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Civil Society on Global Governance: Facing Up to Divergent Analysis, Strategy, and Tactics

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Abstract

This paper considers three different conceptualizations – three politico-ideological perspectives within civil society – on global-scale economics and geopolitics. The standpoints can be termed “Global justice movements,” “Third World nationalism,” and the “Post-Washington Consensus.” These three perspectives stand in contrast to the fusion of neoliberal economics and neoconservative politics that dominates the contemporary world. The three approaches sometimes converge, but more often than not they are in conflict; as are the civil society institutions that cohere to the three different political ideologies. From the three different analyses flow different strategies, concrete campaigning tactics, and varying choices of allies. The World Social Forum provides hints of a potentially unifying approach within the global justice movements based upon the practical themes of “decommodification” and “deglobalization” (of capital). It is, however, only by facing up to the ideological divergences that the global justice movement can enhance its presence.

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Notes

  1. Numerous books analyse the global justice movements. Aside from Naomi Klein’s seminal No logo (2000), the one broad overview that has sold the most copies in English is Bircham and Charlton (eds.) (2002), Anti-Capitalism: A Guide to the Movement. (Also see: Alvarez et al., 1998; Amin and Houtart, 2003; Anand et al., 2003; Fisher and Ponniah, 2003; Mertes, 2003; Smith and Johnston, 2002; and Starr, 2000).

  2. The signatories – 18 men and just one woman – were Aminata Traoré, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Eduardo Galeano, José Saramago, François Houtart, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Armand Mattelart, Roberto Savio, Riccardo Petrella, Ignacio Ramonet, Bernard Cassen, Samir Amin, Atilio Boron, Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Tariq Ali, Frei Betto, Emir Sader, Walden Bello, and Immanuel Wallerstein.

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Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Seventh International Conference of the International Society for Third-Sector Research, Bangkok, Thailand, July 2006, and to the Cornell University Conference on Globalization and Ethics, 29 September 2006, and participant comments are particularly appreciated. A great many thanks are due, especially, Rupert Taylor. The arguments follow from prior statements carrying more detail on some of the issues (Bond 2005a–e, 2006a–c).

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  1. Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa

    Patrick Bond (Director)

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  1. Patrick Bond
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Correspondence to Patrick Bond.

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Bond, P. Civil Society on Global Governance: Facing Up to Divergent Analysis, Strategy, and Tactics. Voluntas 17, 357–369 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-006-9024-2

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