Center for Basque Studies Current Research Series, No. 3 Development Cooperation: Facing the Challenges of Global Change Edited by Koldo Unceta and Amaia Arrinda Current Research Series No. 3 Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Published in conjunction with the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU Current Research Selections of the ongoing work done by the faculty of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), www.ehu.es/ Editorial Committee Amaia Maseda (Chair, UPV/EHU), Arantza Azpiroz (UPV/EHU), Javier Echeverría (Ikerbasque), Jon Landeta (UPV/EHU), Sandra Ott (UNR), Joseba Zulaika (UNR), Santos Zunzunegui (UPV/EHU) Current Research Series, No. 3 Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 http://basque.unr.edu Copyright © 2010 by the Center for Basque Studies All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Cover and series design © 2010 by Jose Luis Agote. Cover design based on engravings by Eduardo Chillida and Jorge Oteiza. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Development cooperation : facing the challenges of global change / edited by Koldo Unceta and Amaia Arrinda. p. cm. -- (Current research series ; no. 3) “Published in conjunction with the University of the Basque Country UPV-EHU.” Includes index. Summary: “Collection of articles on cooperation for development from researchers at the University of the Basque Country”--Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-935709-02-2 (pbk.) 1. Economic assistance--International cooperation. 2. Economic development--International cooperation. 3. Sustainable development- -International cooperation. I. Unceta, Koldo. II. Arrinda, Amaia. III. University of Nevada, Reno. Center for Basque Studies. IV. Title. V. Series. HC60.D4743 2010 338.91--dc22 2010042968 Contents Introduction: Development Cooperation in Transition — Koldo Unceta and Amaia Arrinda . 7 1. Sustainable Development in the Brundtlant Report and Its Distortion: Implications for Development Economics and International Cooperation ........................................ 13 Roberto Bermejo, Iñaki Arto, and David Hoyos 2. The Ecological Debt and Energy Model Change for Environmental Justice . 35 Rosa Lago, Iñaki Barcena, and Gorka Bueno 3. Technologies for Human Development and Sustainability......... 57 Joseba Sainz de Murieta and Amaia Arrinda 4. Economic Crisis, Gender Repercussions, and Official Development Aid . 75 M. Jose Martínez and Idoye Zabala 5. New Dimensions in Humanitarian Action: Conflict-sensitive and Gender-focused Aid ....................... 93 Karlos Pérez de Armiño and Irantzu Mendia 6. New Challenges for Rural Development Cooperation: Institutionality and Public Goods................................. 109 Eduardo Ramos and Eduardo Malagón 7. Communication and Development: From the MacBride Report to the Congo Wars................................................ 125 Juan Carlos Miguel de Bustos and Víctor Santiago Pozas 8. International Labor Law, International Business, and Development Cooperation: The International Labour Organization and Social Clauses . 145 Mikel de la Fuente and Juan Hernández 6 Contents 9. Financing Development: ODA versus FDI and Remittances in the Most Vulnerable Countries................................. 165 Koldo Unceta, Jorge Gutierrez, and Iratxe Amiano 10. Cooperation between the EU and Sub-Saharan Africa: A Development Proposal Based on Open Regionalism and Economic Partnership Agreements?.......................... 187 Eduardo Bidaurratzaga, Juan Carlos Pérez de Mendiguren, and Luis Guridi Index . 207 List of Contributors................................................... 223 Introduction: Development Cooperation in Transition Koldo Unceta and Amaia Arrinda Translated by Robert Forstag and Cameron Watson Development cooperation, a phenomenon which arose some fifty years ago, has been affected by various factors that have to a great extent chan- ged the context in which it has operated in recent times. At the end of the twentieth century, following the end of the Cold War, the so-called deve- loping countries—those that were regarded as potential recipients of aid programs—were no longer seen as politically important (as capable of pla- ying an important role in the confrontation between East and West) and instead came to be viewed as an ethical problem more suitably addressed by humanitarian organizations than by governments. In the absence of geostrategic justifications, efforts to promote devel- opment required ethical and political motivations, a challenge that gov- ernments and international bodies were either unable or unwilling to respond to, and this is something that undoubtedly influenced the lower degree of importance that development cooperation has today on the international political agenda. But in addition to the impact on coopera- tion of the changes that have occurred in international relations, the rapid growth of globalization—and the accompanying increase in interdepen- dence between economic, social, ecological, and cultural processes among different parts of the world—also substantially modified the framework in which development cooperation functioned. 8 Koldo Unceta and Amaia Arrinda Globalization and Development Cooperation Until the 1980s, the conditions in which people lived depended to a great extent on the capacity of the institutions, organizations, and social groups of each country to promote activities that could increase their well-being. Governments, companies, and many different kinds of social organiza- tions carried out their activities within a framework that was fundamen- tally determined by the rules established within each individual country. In the case of the most disadvantaged countries, development cooperation or other instruments of economic or financial cooperation had to make it possible for such countries to accelerate their own development without calling into question, at least formally, their capacity to advance in any particular area, or to establish their own economic policies and means of social control. In contrast, the globalization process today—most especially those conditions related to the economic and financial liberalization that has taken place—means that the prices of goods and services, salaries, interest rates, taxes, investments, and public expenditure are largely determined by the exogenous global factors in which economic activities are con- ducted. Within such a context, institutions and social organizations are confronted with global problems when devising and implementing their own development strategies. Within this new scenario, globalization has meant, in the first place, a radical change in development financing, mainly as a consequence of the impact of the free circulation of capital and of the resulting difficulty of channeling investment—by means of public policies—for the purpose of achieving particular development objectives. This change was also the result of the vulnerability experienced by many countries, as well as within many development processes, as a consequence of an uncertainty associ- ated with the functioning of international financial markets. Secondly, globalization has involved the emergence of global devel- opment problems that transcend national borders and that can no lon- ger be addressed only within the framework of individual states: most importantly, environmental issues, but also other problems deriving from migration, financial crises, and growing international epidemics. Thirdly, globalization processes have also led to a crisis in democratic institutions with both national and international effects. A new phenom- enon has emerged: namely, people are increasingly less able to make important decisions regarding their future within nation-states with less Introduction 9 room for maneuver and within a context in which authoritarianism is gaining ground and global conditions often appear to exert their effects independently of any political decisions. Fourth, the globalizing process has involved an increase in human insecurity with respect to labor and economic markets, the environment, food supply and quality, politics, and the personal lives of individuals. This growing and pervasive insecurity threatens the stability of people’s living conditions, increasing their vulnerability and also the uncertainty of development processes. Within this context, there has been increasing internationaliza- tion, not only with respect to problems affecting development, but also as regards the concerns and strategies of institutions and organizations in various countries. This has had a powerful impact on international cooperation generally and on development cooperation specifically. As a consequence, development cooperation can no longer be conceived as a mere transfer of technical and financial resources and must instead be viewed as a set of measures that affect a number of different countries, and that are geared toward making human progress possible and viable on a global scale. Changes in the Conceptualization of Development Changes in the conceptualization of development itself have also influen- ced the way cooperation is viewed. Initially, these changes were the result of an end of the consensus that had previously existed regarding the need for an explicit commitment to development on the part of both national and international public institutions. This was replaced by the hegemony of a new thinking that saw the market as being responsible for assigning resources and achieving greater economic efficiency