Le conseil du programme Construire la démocratie globale s'est assemblé pour la deuxième fois à Belém en Amazonie brézilien en connection avec le Forum social mondial le 27 janvier au 1 février.  

Partly conveners discussed the general development of the BGD programme since our first meeting in April 2008. We also further consolidated plans for the first two BGD projects. As importantly the occasion of the World Social Forum was grasped to engage with other associations and movements that share concerns for building people’s participation and control in the governance of global affairs.

In particular BGD conveners facilitated several workshops on the theme of ‘How to Build Global Democracy?’ In addition to 8 conveners these events drew 180 other participants from across continents, cultures, sectors, generations, classes, genders and races. Attendees included everyone from a former official at the United Nations to a local school pupil. Discussions lasted for more than 10 hours.
 

BGD Sessions at the Social Forum

The sessions began with WSF delegates describing their interests in the question of global democracy. Some had specific concrete motivations: for example, how global democracy might promote better livelihoods for Amazonian indigenous peoples; and how global democracy might create a more egalitarian church. Other participants came with more conceptual concerns: for instance, how global democracy might relate to alternative development strategies; and how a global public sphere might be constituted.
 

Perspectives on Democracy

Having some sense of the interests of the assembled people, BGD conveners gave brief accounts of their diverse perspectives on building global democracy. Anand Kumar put the challenges of global democracy within the dynamics of globalisation as a whole. Heba Ezzat affirmed the importance of democratic values for Arab countries, but also cautioned that global democracy should not be yet another imposition from outside. Alla Glinchikova urged that global democracy be treated as its own process and not merely as the aggregation of national democratisations. Peng Zongchao suggested that it could be fruitful when building global democracy to draw upon Chinese emphases on cooperation and  harmony over conflict and a balance between individual and collective benifit, and among ‘rule of’, ‘rule by’ and ‘rule for’ the people. Jessica Byron offered a threefold message of: (a) the particular challenges to achieve voice for small island states; (b) the potentials of regionalism as a road to global democracy; and (c) the key role of youth in recrafting democracy for global affairs. Diana Brydon emphasised the significance of learning in the building of global democracy and the importance in these pedagogies of according ‘cognitive justice’ to diverse cultural experiences. Alfred Nhema called attention to the particular problems of building global democracy in situations of fragile states. Jan Aart Scholte highlighted the interregional, intercultural, multilingual, interdisciplinary, action-oriented, reflexive approach taken in the BGD programme.
 

Audience Challenged the Convenors

These comments sparked scores of wide-ranging questions, observations and testimonies. How should global democracy treat anti-democratic forces? How should global democracy deal with practices that are regarded as democratic in one cultural context but undemocratic in another? Might pastoralist experiences be more relevant to global democracy than modern liberalism? How could religion promote global democracy when so many religious institutions were undemocratic? What is the relationship between global democracy and modernity, and are there ways to be ‘amodern’ (as distinct from anti-modern) when building global democracy? Should we be building global democracies (in the plural) rather than a single blueprint for all? What is the difference between interculturalism and multiculturalism? How would global democracy reach humble people as well as global elites? What is the relationship between global democracy and multinational corporations? What is the role of the state in global democracy? How does law relate to global democracy? What part, if any, would global parliament play in global democracy? How far is the internet a mobilising or a demobilising force for global democracy? How does the World Social Forum relate to building global democracy?

The discussions confirmed both the complexity of building global democracy and the high levels of interest in the question across many quarters. Almost all attendees signed up to keep in touch with further developments in the BGD programme. Already the BGD office has received a number of enthusiastic follow-up messages. We are excited to build on the connections forged in Belém in future phases of the BGD programme.