(Page 1 of 8) - Towards a Global Global Political Economy of Peace and Development - the role of the UN Millennium Declaration and of the World Economic and World Social Forum for Structural Change authored by Abrahamsson, Hans.

Towards a Global Political Economy of Peace and Development

–

The role of the UN Millennium Declaration

and of the World Economic and World Social Forum for Structural Change

Abrahamsson, Hans.

Department of Peace and Development Studies,

Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

H.## email not listed ##

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association January 2005

Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii

Abstract:

Globalisation can in a polanyian sense be understood as a double movement. Societal reaction to the
shortcomings of the corporate driven process of globalisation from above (the first movement) creates a counter
movement from below (the second movement). The relations between different actors within the political
landscape and the area of tensions between the two movements are characterised by the gramscian war of
position and its power struggle over the hegemonic discourse. At times the constellation of political forces
permits an institutionalised state of equilibrium built on converging interests between different social forces.
During the Westphalia era with its nation-state project the social contract constituted the base for such an historic
compromise. The end of the cold war and strengthened process of corporate globalisation has eroded the base for
this social contract on a national level increasing development gaps not only between countries but also within
countries. This paper addresses the question of room for manoeuvre for structural change in order to deal with
present challenges within the Global Political Economy. It discusses how possibly the UN Millennium
Declaration could be used in the ongoing discursive war of position between actors at the World Economic
Forum in Davos (representing the first movement) and actors at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre
(representing the second movement) in order create a social base for a new social contract albeit on the global
level. Such a discussion also illustrates present potential of these arenas in contributing to a future global
political economy of peace and development.

Presentation of a book project

During the last decades a number of UN conferences have been devoted to global challenges
that in different ways affect the premises for peace, security and sustainable development.
Special attention has been given to the problems of poverty and the necessity to overcome the
imbalances in the allocation of income and investment. Then, on the eve of the new
millennium, a unanimous UN General Assembly presented the Millennium Declaration, with
which 191 states committed themselves to translating words into deeds, convinced of the
necessity to reduce human suffering and the gaps between the haves and the have not. Seven
different goals were agreed upon where poverty should be reduced by 50% and access to
basic health care and primary education for all granted before the year of 2015. In order for
such noble goals to be achieved the need for some kind of a global social contract became
evident. Hence, a further goal was agreed upon and included. In exchange for democracy and
good governance in the South, the North promised to not only increase aid but foremost to
transform the present rules of the International Political Economy in order to permit open,
faire and non-discriminatory trade and financial regimes (goal no 8). This goal is reflected
both in the WTO development round (Doha declaration 2001) regarding the conditions of
international trade, and in the UN Summit on Financing for Development (Monterrey