Food for a faceless and cozy thought
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Human Rights Reader 134
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
1. With their unchallenged dominance of fundamentalist market
ideology, transnational corporations have time and again vio-
lated human rights (HR), disregarded core labor standards, dis-
regarded on-the-job safety standards affecting the health of
blue collar workers, destroyed the environment and fostered cor-
ruption. (F. Bliss)
2. Throughout history, the face(s) of power had always been
visible. With Capitalism was born the faceless society, one that
has prevailed through its latest stage, namely Globalization. It
was through corporations, for the first time, that men exercised
power with impunity through the faceless front of national and
transnational corporations and the faceless men who run them.
(M. Scorza, La Danza Inmovil, Plaza y Janes Literaria, Barce-
lona, 1983)
3. Globalization further denies developing countries the very
basis by which rich countries themselves succeeded in develop-
ing, namely, state intervention to keep the vicissitudes of the
market under control. And we know that ultimately, markets react
to purchasing power, and not to needs in health, nutrition or
education or, for that matter, human rights.
4. On this issue, it is rather fascinating to note that the
World Development Report 2006 (WB, 2006) makes a remarkable
statement. It says that economic inequality results from unfair
power structures and political influence and an absence of cor-
rective measures of market failures. BUT it fails to take-on the
issue of proposing any accompanying policy recommendation(s)
that will address this state of affairs. It basically fails to
say that the 'further-faster-more' mentality of the powerful
driving the global market economy cannot go on indefinitely.
This prompts me to ask: Can we thus speak of the World Bank here
(again) being a pessimist-with-vested-interests? This shows to
me that the WB is most eloquent where it is silent by being de-
lightfully vague on what to do about their often good analytical
documents.
5. The WTO is not much better. It is one more instrument in the
toolbox of rich countries together with bilateral and regional
trade agreements which do as much to tilt the balance of trade
in favor of the rich.
6. To consolidate this tilt, rich nations' elites are actually
cozying-up with those of poor and middle income countries. That
is a win-win situation for all concerned: For all-that-'matter',
that is!
7. This comes as a corollary to the fact that poor and middle
income countries have typically strived to catch up economically
with rich nations rather than focusing on reaching the MDGs
(with its poverty reduction and public health goals) and on ful-
filling their obligations towards people's rights --in most
cases, in spite of persistent poverty problems in those coun-
tries.
8. As this Reader has said many times before, achieving the MDGs
will require rather massive transformations in the political
economy of those countries --a change that no external power is
in position to bring about.
Claudio Schuftan
Ho Chi Minh City
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn
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Mostly adapted from D+C, Vol.32, No. 10, October 2005, D+C,
Vol.32, No.11, November 2005, D+C, Vol.32, No.12, December 2005,
D+C, Vol.33, No.3, March 2006, Development in Practice, Vol.16,
No.1, February 2006, and 'Health Rights of Women Assessment In-
strument' (HeRWAI), HOM, Utrecht, 2006 (http://www.hom.nl).