companies pledge better 'corporate citizenship': Leaders of 36 international companies will today issue a "corporate citizenship" statement [drawn up by a taskforce of World Economic Forum chief executives], committing them to making responsible behaviour a core part of their business and to forging close links with all their stakeholders...The business leaders will say they have an important role in spreading the benefits of globalisation, that working with stakeholder groups "makes sound business sense" and that companies must move beyond philanthropy and integrate positive practices into their business strategy. (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 4 Feb. 2002)

Capitalism's critics urge new global institutions: The International Forum on Globalization, a worldwide group of intellectuals, academics and activists critical of corporate power, on Saturday set out an alternative agenda calling for new institutions of global governance under a reformed United Nations. (James Harding, Financial Times, 2 Feb. 2002) 

Survey by the World Economic Forum Confirms that Global Justice Activists have Widespread Support...The survey recently released by the World Economic Forum reconfirms that protests against global injustice have widespread support around the world. (Jobs with Justice, 1 Feb. 2002)

Parallel worlds reach informal accord: In a roundtable meeting in Paris last December, officials from the World Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation agreed in principle with social organisations including the World Social Forum on the need to promote "public debates on key issues of [the globalisation] conflict". (Raymond Colitt, Financial Times, 1 Feb. 2002) 

Viewpoint: The Global Economy Must Market Democratic Values (Leo W. Gerard, President of United Steelworkers, in Labor Notes [USA],  Feb. 2002)

"The Public Eye on Davos" in New York: International Conference from January 31 - February 3, 2002 - The thematic focus is on the negative impacts of a one-sided economic globalization, and alternatives to the neoliberal model that are oriented around a socially just and environmentally sustainable development. (coordinated by the Berne Declaration, 31 Jan.-3 Feb. 2002)

{···español} Las libertades en la agenda de la globalización: A partir de hoy se celebran de forma simultánea, por segundo año consecutivo, dos grandes reuniones sobre la globalización: el Foro Económico Mundial...y el Foro Social Mundial (Joaquín Estefanía, El País, 31 Jan. 2002)

World Economic and Social Fora: The effects of globalization must be addressed and the rights of all must be protected (Amnesty International, 31 Jan. 2002)

Rio Tinto workers set to unite under one global union: Mining unions in 11 countries plan to join forces and represent Rio Tinto workers under one global union..."This is one of the steps that the trade union movement is taking in response to globalisation" (Natalie Davison, AAP, 29 Jan. 2002)

GLOBALISATION: the argument of our time - David Held and Paul Hirst in dialogue (David Held, Professor of Political Science at London School of Economics, and Paul Hirst, Professor of Social Relations at Birkbeck College, London University, in openDemocracy, 22 Jan. 2002)

Globalization Has to Take Human Rights into Account (Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in The Irish Times, 22 Jan. 2002)

Top 1% earn as much as the poorest 57%: The world's richest 50m people earn as much as the poorest 2.7bn...Research from Branko Milanovic [a senior World Bank economist], published today in the Economic Journal, shows a staggering increase in global inequality (Larry Elliott and Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 18 Jan. 2002)

World inequality rises: The world is becoming a more unequal place, with a growing gap between rich and poor households, a study has said. The news will raise concerns about the effects of globalisation on the world's poor. (Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 17 Jan. 2002)

The 21st Century Needs Corporate-Driven Globalization  (Michael Garrett [senior manager at Nestlé] and Jean-Pierre Lehmann [Professor of International Political Economy at the International Institute for Management Development] in International Herald Tribune, 3 Jan. 2002)

• letter to the editor: Regarding "The 21st Century Needs Corporate-Driven Globalization" (Opinion, Jan. 3) by Michael Garrett and Jean-Pierre Lehmann:...Economic change involves choices about how best to protect consumers, public health, the environment and other matters. If these choices are dictated by corporations, the overriding criteria will be short-term profit. (Jim Shultz, in International Herald Tribune, 10 Jan. 2002)

State of the World: More connected, less stable: The world needs a global war on poverty and environmental degradation that is as aggressive and well funded as the war on terrorism, reports State of the World 2002, which was released today by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington D.C.-based research organization. (Worldwatch Institute, 10 Jan. 2002)

How to Judge Globalism (Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, in The American Prospect, 1 Jan.-14 Jan. 2002)

Globalism's Discontents (Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor of Economics at Columbia University, former chief economist at the World Bank and chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton, in American Prospect, 1-14 Jan. 2002)

Coping With Antiglobalization: A Trilogy of Discontents (Jagdish Bhagwati, in Foreign Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2002)

Spreading the Wealth: One of the main claims of the antiglobalization movement is that globalization is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots...The problem with this new conventional wisdom is that the best evidence available shows the exact opposite to be true. So far, the current wave of globalization, which started around 1980, has actually promoted economic equality and reduced poverty. (David Dollar and Aart Kraay, economists at the World Bank's Development Research Group, in Foreign Affairs, Jan.-Feb. 2002)