Kim L.

Rances
POS 131 Bonus Paper

Walden Bello makes a lot of interesting points regarding deglobalization, as he has

dubbed it. He has outlined what he calls the 11 pillars of deglobalization, quoted below:1
1. Production for the domestic market must again become the center of gravity of the economy
rather than production for export markets.
2. The principle of subsidiarity should be enshrined in economic life by encouraging production of
goods at the level of the community and at the national level if this can be done at reasonable cost
in order to preserve community.
3. Trade policy that is, quotas and tariffs should be used to protect the local economy from
destruction by corporate-subsidized commodities with artificially low prices.
4. Industrial policy including subsidies, tariffs, and trade should be used to revitalize and
strengthen the manufacturing sector.
5. Long-postponed measures of equitable income redistribution and land redistribution (including
urban land reform) can create a vibrant internal market that would serve as the anchor of the
economy and produce local financial resources for investment.
6. Deemphasizing growth, emphasizing upgrading the quality of life, and maximizing equity will
reduce environmental disequilibrium.
7. The development and diffusion of environmentally congenial technology in both agriculture and
industry should be encouraged.
8. Strategic economic decisions cannot be left to the market or to technocrats. Instead, the scope of
democratic decision-making in the economy should be expanded so that all vital questions
such as which industries to develop or phase out, what proportion of the government budget to
devote to agriculture, etc. become subject to democratic discussion and choice.
9. Civil society must constantly monitor and supervise the private sector and the state, a process that
should be institutionalized.
10. The property complex should be transformed into a mixed economy that includes community
cooperatives, private enterprises, and state enterprises, and excludes transnational corporations.
11. Centralized global institutions like the IMF and the World Bank should be replaced with regional
institutions built not on free trade and capital mobility but on principles of cooperation that, to use
the words of Hugo Chavez in describing the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA),
transcend the logic of capitalism.

1 Walden Bello on Deglobalisation. 2009.

He espouses many protectionist policies that border on anti-capitalism and antiinternational trade, something that most people are uncomfortable changing. The capitalist
system has done great for those it has done well, and the system is so deeply entrenched that
society lives in it and builds around it as opposed to capitalism as a product of societys actions.
It would be hard to turn around and much harder to halt the spread of globalization.
Some of his pillars do make sense, such as upgrading the quality of life and the role civil
society should play. But given the context of how our world runs today, Bellos theories might
not be applicable and practical. Thus, Joseph Stiglitz gives us a less radical, alternative approach,
which basically is making globalization work, as his book is called. According to Stiglitz, it is
not globalization that is the problem, but how politics has been able to shape globalization.
Institutions that promote globalization, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank
and the World Trade Organization are established but industrialized countries; thus, their policies
benefit mostly the industrialized countries and their multi-national corporations local laws are
circumvented in the name of free trade at the expense of the exploited countries, most if not all
of them are developing. These countries do not have much say in the organizations either. If their
representatives are not invited, they do not have the diplomatic capacity to send representatives
or, if they are invited, they do not have much clout and influence to overcome the United States
and the European Union. Globalization and its organizations was meant to be democratic, one
person, one vote. But in reality, it is market-driven, one dollar, one vote who ever has the
most money gets to influence how globalization goes and what policies will push it forward. In
this case, the United States has the most influence, and according to Stiglitz this is the biggest
fear of some countries that globalization will be a unilateral system under the United States.
And this is what is already happening, with the takeover of American companies such as
McDonalds and Starbucks with their branches all over the world. In essence, globalization with
its organizations has made the whole system undemocratic, with their closed-door meetings and
complete lack of transparency. Instead of the system benefiting all, it has only made the rich
richer and exploited the poor. Stiglitz states that there will always be winners and losers in free
trade, but the winners are supposed to compensate the losers adequately. This has not been the
case.
Stiglitz therefore proposes a change in the system of globalization and not globalization
itself. Basically, Stiglitz wants to refocus on the quality of life instead of incessant growth at all

costs. He wants a more democratic system that gives opportunities for developing countries to
grow in a sustainable way. It is hard to make conclusions about his theories since this author has
not been able to read his book, but it does not seem that Stiglitz has proposed something concrete
to take his theories into action, unlike Bello. But, as was said earlier, Bellos theories are
impractical and inapplicable in todays world, because of how capitalism and the ideas of free
trade have become completely entrenched in our society. And like Stiglitz has said, one cannot
deny the benefits of globalization look at China and India. What is needed now is a change in
the system, and not completely changing everything. If the focus is less on growth and more on
quality of life, on democracy and not unilateralism, then globalization can still create a world
that is beneficial to all.