I believe that should be our response to both the challenges and opportunities presented to us by the forces of globalisation. When the world is as interdependent as it is today, foreign policy makers are going to have to grapple with our response to it at a global level.
But I want to talk about how we respond to globalisation at a personal and individual level. If ever there was proof that the world is shrinking, the global economic downturn is surely it. America sneezed and the rest of the world caught a cold. I live in the UK, which entered a recession earlier this year, likely to mean a million more people being out of work. Similar situations are unfolding in countless other countries around the globe.
So we see a global situation leading to a domestic crisis, leading to personal tragedy. Can this kind of uber-globalisation be a good thing? In his book, ‘The Earth is Flat: The Globalized World in the 21st Century’, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign affairs columnist Thomas L. Friedman makes a compelling and persuasive case for the affirmative.
In some cases, of course, he is right. There’s surely no doubt that we are immensely richer in terms of information than any previous generation: mass communications have made even the furthest flung place in the world just a mobile phone call away. But that is little comfort to people who lose their jobs as firms outsource to cheaper parts of the world.
Some of these big issues can seem too big, too international, for any ordinary person to make an impact. But does this mean we don’t care?
No, of course not. In many countries, instead of joining traditional political parties people are increasingly joining non-governmental organisations. Let me give you an example: I was recently at a major conference called ‘The Stand’ which was run by a Christian organisation known as ‘Hope for Justice’. The Stand was about thousands of people taking a stand against the scourge of human trafficking.
The trafficking of people knows no international boundaries. In many ways it is the dark underbelly of a smaller, globalised world. It does take action from governments across the world to tackle this, but we too, in our decisions as consumers, campaigners and citizens can also play a part.
At The Stand I interviewed the Reverend Steve Chalke, the Founder of Stop The Traffick and an advisor to the UN on the issue, who agreed with this view. He told me, “We know that Human Trafficking is a global issue. We know that it’s the world’s second biggest crime after the selling of arms, it’s bigger than the drugs trade around the world.”
“But knowing that doesn’t make a difference”, he continued. “Governments around the world pass policy and create all sorts of research documents about the problem and what to do about it. But that still doesn’t do anything. What’s really needed is ordinary communities, local communities, to see the traffick before they stop the traffick. It’s down to the likes of you and me, in our towns and villages and cities around the world, to make a difference.”
This means being aware of what’s going on in our own areas - is there a house down the street where different girls are coming in and out the whole time, who perhaps look distressed; do different men come and go from the house?
Revd. Chalke is saying if we have concerns, we must alert the authorities - we must not be afraid to do so. Local action for international results works in other areas too, such as global poverty. I’m a campaigner and speaker on behalf of the NGO Tearfund, a Christian organisation committed to ending global poverty through the local church.
We recognise that it is the local Church, wherever it is in the world, that knows best what the needs there are, rather than people being flown in to solve problems.
So I believe that, despite the global nature of challenges thrown up by globalisation, these issues begin at the local level. At this level the ordinary person can have an impact. We should embrace globalisation, whatever its shortcomings, and realize that we can shape this world into one that is greener, more equal and more just by being the best that we can and by showing others the way.
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