Since the fall of the socialist economic system, there has been no alternative to the existing global market economy. When Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher came to power in the early 1980s, the leaders of this "Anglo-Saxon holy alliance" began to implement neoliberal economic policies in their own countries. They dramatically cut government spending, privatized nearly all state-owned corporations and public services/welfare, and in the end introduced the doctrine of "everything is determined by free market".

In the same period, the IMF and World Bank began to introduce, with their "one-size-fits-all" methodology, the "structural adjustment programme" in development countries, using the pretext of it being a "remedy" for the debt crisis. The structural adjustment programme was roughly equivalent to what was implemented under Reagan and Thatcher's neo-liberalism.

The results of neoliberal globalization can be vividly seen in the fact that the assets of Bill Gates exceed the sum of the GDPs of the 49 least developing countries (LDCs). The total population in these LDCs amounts 600 millions. The annual sales of General Motors, Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobile, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler also exceed the sum of the aggregate GDPs of the LDCs. Two trillion dollars of speculative money crosses borders every minute, having a large effect on national economies and on the poor in particular. Neoliberal globalization has turned the world into a huge casino.

This gap is too extreme. People have started to say "NO" to globalization.

Since transnational corporations (TNCs) have grown into global monopolies, it is no longer possible to dream the world today could be regulated by the invisible hand of Adam Smith, as it was in the early stages of capitalism.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has held a series of summit-level world conferences on global issues such as children, environment, human rights, population, social development, women, habitat, and education, and all the member governments have pledged to fulfill those goals which they themselves set. Finally in May 2000, the UN held the Millennium Summit, where it adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve the number of people in absolute poverty by 2015.

However, the UN is not achieving those goals. Although the resolutions were adopted by consensus, the UN has no biding power over its members. The UN resolutions have the potential to be used as tools by civil society in advocacy work toward governments and international organizations, who have themselves agreed upon and pledged to fulfill those resolutions. But they are nothing more.

Where, then, can we find an alternate to the current system? It should not hypothetical. It should exist in the practice of daily lives of people and communities.

While TNCs seek to maximize their accumulated profits, there are economic activities such as cooperatives, mutualities, NGOs, and NPOs. Solidarity-based economic activities must take into account the protection of environment and human rights, as well as unpaid labor by women. We also find this in the field of micro-credits and social money projects. At the local as well as central government level, there is now some commitment to a participatory approach to democracy and power-sharing with the population, such as participatory budget projects.

At the international level, we see fair trade and international development cooperation among NGOs of the North and the South.

These parts of the Solidarity Socio-Economy should not be large-scale, but should retain a human scale, because the Solidarity Socio-Economy is only possible if there is a trust among the people who participate in it. The various units, then, can be related in the form of loose networks at the national, regional and global levels.

Is it possible to simply destroy the globalized market economy and replace it with the above-mentioned Solidarity Socio-Economy? The answer, simply, is NO.

For instance, TNCs cannot be entirely replaced by cooperatives, Dollars cannot be replaced by social money. Commercial banks cannot be replaced by micro-credits. All foreign trade cannot be replaced by fair trade.

Instead, we must control the excessive, rampant, highly speculative and unaccountable activities of TNCs and the market economy in the search for maximum profits. We have to reign in the excessive exploitation of workers, unlimited destruction of the environment, and economic and political domination by the TNCs, as well as the concentration of power, decisions, options and functions by small elites. This control will only be possible if we promote the Solidarity Socio-Economy at the local, national, regional and global levels.

The Solidarity-based Economy Should Fight against Neoliberal Globalization at the Global Level

Since November 1999 in Seattle, a series of large demonstrations have taken place wherever summit-level meetings are held. Demonstrators protest against such international institutions as the WTO, IMF, World Bank, and the G8 leaders who control those institutions, as well as against the TNCs that are the real beneficiaries of neoliberal globalization. Demonstrators say "people before profits," and "another world is possible." An international campaign for debt cancellation for poor countries and for the introduction of a currency transaction tax (CTT) has also been waged with the aim of helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Since January 2001, yearly large-scaled gatherings of the World Social Forum have been held in Porte Alegre, Brazil as a counter to the World Economic Forum of neo-liberal TNC executives held in Davos, Switzerland.

The Solidarity Socio-Economy must also tackle the task of fighting against neoliberal globalization. If any activity carried out by a cooperative runs against the agreements of the WTO, and its panel passes a judgement that there has been a violation, the cooperative's activities have to be stopped. If the IMF and World Bank continue to impose their structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP) on developing countries, the activities of the Solidarity Socio-Economy at the grassroots level will be hindered, and participatory budget projects at the local government level will be blocked. If two trillion dollars of speculative money continues to flow around the world, it will be difficult to use micro-credits and social money projects. As we saw at the time of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, these flows of funds can lead to large-scale unemployment and poverty.

My conclusion is that the Solidarity Socio-Economy is a new, integrated, comprehensive, and convergent economic paradigm which involves combining the grassroots economic activities of people, participatory approaches of local and national governments, and global actions against neoliberal globalization by large masses of people.

Call for a Preparatory Meeting on International Regulations in the Context of the Solidarity-Based Economy in the Era of Globalization

In 1999, the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind called for the organization of an Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World. The Alliance is composed of 4 pillars: on Governance & Citizenship, Solidarity Socio-Economy, Humankind & Biosphere, and Values, Education & Culture.

Each pillar has 10-15 sub-themes. During the period from 1999 to 2001, more than 60 workshops have been organized on each sub-theme.

In December 2001, the Foundation organized the World Citizen's Assembly in Lille, France, based on the results of all the workshops for the past two years, with 400 participants. The Assembly adopted the Charter of Human Responsibilities to be carried out by global citizens in parallel with existing documents such as the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that are supposed to be observed by all states.

The Workshop on International Regulations, which was held in the context of the solidarity-based economy, belongs to the pillar of the Solidarity Socio-Economy.

Today, the market economy is dominant around the world. Neoliberal globalization has become the mainstream, creating huge gaps between the rich and the poor.

In counter this globalization of the market economy, in search of maximum profits, the solidarity socio-economy must carry out its economic activities in search of solidarity from people to people.

In June 2001, prior to the Lille Assembly, a workshop was organized in Findhorn, Scotland, to reflect, stimulate and synthetize the results of 15 workshops held over the past two years on 14 themes. The themes of the workshops were Work, Employment and Activity, Companies and Solidarity, Production, Technology Investment, Ethical Consumption, Fiscal Policies and Social Welfare, Socially Responsible Finances, Sustainable Finance, Social Money, Debt and Structural Adjustments, Fair Trade, International Trade and WTO, Sustainable Development, Economic Policies, Women and Economy, and Socially Responsible Economy.

Activities to build a Solidarity Socio-Economy have already been carried out by people at the grassroots, community, local government, and global levels. However, if international institutions such as the WTO, IMF and World Bank, which promote neoliberal globalization, impose their policies, and if TNCs carry out irresponsible activities, the fruits of the Solidarity Socio-Economy could be taken away.

During the Lille Assembly, members of the workshops on the Solidarity Socio-Economy met, and discussed how to carry out follow-up work. They agreed to start a new workshop on International Regulations in the context of the Solidarity Socio-Economy. This workshop will deal with issues such as debt cancellation, introduction of a currency transaction tax, SAPs/PRSPs of the IMF/World Bank, the free trade principle of the WTO, codes of conduct for TNCs, and the interrelationship between international regulations and the Solidarity Socio-Economy. Actions on international regulations, i.e. challenging neoliberal globalization, have not in the past been considered a part of building the Solidarity Socio-Economy.

It may be a first attempt at dialogue between people working toward the Solidarity Socio-Economy and people fighting against neoliberal globalization. Preparatory meeting to be held in Tokyo from 9th to 11th October on International Regulations in the context of Solidarity Socio-Economy in the era of Neo-liberal Globalization is the one.

Yoko Kitazawa, October 2003

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