Comments on Warren Wagar's "Toward a Praxis of World Integration" Val Moghadam Formerly Senior Researcher and Coordinator of the Research Programme on Women and Development, United Nations University, Helsinki, Finland; as of 1997 Director of Women's Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology, Illinois State University. Copyright 1996 by Val Moghadam v. 12/4/96 There is much in Warren Wagar's paper with which I agree. He questions the viability of a multiculturalist politics, draws our attention to the problematical nature of many movements that world-system theory would deem "antisystcmic," and rejects "a purely relativistic multiculturalism." Similarly, I have addressed the defici encies of political- cultural movements ba..:;cd on various claim..:; of identity (sec Moghadam, 1994), argued against a "mindless cultural relativism" (Moghadam, 1989), and described a secular intellectualism in the Middle Ea..:;t (Moghadam, 1990). I would agree with Wagar that the "ideology of a Left Enlightenment" holds the best promise for the future - but up to a point. I would also be much in favour of a World Party - but with some qualifications. There arc gaps in Wagar's scenario. His rejection of all contemporary social movements a..:; equally incapable of helping to effect a progressive transfonnativ c politics (global democratic socialism) is both politically and methodologically flawed. [Page 1] Journa I of World-Systems Research How do we get from A ("our system of predatory global capitalism flouri shing in a political environment of competing sovereign states") to B ("a d emocratic, liberal, and socialist world commonwealth")? According to Wagar, it will not be through th e workers' movement, or the national mov ements in the Third World, or such social move ments a..:; the women's movem ent -- because these arc not intrinsically antisystcmic. It w ill b e through a World Party . But how will this World Party come into being? Apparently through "an overarching mobilized consciousness of the need to confront the capitalist world-system coll ectively ." At the end of his paper, Wagar writes: "Before such a party can germinate and take root, a consensus must emerge among progressi ve forces throughout the world that our destination a..:; a species is neither the global shopping center and sweatshop of capitalism nor the war of all against all, but a n ew plan etary civilization in which every human be ing everywhere ha..:; an equal voice." So, we arc back to progressi ve forces, even thou gh Wagar ha..:; already dismissed them. What I would like to point out, quite forcefully, is that a World Party will never gain adherents outside of SONY-Binghamton if the secular and democratic-socialist ideology is disseminated a..:; West European (yes, I know about the Enlightenment, but we n eed to conceptualiz e science and thought as universal, not a-, European), if the workers ' mo vement is not supported, and if the women's movement is not taken seriously. And let us not e that Wagar indict-, Third World religious and nationalist movements but not the utterly bourgeois and, yes, particularistic, 1989 revolutions of East Central Europe. [Page 2] Journal of World-Systems Research The Women's Movement and Global Feminism Let's start with the women's movement. Professor Wagar opines that women really only want equality within the existing capitalist framework, but how docs he know, since he cites only men? I have just returned from the Fourth World Conference on Women, and the Platform for Action - which had been drafted in a protracted and contentious process by government delegates, women activists, and U.N. staff - reflects a clear desire for the transformation of existing economic, political, and cultural structures, and not only women's access to and equality within them. Chief among the transfonnativc objectives is the elimination of weapons of ma-;s destruction and the arms trad e . And this is only th e more conventional of the documents and a-;pirations of the women's mov ement. An even more radical vision is expressed by various international feminist n etwo rks. These include Development Alternatives With Women for a New Era (DAWN), a n etwork of Third World women's groups currently ba-;cd in Barbados, Wom en in Developm ent Europe (WIDE), a 12-country network now ba-;cd in Brussels that is highl y critical of current forms of development cooperation, and Women Livin g Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), an anti-fundamentalist network ba-;cd in Montpeli er, Franc e and with an active regional center in Lahore, Pakistan. DAWN and WIDE arc part of a larg er n etwork called Global Alliance for Alternative Development (Moghadam, forthcoming). Herc is the famous "DAWN vision" from its 1987 manifesto (Sen and Grown, 1987 ): We want a world where inequality ba-;cd on da-;s, gender and rac e is absent from every country, and from the relationships among countries. We want a world where ba-;ic need-; b ecome ba-;ic rights and where poverty and all forms of violenc e arc eliminat ed . Each person will have the opportunity to develop her or his full potential and creati vity , and values of nurturanc c and solidarity will characterize human relationships. In such a world women's rep roductive role will be redefined : men will be responsibl e for their sexual behaviour, fertility and the well-being of bo th partners. Child care will be shar ed by men, women and soci ety a-; a whole [Page 3] Journal of World-Systems Research We want a world where the massive resources now used in the production of the means of destruction will be diverted to areas where they will help to relieve oppression both inside and outside the home. This tcchnolo gical revolution will eliminate diseas e and hunger, and give women means for the safe control of their liv es, health, sexuality and fertility. W c want a world where all institutions arc open to participatory democratic processes, where women share in determining priorities and making decisions. This political environment will provide enabling social conditions that respect women's and men's physical integrity and the security of their persons in every dimen sion of their lives. This is the kind of contemporary progressive movement that proponents of a World Party need to take seriously and, indeed, to court. When we talk about women we arc not talking about particularlistic identity politics (gay, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Tamil, Serb, and so on), or about multiculturalism (women do not constitut e a cultur e). W c arc talking about (more than) half of humanity, who play a central role in global production and social reproduction. There arc substantial clements within the women's movement that seeks to confront the capitalist world-system. If alliance s arc to be formed with a tran sfonnativc global politics in mind, then global feminism has to be an integral part of the strategy and the coalition. [Page 4] Journa I of World-Systems Research Labour vs. Capital The workers' mov ement is not at its strongest today, and it continues to be battered by global capitalism and by states. Women activists have criticized the traditional trad e unions for ignoring women workers and for not broadening their scope to inc ludc the unorgani zed . This historic injustic e is being rectified by some union s, and in some countries the most vigorous unions arc those with large female memberships . The women's movement and the workers' mov ement int ersect at the point of soc ial justice issues, and an alliance would represent a powerful challenge to the cap italist system . 1n many ways the women's movement is more global than the workers' movement - and this despite the lntcrn ational Labour Organization (or, perhaps, because of it , as the ILO is based on a tripartite model of cooperation between governments, employers, and workers) - and unions typically stratcgizc in defensive, national terms. However, at a time of incr easing labour market "flexibili ty" and continuing globalization of production, trade, and finance, the unions may have to adopt new strategics and methods of organizing, communicating, and mobili zing . Currently, and in a post-Cold War era, the secretariat of the lntcrnational Confederation of Free Trad e Unions includes some remarkabl y radical leaders who voice strong opposition to ncolibcral econ omic policies. One such person is Nancy Riche, Vice Chairperson of the ICFTU Women's Committee, who was a speaker at an !LO- organized Special Event at the Beijin g Conference (as was I), and who railed against structural adjustment, markctization, the deteriorating living standards of working people, the World Bank, the IMF , and so on. It must be understood that when the ICFT U, the Beijing Platform for Action, and various feminist networks demand, inter alia, job secur ity, a minimum wage,job creation memmres, working times and patterns adapted to family responsibilities, social protection for homeworkers and those in the informal sector, continued public sector employment, expansion of labour standards to export processing and other industrial zones, paid maternity leave with job-back guarantees, these arc profoundly radical economic demands which, ifrealizcd, would transform the system as we know it. [Page 5] Journal of World-Systems Research What About the U.N.? Wagar notes that Chris Cha..,e-Dunn ha.., written about a socialist world-system with a democratically-controlled world federation, and that Samir Amin ha.., discussed a "world parliament" representing social interests on a global scale. Well, let's think about that for a moment. The United Nations is currently the only truly global organization, in that it represents and reflects the interests and viewpoint.., of every state and, increa..,ingly, of non-governmental organizations. The U.N. Secretariat ha.., a mandate from the General A..,sembly to carry out certain development activities, which arc done through its departments, the specialized agencies, and other U.N. entities. These developm ent efforts, it should be noted, have been largely welcomed by Third World states and mov ements, and incrca..,ingly criticized by Western states and organizations. The U.N.'s work in the area of women and gender issues ha.., been important and impr essive, and around the world women activists insist that their governments adhere to the standards of U .N. conventions. To some, the U.N. ha.., held the promise of a kind of world parliament. Unfortunately, the U.N. is currently in a financial crisis due to the withholding of contributions by the U.S., and there is talk of having the U.N. seek funding from privatc- sector sources. From a progressive point of view, there arc good rca..,ons to resist thes e trends, defend the way the U.N. is currently organized, and support a greater role for (many) NGOs. However, there is the matter of the Security Council, the World Bank, and the IMF. These bodies have come to act in unilateral ways, and often at odds with world consensus. Unless these organs are reformed, the UN will [Page 6] Journal of World-Sy stems Research continue to be held hos tage to the economic and political power int erests of the core. So once again we arc back to progressive social movements. To conclude, I am in favour of a secular, democratic socialism on a world scale. But let's get real - Wagar's interesting novelistic idea of a World Party can only come about on the ba..,is of actually existing progressive movement~. Immanuel Wallerstein may be on to something when he writes about "a self-conscious federation" of workers' movements, Third World national movement~, and the array of social movements. However, against this "checklist" approach, I would single out the women's movement and a revitalized workers' movement a~ the way forward. References Moghadam, V.M. Forthcoming. "Feminist Networks North and South." In Journal of International Communication, special issue on International Feminism(s), guest edited by Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi (forthcoming 1996). -----. 1994. "Introduction: Women and Identity Politics in Theoretical and Comparative Perspective." In V. M. Moghadam, ed., Identity Politics and Women: Cultural Rea~sertions and Feminism~ in International Perspective. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. -----. 1990. "The Critical and Sociological Approach in Middle Ea~t Studies." Critical Sociology 17, 1 (Spring): 111-124. -----. 1989. "Against Eurocentrism and Nativism: A Review Essay on Samir Amin's Eurocentrism and Other Texts." Socialism and Democracy no 9 (Fall/Winter): 81-104. Sen, Gita and Caren Grown. 1987. Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives. New York: Monthly Review Press. [Page 7] .Touma I of' World-Systems Research