Double Movement and Civil Society

Critical move: The Double Movement of Karl Polanyi

The revamped Bretton Woods accords set in motion what economic historian Karl Polanyi calls a double-movement. From above, the proponents of economic globalization maneuver to set the stage for transnational corporations to enjoy privileges denied sovereign peoples and to literally control the fate of the Earth. The myriad dialectical reverberations from below, now dubbed the anti-globalization movement, collide with the centralized movement from above. The resolution of the double-movement will determine the prospects for sustainability. Proponents of neo-liberalism are heavily outnumbered, but hold predominant political and economic power. The situation remains fluid.

See: Counter-Movements

The broad and vigorous counter-movement to economic globalization has been manifest for well over a decade. A fine compendium of this movement is provided by Paul Hawken in his 2008 book, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World. View Hawken's video.

Double Movements are subsets within Civil Society.

See the Wikipedia entry on civil society. The sheer volume and diversity of civil society organizations (CSOs) --- including citizens' militias --- suggests that a subset of Double Movements must be identified.

Note the significance of grass roots Double Movements in the making of the US environmental movement.

Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 by historian Samuel P. Hays draws the distinction between conservationism and environmentalism and sets up a pathway for the emergence of a sustainability movement. Just as environmentalism transcended conservationism, sustainership must transcend environmentalism.

A shining example of a sustainability CSO: the Sustainable South Bronx. Then listen to Majora Carter.

The mission: "Environmental Justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by community needs."

The Bamako Appeal tries to do the same for global civil society. This is authentic Double Movement and makes Africa central -- not typical. Read an analysis.

"Fifty years after Bandung, the Bamako Appeal calls for a Bandung of the peoples of the South, victims of really existing capitalism, and the rebuilding of a peoples’ front of the South able to hold in check both the imperialism of the dominant economic powers and U.S. military hegemony. Such an anti-imperialist front would not oppose the peoples of the South to those of the North. On the contrary, it would constitute the basis of a global internationalism associating them all together in the building of a common civilization in its diversity… The Bamako Appeal is an invitation to all the organizations of struggle representative of the vast majorities that comprise the working classes of the globe, to all those excluded from the neoliberal capitalist system, and to all people and political forces who support these principles-- to work together in order to put into effect the new collective conscience, as an alternative to the present system of inequality and destruction." (Bamako Appeal 2006)

Note, although the Bamako Appeal remains central to the, uh, Third World, the New York Times index contains no citations to it. The Bamako Appeal redefines the Third World re economic globalization.

Note some recent efforts re sustainability at Ramapo College

President Mercer's commitment is prominently displayed. The sustainability Education Center, a green building, is under construction. The 2007 Strategic Plan strongly supports sustainability. The Board of Trustees is now considering a Master of Arts in Sustainability Studies.

The legacy Alternative Energy Center will be explained by Professor Michael Edelstein

Professor Edelstein explains the AEC in the Thursday section of World Sustainability and will be a guest on April 21, 2008, in the Monday evening session.

The Ramapo College Environmental Institute has collected a database of scores of sustainability oriented grass roots organizations

The database is not yet on-line and needs updating, but demonstrates the spontaneous regional activities within civil society.