A wealth of inspiring struggles for equality and justice across Asia
Date: 19 August 2015
Focus on the Global South, a research and campaign network in Asia, celebrated its 20th anniversary this week by bringing together activists, mainly from across Asia, to discuss people’s struggles against and alternatives to neoliberalism and capitalism in the global south. I was lucky enough to be one to them.
In the same room, sharing their experiences and ideas, were people engaged in many struggles I had previously only read about. In his quiet and understated way, Trinh Le Nguyen, from People and Nature Reconciliation in Vietnam, explained his detailed campaigning and analysis on trade, including the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal similar to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) but involving Pacific Rim countries.
Lidy Nacpil, from the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, described super typhoons, the new and deadly weather phenomenon hitting Asia as a direct result of the change in climate which has already taken place. People even had to create a new name to label this emerging kind of weather.
Equitable Cambodia is an organisation double the size of Global Justice Now. Their Executive Director, Vuthy Eang, described their fight against land grabs by sugar corporations in Cambodia, which is encouraged by the EU’s Everything But Arms policy.
Riaz Daminik, from Indonesia for Global Justice, joked about David Cameron’s recent visit to Indonesia to whip up new trade for British business at the same time that British company, Churchill Mining, is using arcane British trade rules to sue the Indonesian government for $1.5 billion over a cancelled contract. The Indonesian government believes that Churchill Mining only secured the contract in the first place as a result of corruption.
These are just a handful of the struggles shared this week. Together they demonstrate the vibrancy of civil society and social movements in Asia and the relevance of these struggles to our own campaigns on trade, food, energy and climate. However, for many of these groups, human rights issues are also a priority because people are not free to speak out and protest on these, and other issues. During the conference, we remembered Sombath Somphone in particular. He disappeared in 2012 as a result of his activism on issues of rural poverty in Laos. He is believed to still be alive and the campaign continues to secure his release.
On many occasions I was reminded how diverse Asia is and the folly in referring to Asia as if it is one country, a mistake often made about Africa. I heard about the pressure on central Asian countries from their position between China and India; of the power of oil in west Asia; how south east Asian countries are the star pupils at the moment; and how south Asian countries continue to be forgotten.
In a week where the devaluation of China’s currency made headline news worldwide because of the impact on the global economy, it was surprising that China was barely mentioned during the conference. Chinese investment has been driving industrial development in many African countries over the last decade. Even our work on TTIP, a trade deal between the EU and the US which China is not a party to, is being negotiated in the context of the trade and investment rules that the EU and US want China to agree to in the future. I had hoped my understanding and analysis of China’s political and economic role would be informed further by the insight and experiences of the other participants at Focus’ conference, particularly those from Asia. After all the conference was called Whose New Asia? However, there was little mention of China in presentations or discussion and when a panel was specifically asked their views, one panellist declined to answer and the rest remained silent. This was in stark contrast to the spirit of open discussion which pervaded the rest of the conference.
Perhaps the most inspiring part of the conference was the acknowledgement that we have already found some alternatives to problems created by global capital and the power of corporations. Henry Saragih, of the Peasants Union of Indonesia and Violeta de Guznan of Katarungan in the Philippines were just two of many voices arguing that we are feeding 70% of the world in line with the principles of food sovereignty, simply because 70% of the world is fed by small scale farmers.
The remarkable global trend to bring privatised water supplies back under public control, known as remunicipalisation, was also celebrated. There are at least 256 examples from around world since 2000, including in Paris, Dar Es Salaam and most recently in Jakarta. Victor Chiong, from the Alliance of Government Workers in the Water Sector in Malaysia and Aoi from South Korea shared their experiences.
Remunicipalisation also demonstrates the importance of municipal level (or local government in the UK) decision-making for securing progressive change in many areas beyond water. Nutchanart Thanthong, from the Four Regions Slum Network in Bangkok, explained the land and housing her organisation had been able to secure by negotiating at municipal level. Charles Santiago, activist and MP in Selengor state, Malaysia, explained how the People’s Alliance party had been able to win control at municipal level and push through progressive policies which would be impossible at a national level. These included renationalising the water supply and using the revenue to cross subsidise health and education, as well as providing 20 cubic metres of free water to all households.
Though brilliant and real, these alternatives will not be enough on their own. Pablo Solon, Focus on the Global South’s former Director and previous Ambassador of Bolivia under President Evo Morales, challenged us to think beyond using the existing power structures for progressive ends. Drawing on his experience in Bolivia, he argued that progressive movements must also reconsider the political, governmental and decision-making structures which are needed to bring about peace, equity and justice. Speaking frankly, Solon explained how Bolivia’s progressive government has failed to do this and had created an unsustainable and destructive economy entirely dependent on extractivism at great cost to nature and ultimately to society as a whole.
In the coming months, there will be plenty of opportunities for Global Justice Now to strengthen the relationships with many of the groups and organisations which participated with us this week at Focus’ conference. We can support their struggles and amplify their voices, across all of our campaigns. At the very least, we will be working together to ensure southern voices are heard and false solutions are exposed at the UN climate talks in Paris in December. At the World Trade Organisation’s negotiations in Nairobi, also in December, we have a shared commitment to do all we can to make sure the priorities for the global south on agriculture are properly addressed before any new priorities are set according to the desires of global capital, as expressed by nation states, including the UK.
Image: Charles Santiago, Malaysian economist and MP: “alternatives are possible provided we have control over the state, people must engage in political processes.” Photo courtesy of Focus on the Global South
