Including the Excluded in Global Politics

Exploring Global Initiatives

Day 2 of the Building Global Democracy (BGD) workshop on Including the Excluded in Global Politics (IEGP) was primarily devoted to the discussion of specific experiences. The 35 participants from 24 countries across 10 world regions explored initiatives of empowerment in global politics in respect of five marginalised constituencies.

Including the Urban Poor  

The day’s first session discussed global networking of the urban poor through Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI). Rose Molokoane, a coordinator of SDI, introduced the paper, with further comment by Ben Bradlow of the SDI secretariat. The lead respondent, Bimalendra Nidhi of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, drew links with informal settlements in Kathmandu and took encouragement from SDI’s successes. Other workshop participants made connections with situations of the urban poor in Brazil, Egypt, Jamaica, the Pacific and Russia.

 Including Small States 

The second session considered exclusion in global politics of marginalised countries, with particular reference to the Pacific islands. Graham Hassall from the Victoria University of Wellington introduced his paper, highlighting the ambivalent approach of peoples in this region towards globalisation. Bakhit Abdildina from the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy noted many similarities between the experiences of Pacific islands and situations in Kazakhstan.

Including Children 

The final morning session debated the inclusion of young people in global politics. Bu Wei of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences introduced her study of children’s participation in a UNICEF-sponsored international forum in Beijing in 2005. Khaled Mansour, Director of Communications at UNICEF, provided an initial probing response, which was followed by 17 other searching interventions from other participants.

Including Sexual Diversities

The afternoon opened with a discussion of struggles for inclusion in respect of sexual orientation and gender identity. Kim Vance, Co-Director of ARC International, introduced her paper on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) efforts to obtain recognition and voice through United Nations and various regional channels. Venus Ilagan, Executive Director of Rehabilitation International, described how persons with disabilities have also engaged the UN system to advance their inclusion in global politics.

Including Islamic Finance

The day’s discussions closed with a study of the marginalisation of religion in global political economy, with particular reference to Islamic finance. Gairuzazmi Ghani from the International Islamic University in Malaysia introduced a study which suggested that the current expansion of what is labelled ‘Islamic’ finance generally falls far short of Islamic ideals. Gladys Branche of the Sierra Leone Labour Congress led off a discussion that situated the struggle for deeper Islamic finance in wider struggles for global social justice.

Together these five sessions saw rich exchange of experience across sectors and regions. Most of the broader themes discussed on Day 1 surfaced again with reference to these various cases. In addition, the deliberations repeatedly pursued questions related to possibilities and problems for cross-movement alliances. Other recurrent themes included divisions within excluded groups and the pluses and minuses of partnering with official institutions.

Read more about:

highlights from day 1 | highlights from day 3 |  iegp project |  rio workshop  |  event programme | workshop participants | bgd

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