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An Alternative Perspective to Govern Globalization

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An Alternative Perspective to Govern Globalization EMBER 2005 FIRAT BAYAR SEPT PERSPECTIVE TO GOVERN GLOBALIZATION F. BAYAR AN ALTERNATIVE METU 2005 AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE TO GOVERN GLOBALIZATION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY FIRAT BAYAR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SEPTEMBER 2005 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Atila Eralp Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kemal Derviş Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Nuri Yurdusev Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members (first name belongs to the chairperson of the jury and the second name belongs to supervisor) Prof. Dr. Atila Eralp (METU, IR) Associate Prof. Dr. A. Nuri Yurdusev (METU, IR) Associate Prof. Dr. Kemal Derviş (UNDP) Prof. Dr. Fikret Şenses (METU, ECON) Assistant. Prof. Dr. Galip Yalman (METU, POL) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Fırat Bayar Signature : iii ABSTRACT AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE TO GOVERN GLOBALIZATION Bayar Fırat Ph.D., Department of International Relations Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Nuri Yurdusev Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kemal Derviş September 2005, 272 pages Along with a multiplicity of benefits, contemporary globalization is posing severe challenges upon individuals, states as well as the world community as a whole. In that context, this study puts forward the cosmopolitan social democracy (CSD) approach as an alternative perspective of global governance to minimize, even entirely eradicate the detrimental costs of globalization and thereby enable all to benefit from its positive outcomes. Keywords: Globalization, governance, cosmopolitan social democracy iv ÖZ ALTERNATİF BİR KÜRESEL YÖNETİŞİM PERSPEKTİFİ Bayar Fırat Doktora, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. A. Nuri Yurdusev Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Kemal Derviş Eylül 2005, 272 sayfa Türlü yararlar yanında çağdaş küreselleşme bireyler, devletler ve de tüm dünya toplumu genelinde ciddi sorunlar yaratmaktadır. Bu çerçevede, bu çalışma, küreselleşmenin sözkonusu zarar verici sorunlarının en aza indirilmesi, hatta tamamen ortadan kaldırılması ve bu sayede küreselleşmenin olumlu sonuçlarından herkesin yararlanabilmesi için kozmopolit sosyal demokrasi yaklaşımını (KSD) alternatif bir küresel yönetişim perspektifi olarak ortaya koymaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Küreselleşme, yönetişim, kozmopolit sosyal demokrasi v To My Family vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM.......................................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................iv ÖZ ......................................................................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... vii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1 2. AN ANALYSIS OF GLOBALIZATION AND ITS CHALLENGES ...........................13 3. DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO GLOBAL GOVERNANCE.................................66 4. THE CONCEPT AND HISTORY OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY...............................94 5. COSMOPOLITAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY: CONCEPT AND FEATURES .........116 6. COSMOPOLITAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION.................................................................150 7. COSMOPOLITAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION.................................................................210 8. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................237 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................244 CURRICULUM VITAE ....................................................................................................271 vii INTRODUCTION We live in a messy world. There are far too many people who survive on or below the poverty line. There are far too many societies paralysed by division. There is too much violence within and between countries. Terrorists are too successful. In many places there is too little water and too many overly populated, pollution-ridden cities. And, most conspicuously, there is all too little effective governance capable of ameliorating, if not resolving, these and numerous other problems that crowd high on the global agenda. Perhaps even more troubling, our generation lacks…the orientations necessary to sound assessments of how the authority of governance can be brought to bear on the challenges posed by the prevailing disarray. (Rosenau, 2002: 70) Globalization is the buzzword of the day. It is most probably the most frequently referred concept within the context of social sciences in the last two decades. Although there is no single commonly-approved definition of globalization and it is a matter of a fairly controversial and contested topic, it generally refers to the process of rising connectedness and affiliation between different parts and peoples of the world. The first and direct outcome of globalization is the expansion of human activity all over the world. This is due to the high level and multi-faceted interconnectedness between different parts of the world as multiplicity of events taking place in one location is yielding significant repercussions on the other. Therefore, globalization marks a movement along the local- global continuum, expressing itself in an expansion of human activity throughout the entire globe. 1 Perceived as such, globalization brings forth and gives rise to a variety of effects, both favourable and adverse. Obviously, it produces multiple benefits and opportunities for all communities in the world. This is valid in terms of both economic and political spheres. For instance, in terms of the economic domain, globalization promotes the well being of the financial system; contributes to the augmentation of domestic savings; improves global allocation of risks among parties; facilitates transfer of knowledge and know-how from developed to developing countries; and contributes to the welfare and quality of the lives of individuals. Similarly, in terms of the political sphere, globalization contributes to bring greater possibilities of arms control and disarmament at the global level; opens new means of conflict management; promotes global awareness to global environmental concerns; enhances travelling facilities, etc. However, along with these multiple benefits, contemporary globalization is posing crucial challenges upon individuals, states as well as the world community as a whole. This study enumerates these challenges under four headings: two economic and two political. The two economic challenges are related to global trade and financial governance; and global inequality and poverty. With respect to global trade governance, the basic challenge today is in terms of the distribution of benefits of free trade between rich and poor countries. International trade is still largely concentrated among rich countries and developing countries are still far from exploiting the benefits of globalization. In particular, rich countries are reluctant to remove their trade barriers in front of developing countries, especially in the sectors that developing countries are comparatively the strongest: agriculture and textiles. Besides that, a similar unfair situation in global trade relations is evident in terms of trade liberalization in services, 2 distribution of subsidies, intellectual property rights, etc., which are all biased in the disadvantage of developing countries. In terms of global financial governance, the emphasis is on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the key institution in global financial governance. In that framework, today, there are basically two sets of problems associated with the IMF. One of these is related to the internal governance of the institution. This problem basicly refers to the deficiency in current governance of IMF in terms of representation, transparency and accountability. The second core problem of IMF is related to the subject of conditionality attached to its programs. Since 1980s, IMF conditionality has been extended to areas beyond its traditional fields. That shift has affected country ownership of IMF programs in a negative manner and infringed national sovereignty of the borrower countries. On the other hand, global inequality is one of the most pressing problems of the current world. Globalization is proceeding in an asymmetrical manner and thereby deepening and widening the disparities and unevenness between the winners and losers of the ongoing process. The income gap between the rich and poor countries is continuously increasing. But the indicators
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