Another Malaysia is Possible (2004)

Taking Positions positions that can be taken in explaining the economic crisis which directly have consequences on our understanding of social costs and the necessary action strategies to deal with the crisis and social costs.2 Understanding the Causes of Economic Crisis: Multiple Possibilities As indicated above, it is not the focus of this paper to go into the historical details of the causes of the current crisis. What will be attempted here is an effort to understand the causes of the crisis in terms of two sets of factors in the context of the dominant economic development strategy. We can think of the cause of the economic crisis in terms of endogenous or exogenous factors (in relation to the dominant economic development strategy - see Figure 3). Some clarification would be useful regarding the use of the terms endogenous and exogenous. In this paper, they are used in reference to national boundaries. That is, those factors that are outside are categorised as exogenous (e.g. the IMF, and unregulated international financial markets, etc.), and those found inside a national boundary are categorised as endogenous (e.g. a weak domestic banking system or ‘poor governance’, which includes corruption). In this sense, both exogenous and endogenous are really ‘internal’ to the present dominant economic development model, i.e. the logic that governs the development of the economy produces factors which are here categorised as endogenous and exogenous based on the national boundary.3 Economic Modern economifc adcetvoerlospment, as we understanCd riit,sitsakes place within national boundaries, with goverments involved to varying degrees in encouraging such a development.4 As such, a crisis – when it happens – is Figure 4: Crisis induced by exogenous factors only 3 This is significantly different from how it is used in certain other quarters. First, exogenous and endogenous categories are not dependent on any national boundaries. These categories are used in a way to imply whether they are internal to the capitalist mode (endogenous; e.g. social inequality) or external to it (exogenous; e.g. a flood). I would like to thank Charles Santiago for bringing this to my notice. 4 In the late capitalist period, global capitalism, working within a strong international institutional regime, has also influenced economic development within national boundaries. Such developments, often actively encouraged by national governments, have seen the same governments lose control over their economy. 231

Taking Positions factors Economic Crisis Taking PosiFtigiuorne s5::CUrisnisdiendrusctead nbydeinndgogeSnooucsifaacltoCrsoonsltys The reason for a detailed focus above on the positions taken is that these positions are not usually made explicit. Putting together facts on the economic crisis into an understandable narrative is not an innocent or objective affair. Commentators on the crisis may share certain concerns but come from very different theoretical traditions. Sometimes two commentators present their arguments as though they are different when essentially the two are informed by the same/similar framework. There are many ways to look at the situation today with positions identified with people and institutions: ‘the IMF’s position’, ‘Krugman's position’, ‘the Third World Network's position’, ‘ppMoolsaiihttiifacoatanhlc’iit,rmoe'srtpcspl.:ioIcsmaittpiiooonnrts’,ao‘nMfttqihcueheseesltpiCoohnsositswisouEendscmCo?ovaWrnysiokshayimass'tksiapcactotitsohitniisosjntur’na, tc‘letougciraeels/sawrnEeaiC:lftlWiOaofocnhnltaaloodltrwNsaa:rGferrOotyhm’es these positions? Who will benefit? Who will lose? What policy considerations are implied by the framework one holds? Figure 6: Crisis induced primarily by exogenous factors The framework that identifies the importance of only the exogenous factors implies a number of things such as: authoritarianism, etc.; Economic factors: cafpaicttaolirsst:s; Crisis sECOndary Figure 7: Crisis induced primarily by endogenous factors 232

Taking Positions Economic c) Positifoanct3o:rsCrisis caused by exoCgreinsoiuss factors with endofgeanctoourss factors playing a secondary role. ‘Primary’ and ‘secondary’ simply point to an emphasis on factors. Thus, one can give emphasis to exogenous (e.g. unregulated international financial markets, speculators, IMF policies) or endogenous factors (eF.gig.uwree8a:kCdroismiseisntdicucbeadnbkyinbgotshyesxtoegmen, opuosoarngdoevnedrongaenncoeu,slofaccatlorcsurrency/ property speculators). d) Position 4: Crisis caused by endogenous factors (e.g. poor governance, weak banking systems) with exogenous factors (e.g. IMF policies, poor international regulation) playing a secondary role. Here, greater emphasis or importance is given to endogenous factors. e) Position 5: An economic development model (purely growth-oriented, ‘people-unfriendly’, social-inequality-producing, exploitation-based, etc.) that promotes a periodic crisis-prone system which is exogenously and endogenously induced (with reference to the national boundary). 233

Taking Positions above and arrive at three sets of positions that one can consider in the analyses of economic crises and their social costs. Three Sets of Positions The first pair of positions (the mono-causal positions) emphasises either the exogenous factors (see Figure 9 below) or the endogenous factors (substitute exogenous with endogenous). Like all the other positions discussed below, these positions imply a political agenda and have specific policy implications. Holding onto an exogenous position would mean that local weaknesses are neglected, and therefore not addressed. In the same way, if one stays with an endogenous emphasis, international factors are downplayed. In the former framework, privileged local entrepreneurs may be protected as against outsiders. In the latter, foreign capitalists are absolved from their complicity in the crisis. In reading the social costs, this first set of positions (related to positions 1 and 2, corresponding to Figures 4 and 5 above) merely observe an intensification of negative impacts which are already inherent in the dominant economic development model being pursued. The general character of this model is not critically examined and challenged. Hardships that are part of dominant economic development are presented as ‘normal’ or ‘inevitable’. And the intensification of hardships is presented as the result of the crisis. The economic crisis is seen as an aberration of an otherwise-sound economic strategy. The second set of positions (the dual-causal positions) are based on privileging either the exogenous or endogenous factors in relation to each other (related to positions 3 and 4, corresponding to Figures 6 and 7 above). Thus, we can have a position that privileges the exogenous factors (see Figure 10 below) and another that privileges the endogenous factors (substitute exogenous with endogenous factors). Both positions are more comprehensive than the earlier pair of positions (related to Figures 1 and 2 above). Consider the argument privileging exogenous factors. In this kind of analytical framework, one factor is primary (the first group of reasons, e.g. high mobility of capital in relation to the speculative activity of a fraction of global capitalists), while the other is secondary (the second group of contributory reasons, e.g. poor governance, weak banking systems).5 Both the positions do not question the dominant economic strategies that lie at the heart of the crisis. Thus, both these positions will demand the regulation of economic development strategies. There will be demands, for instance, either for international regulation of the high mobility 234

Taking Positions wealth which encourages/supports privatisation, and that merely promotes growth through a GNP indicator; activity. On the other hand, the framework that identifies the importance of only the endogenous factors implies yet other things such as: markets, ‘greedy’ speculators, etc. banking sector; inequality, or concentrates wealth, or promotes growth through macroeconomic indicators; However, if one identifies with the analysis that considers the causes of the crisis in the context of the whole dominant economic development model (i.e. position related to Figure 8 above), the whole scenario changes. An important implication here is the recognition that there is a need for a completely different economic development strategy in the first place – a strategy for a sustainable economy that promotes people-centred development. Thus, a person working with this kind of analysis may consider the exogenous and endogenous factors seriously, but will not be confused with positions 1 to 4 (related to Figures 4 to 7 above). Perhaps this is the right place to pursue a discussion based on the diagrams 5 There can be a number of variations of this. For instance, those holding that exogenous factors are primary can oscillate from a ‘hard’ position to a ‘soft’ position – one in which the secondary factors are presented seriously and one in which they are not, for a number of reasons. When taking a soft line, this position will look like the ‘exogenous factors only’ (position 1 above) argument. 235

Taking Positions or Economic Action strategy to deal with Crisis economic crisis and social cost social Cost Figure 9: Emphasis on exogenous (or endogenous) factors perception is that these structural aspects can be resolved by some sensitive tinkering of the economic development strategies. The third set of positions (the triple-causal positions) is the most comprehensive one, which takes into account all the contributing causes: the dominant economic development strategies, endogenous and exogenous factors (related to position 5, corresponding to figure 8 above). In this framework, the relationship between endogenous and exogenous factors varies in three ways: [i] endogenously privileged (i.e. endogenous factors – primary; exogenous factors – secondary; [ii] exogenously privileged (i.e. exogenous factors – primary; endogenous factors – secondary); and [iii] both as equally important (see Figure 11 below). These are positions held by those who think that the nature of mainstream economic development is seriously flawed and is incapable of realising the primary purpose of all economic activity – the direct satisfaction of physiological, physical and social needs and the indirect satisfaction of self-actualisation needs (e.g. the enjoyment of work) of all people. These positions focus uncompromisingly on both exogenous and endogenous factors and also, more importantly, the source of the problem, the dominant economic development model. Thus, any analysis and proposal for political action do not lose sight of these factors. It is no point tracing the problem to either exogenous or endogenous factors – checking, policing and regulating them – but 236

Taking Positions Primary secondary Economic Action strategy to deal Crisis with economic crisis and social cost social Cost Figure 10: Privileging either the endogenous or exogenous factors of capital, or for national restructuring of financial systems. Structural transformation of the dominant economic development model will not be part of the agenda of change. Some aspects of the social costs will be addressed; e.g. the increased rates of suicide or human rights violations. There will also be some recognition that the social costs of the current crisis are but an intensification of problems already structurally present in the economic development strategy. However, the Economic Action strategy to deal Crisis with economic crisis and social cost social Cost Figure 11: The causal factors comprising of economic development strategy, exogenous factors and endogenous factors. 237

Taking Positions leaving intact the economic system that produces them. The economic crisis state is essentially seen as ‘internal’ to the nature of the dominant economic development model. The action strategy or policy implications of these positions bring to relief and into focus the operations of international financial institutions/instruments (e.g. IMF, World Bank, WTO, MAI, etc.), the regime they support (international financial markets), international cronyism and corruption, etc. In addition, there is an equal focus on the problems related to national realities, such as poor national governance, weak banking systems, local cronyism and corruption, etc. Action or policy, therefore, requires attention to all the three levels of factors. The shape of the social costs assumes a certain distinctness. Social costs are, therefore, seen as emerging from the nature of the dominant economic development strategies; but certain local/international conjectural elements do contribute significantly to distinct features. Conclusion The purpose of this paper is to present the different positions one can assume in analysing or understanding the present economic crisis and its social costs. It is important to remember that the position one takes has both economic and sociopolitical implications. Positions taken have implications on the focus and spread of corrective action. Will corrective actions be directed against outside agencies alone or against the local/national agencies, or both? Can there be a differential emphasis on the focus of action – concentrate more on the outside agencies than the inside ones or vice versa? Or will the action strategy involve a reconsideration of the dominant economic strategy and change to a more sustainable one? Certainly international, national and situational conjectures and the alignment of significant forces will help in making such decisions. 238

Event: notes on appreciation of the Cinema Published in October 2000. Context: Cinema has become a central part of our lives. We engage with it indiscriminately and uncritically. In Malaysia, as in other places, there is an urgent need for a critical engagement with cinema. This paper* was presented at the cinema appreciation workshop What Are Movies Telling Us? organised by Cahayasuara** Communications Centre from 7–8 July 2000 in Kuala Lumpur. Introduction Cinema is today an important integral part of our social life. It is virtually impossible to avoid it. It consumes our leisure time and offers us entertainment. For cinema, we become an ‘audience’. It makes us cry, laugh, think, get angry; in short, it influences us deeply. Cinema, backed by contemporary communication technologies, has acquired the power to confuse fact and fiction, reality and fantasy or ‘Truth/truth’ and motivated ideology. It has become a pervasive social force to reckon with. And we may refuse to negotiate with this great social power only at our own risk! To begin the process of making sense of cinema and negotiating with this great social power, I suggest the following: Scene I: Social Criticism and Societal Learning Loops: Understanding and applying social criticism in order to encourage self-conscious correction and promotion of societal learning loops. * ThisSpcaepnerewIaIs:pCubilnisheemd ain WChraittAicreisMmovieasnTedllinAgpUps?r:eCcinieamtaioApnp:reLciaitniokniSnergiescVroilt. i1cal response to (Kuala Lumpur: Cahayasuara, 2000). ** Cahayasuara, the communications centre of the Catholic Church in the Kuala Lumpur region, organises cinema appreciation sessions as part of its media education programmes. 239

Interrogating the Cinematic Event Scene II: Cinema Criticism and Appreciation Let me apply what we have discussed above to the field that we are now engaged in, i.e. cinema. What is cinema? This is a rather complicated question and the discussion on it has engaged some of the best artistic minds around the globe. It can be answered purely in technical terms or in philosophical terms. For our purpose, let me suggest that cinema is an effective and persuasive modern/post-modern technique of story telling. And this is creatively achieved social reproduction democratic social Criticism Environment social transformation Figure 1: Critical relationship between social reproduction and social transformation 240

Interrogating the Cinematic Event cinema and cinema appreciation to the above. Scene III: Group-Interest Dynamics: Making an attempt to identify and to understand the group-interest dynamics contributing to the creation of a cinema event. Scene IV: Deepening Cinema Appreciation: Making sense of our cinematic experience by going through three levels, keeping in mind all the above. Now let me elaborate the above stages. Scene I: Social Criticism and Societal Learning Loops Society idnirgeecynt ebreaal riisngcononstitouutredevbeyrytwdaoy large-scale, pervasive processes that have a life – social reproduction and social transformation. On one hand, we reproduce social values and norms, and certain accepted patterns of social behaviour. On the other hand, individuals and communities are also involved in making changes to their social values and norms, and accepted patterns of behaviour. Such changes maXy be brought about imperceptibly or through large-scale, hightliym-evisible and spectacular public movements and events. Societalseoxciiastleanccteiviist,ietsherefore, about a careful ‘balancing’ of the twin processes of social reproduction and social transformation. They are not two independent or parallel processes. A critical relationship between these processes is achieved through the activity of social criticism (see Figure 1). A certain accepted pattern of behaviour or norms/values may be questioned, evaluated, rejected, modified or substituted. Such activities lead to changes in society. Changes may be good or bad. I sugFgiegsutrteh2a:tSsuosctaiainl acbrlietiscoicsimal tbreangsufoirdmeadtiobny:th(ri)ousgohmseoccieatraelfluelalryn-idnegvleolooppsed or understood notion of participatory democracy and sustainability, (ii) human values that encourage caring and contribute to community-building, and/or (iii) that which promotes equity. Approaching social criticism in this way allows society to become aware of itself and to identify the harmful or unsustainable directions in which it is moving, and to take steps to correct itself. A societal learning loop, once established, allows a society to undergo social transformation in a sustainable way ensuring its social and cultural survival. It will then reproduce these values and patterns of behaviour. This process is, of course, continuous. 241

Interrogating the Cinematic Event Scene III: Group-Interest Dynamics (Contributing to the Production of a Cinema Event) Figure 3 identifies a number of groups/interests that have contributed towards creating the cinema event. The interests range from sheer profit-making to artistic creation to social criticism, all using cinema as a ‘medium’. It can also range from ‘pure’ entertainment to ‘pure’ education through a hybrid form, edutainment. All the interest groups influence and guide the cinema event. It can also be used by one sectional interest to influence another. Cinema appreciation can be achieved at different levels of complexity. I suggest three levels, i.e. (i) basic, (ii) secondary and (iii) tertiary. Scene IV: Deepening Cinema Appreciation (i) Basic level: Cinema appreciation at the basic level (see Figure 4) involves the audience response to elements internal to the cinematic reality. This involves emphasis on creative technical elements of the cinema or on the power of its narrative. It is about ‘feeling good’, ‘feeling bad’ or ‘feeling annoyed’ after seeing a film. The audience at this level, to a large extent, is ‘passive’ in comparison to the other two levels. (ii) Secondary level: Cinema appreciation at the secondary level (see Figure 5) consists of relating internal creative technical elements to the social reality represented. This level of appreciation, therefore, involves the consideration of an external element, i.e. the social reality that is represented, in addition to the creative-technical aspects. However, at this level, the process of representation is taken to be unproblematic. That is, there is an assumption that there is one reality out there and that it is being represented. Only facts and counter-facts or evidence can be used to criticise a representation. The arrangement of facts is not seen as a product of social convention. The audience in this case is more active than at the first (basic) level. (iii) Tertiary level: Cinema appreciation at the tertiary level (see Figure 6) takes us to our earlier discussion on groups, interests and beyond. It brings to relief a whole array of aspects: groups, their interests, social conventions, social conventions about filmmaking, political environment, cultural environments, etc. This focus offers an opportunity for a greater appreciation of the cinema 242

Interrogating the Cinematic Event you intErEst financiers technical film Critics group CINEMA Hall EVENT government bureaucrats Figure 3: Group-interest dynamics contributing to the production of a cinema event usually by a unilinear narrative. So a narrative and a narrative agency hold a cinematic experience together. A narrative in its most basic form is a ‘causal transformation’ of a situation through five stages: These stages can be seen in the development of most cinema. As you can see, the narrative is almost always terminated or exhausted by ‘narrative closure’. Along with this idea that cinema is about story telling, and is therefore about narratives, we need to understand that cinema is a creation of numerous interest groups. There is a complex relational field that produces the cinema event. Thus, cinema is not just about what you see on the screen but a social complex created by both cinematic and extra-cinematic factors. In order to appreciate cinema, it is therefore necessary that we engage in social criticism of it. Such an engagement will help us become more critically conscious of our cinematic experience and the totality of the cinema event. Specifically, we begin to be conscious of the social, symbolic, political, economic and technological forces behind the cinematic narrative. 243

Interrogating the Cinematic Event Edutainment audience Entertainment Cinema (yOu) EvEnt Education Figure 4: Cinema Appreciation: Basic Level audience Cinema EvEnt External (yOu) reality Figure 5: Cinema Appreciation: Secondary Level 244

Interrogating the Cinematic Event Cinema EvEnt EXtErnal rEality audiEnCE (yOu) Cacophony of sounds PartiCular struCturing Other OrdEring Of PartiCular Of visiOn narrativE sensory inputs Other narratives Figure 6: Cinema Appreciation: Tertiary Level event as we will be able to locate it within a context of contested meanings, narratives and interests. The recognition and appreciation of extra-cinematic elements that contribute to the cinema event will greatly influence cinema criticism, understanding and appreciation. The tertiary level offers society highly self-conscious members who can, through their activity, bring the power of cinema within democratic control. Conclusion The aim of social criticism is ultimately to encourage the formation of societal learning loops and to create a participatory, democratic and sustainable society governed by human values. This is also true about criticism and appreciation of cinema. The aim is to set a ‘people’s agenda’ that guides the creation of a cinematic event. What that ‘people’s agenda’ is needs to be arrived at through democratic dialogue. 245

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southeast asia Written in March 2001. Unpublished. Context: This is part of a paper entitled Orthodoxies, Assumptions and Transcendence: The Future of the Nature-Society Relationship in Southeast Asia. The paper was presented at Alternative Perspectives on Southeast Asia, a conference held from 6–8 April 2001 in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. A large set of orthodoxies have ruled our lives, determined the policies of the nations in Southeast Asia and determined the (unsustainable) development trajectory of Southeast Asia. (a) \"Economic activity is essentially about material growth.\" What is the purpose or aim of economic activity? Is economic activity measured only in terms of material growth? Is happiness a state that you arrive at as a result of acquiring possessions? Is economic activity about having and not being? Is the profit motive the basis for materialist bias in economic activities? What institutions support this growth focus? Can we think of economic activities without material growth? What assumptions sustain this material growth focus? (b) \"Sustainable Development as Growth Everlasting\" Or does sustainable development mean material growth in an everlasting way? Is it possible to imagine an everlasting material growth at levels we are consuming today? Is sustainable development about sustaining the Nature- Society relationship into the indefinite future? Is growth the same as development? Is sustainability only about sustainable economic growth? Is not sustainable development also about sustainable culture, sustainable politics, and sustainable technology? What assumptions make the everlasting growth view possible? 247

Interrogating the Orthodoxies (c) \"Nature has to be anthropologised and commodified.\" Is Nature merely for human well-being? Does Nature possess an intrinsic value? Is our relationship with Nature dialogical or one of domination? What is the implication of transforming Nature into a commodity and placing it in the market? What are the assumptions that make this possible? (d) \"Consumption is a here-and-now act.\" Is consumption merely confined to the act of consuming, i.e. withdrawing a commodity from the market? Does the consumption act have a past and a future? What are the implications of the past or future on present consumption? What assumptions encourage this orthodoxy? (e) \"Globalisation is inevitable.\" Is globalisation an inevitable and necessary process? Is extreme global interconnectedness an advantage or disadvantage? Does globalisation protect cultural and biological diversity? What assumptions maintain this belief in inevitability? (f) \"The future of human society is the future of the free market.\" Is the free market a real institution? Is the market the only kind of governance structure? Is human history the history of markets? Is human society incapable of managing its distributive function without recourse to demand-supply functions? Does the market address the real needs of people? Can there be non- market post-bureaucratic societies? What assumptions make this orthodoxy possible? (g) \"Democracy is a problem of management.\" Are people capable of ruling themselves or must they be ruled? Is democracy a technical or management problem? Or is it about decision-making through discussion and debates? What assumptions offer support to this guiding orthodoxy? (h) \"Asian democracy is guided democracy.\" Who will guide democracy, the people or an elected elite? What features will make an Asian democracy Asian? Is direct democracy possible? Must all forms of democracy involve large scale election and balancing the different interests in a society? Must democracy be based on individual rights or collective rights? What assumptions make this operating principle possible? 248

and the role of the Published in 2003. Context: This is a chapter in the book Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond (2003), which is a publication of the Asian Communication Network based in Bangkok. Making Sense of Theory Media education and media reforms, which reflect the growing concern for democratisation of the media environment, are critical and need sustained support, particularly from civil society. While such initiatives are sprinkled throughout Asia, one unfortunate limitation is the tendency to not engage with theories or frameworks. Theories/frameworks are summarily dismissed as the ‘concern of the academics’ or those who like to sit in their ‘ivory towers’, making no sense to others. The struggle for democracy is not purely based on action. It is equally a contestation of different concepts and theories. Theoretical practice and practical efforts must go hand-in-hand, though not necessarily together. If you tie theory and practice together tightly, they would simply hop around and fall. Theory and practice are certainly different types of activities. The way we are educationally socialised does not help us to think through our concepts and guiding frameworks. We prefer activities at the empirical plane. But not engaging with theories/frameworks means that one does not have a ‘map’ as part of a collective experience to help chart a clear course through one’s daily life. Theories are like ‘maps’. If you do not have a ‘map’, it means that you are not sure where you are, where you want to go and the route you 249

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ environmental problems were both local and global in scope and both, ordinary and spectacular in form. c) Birth of Environmentalism: To begin with, responses to environmental problems addressed the consequences of the capitalist development process [that was essentially based on the articulation of formal rationality]. This consequence-based movement came to be called environmentalism. To a large extent, environmentalism did not question the basic structure of (capitalist) production. In fact, eco-efficiency became the in-thing. It added an environmental dimension to the development path but did not allow that dimension to radically change the path. (The ‘radical environmentalists’ who sought to do this were a marginal group.) d) Historical Changes from 1970s: A number of changes took place in the world of production and the dominant West from the 1970s that resulted in a significant change in environmental/ecological consciousness. (i) The period of modernity was coming to an end in Western societies around the 1970s. (ii) The social structure of the Western world (and the advanced among the developing world) was changing from a modern society to a post- modern one. (iii) The post-modern society saw the growing importance of information and knowledge (not as wisdom but as data) and their growing differentiation. (iv) The form of technology changed from industrial to information technology. Or, more broadly, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). (v) Considering the information society, there was a movement away from Fordism to Post-Fordism to ‘Murdochism’. (vi) Even as the world globalised, there was greater sensitivity to locality. (This also meant the production of knowledge was really a local issue, sensitive to the context of a form of cultural life. The importance of knowledge produced by experts was being questioned.) These changes brought about paradigmatic changes in the response to environmental problems. It brought in the social dimension as part of the response. 250

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ are taking (with all its implications). It also means that you may actually be using somebody else’s (your ‘adversary’, for example) map and not realise it. Imagine that for a minute and the problems that it could create. Coming to the topic at hand, taking up issues of media education or democratisation of the media requires content sensitivity, collaboration and direction. It needs a ‘map’. Media education or reforms cannot be considered in self-contained enclosures. It must become conscious of where it is, what it must deliver for its survival, its role and responsibility to the community and how it should go about doing that. Theories and frameworks will certainly play a major part in such an effort. In the rest of the paper, I will present a case for sustainable development. It is an examination of a theoretical framework and the role and meaning of media within that framework. Making Sense of Sustainable Development a) Capitalism and Commodification: The emergence of industrial capitalism brought into our midst the ‘culture of commodities’ and the process of commodification. This complex transformation process saw the encroachment of commodification into all aspects of our daily life. Everything came to be thought in terms of profit – material and/or non-material. Relationships were forged on the basis of profit-motive. Nature was turned into an object of exploitation for the benefit of entrepreneurs. From external control of nature, biotechnology provided us the power to control its inner being, with the control of germplasm. The commodification process has become all-pervasive, from the interiors of our being to the vast expanse of outer space. b) Instrumentalisation of Our Relationship with Nature: The transformation of the relationship with nature into an instrumental one meant that nature had no intrinsic value. Its value was dependent on us. In an unsustainable sense, we exhibit a species-wide anthropological aggressiveness. Nature could thus be exploited without a conscience, without a concern for any values. Such a relationship in the context of ‘progress’ led to the sustained degradation and destruction of nature, presenting us with what we have come to understand as environmental problems – resource depletion, destruction of habitats, extinction, pollution, health and general environmental risks. Because capitalism was global in nature, environmental problems also assumed a global nature. Thus, 251

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ temporal context (the time-space). See Figure 1. While these concepts can be applied in a modified form for all species, here they are used to understand human beings. Ecological Consciousness and Activism Environmentalism Sustainable Developmentalism Figure 1: Species Contextualisation b) Value Focus The three contexts produce three symbolic objects endowed with meaning and value and help secrete three value-focuses that serve as a guide for our evaluation, choice and decision-making processes (in our private and public life). See Figure 2. Figure 2: Value Focuses c) Imaginative Orientation The Orientation Principle presents an interpretational-navigational device, a device that helps in the interpretation of a situation. It helps us make choices and decisions in order to navigate in a sociocultural context in the direction of 252

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ e) From Envirnmentalism to Sustainable Developmentalism: A new stage of ecological consciousness and activism came into being. There was a shift from environmentalism to sustainable developmentalism (Table 1). Temporal Context Relational Existential CoTnatbelxet1: Stages of Ecological Consciousness and ActCivoisnmtext f) Sustainable development as a moral-emancipatory project: Sustainable development needs to be seen not as a technical but as a moral-emancipatory project. It demands a moral regulation of our relationship with nature, our fellow beings and the future generations. Simply put, sustainable development, as a UN definition goes, ‘is development which aims at providing for the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to take care of their needs’. Some Concepts to ThFinutkureTGhernoeruagtihons on Sustainable Development To help us think about sustainable development, let me present three concepts: a) species contextualisation Ecology b) valueEEqfoqucuituaysli(atanyn)dd (Nature) c) imaginative orientation. a) Species Contextualisation Three contexts constitute species contextualisation, which relates to ecological niche creation or the formation of cultural life. These are: the existential context (specific natural space), the relational context (specific social space) and the 253

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ sustainability. The orientations provide a philosophical-moral-practical basis for our everyday life. Thus with the three value-focuses as the basis, we arrive at three imaginative orientations. See Figure 3. Generational Imagination Socialistic Deep Ecological Imagination Imagination Figure 3: Imaginative Orientations The three imaginative orientations will help us focus on development with reference to future generations, equity (intra- and inter-generational, and equality) and nature (the ecological context). See Figures 2 and 3. I would like to suggest that a development process which is guided by the three imaginative orientations be termed sustainable development. They are the basis of sustainable developmentalism. Components of Sustainable Development and the Democratic Media Based on the discussion above, it is not difficult to see that sustainable development goes beyond the confines of traditional environmental concerns. To achieve sustainable development, the effort must include sustainability at various levels, i.e. we need to locate environmental sustainability in the contexts of economic, political, social and cultural sustainability. Table 2 offers a view of these various types of sustainability and their main concerns. It also locates the concern of ‘democratic media’. How do we make critical sense of this location and type of media? 254

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ Economic Political social Cultural diversity economic rights/ income sensitivity to cultural management/ policies/ Reduced risk distribution factors/ Resource use Enlightened planning for Dematerial- environment with reduced localism present, future and ising the income diversity and other species/ dialogical Space use economy/ differential transactions management/ Private to Market both locally contributing public to non- alternatives/ development/ and globally anthropo- equity/Deep morphism, ecology Appropriate multicultural to dematerial- concerns isation technologies citizenship time sense and multi- and holism stakeholder and equality/ participation Equity and resource equality for allocation/ indigenous Footprint folks and management/ governance people with and use/ (corporate disabilities Waste and management government)/ Accountabi- lity/trans- investment parency/ in basic equitable preventive access to trust health and resources for education/ all (gender, Social indigenous investment people, in the family people with disabilities, etc.)/Inter- generational on people and intra- participation generational equity Democratic Media Table 2: Types of Sustainability and Their Concerns 255

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ commodification. If the vision is one of sustainable society and the values are non-anthropocentric, dematerialised and democratic, then the representation by the media of society, the people and their concerns will be different. d) Figure 5 locates communication in relation to media and representation (as indicated in Figure 4 above) within a sustainable development framework. It transforms ‘media’ into a part of the general process of democratic mediation. e) What does this mean? A sustainable society is only possible when three conditions prevail: (a) a general democratic environment (b) active self- consciousness at a societal level and (c) a free, responsible, democratic media. vision direction representation (Content)] Communication values Figure 5: Media, social criticisms and societal learning loops f) Figure 5 suggests that human activity today is generally taking us in the 256

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ Making Sense of the Media in Relation to Sustainable Development a) To begin with, what is the media all about? I like to think of the media as a ‘technology of (narrativised) representation’. And by representation, I mean the individual and collective, the conceptual and practical activities of naming, meaning-making, classification, orientation, negotiation, and navigation in the natural, cultural, and now, cyber worlds. Let me link this understanding to sustainable development with the aid of the two figures (4 and 5) provided below. y H u m a nX time aa cb t i Figuvire 4: Values-Vision Relationship and the Location of the Media b) Media is t interface between the nCeed to communicate and the practice of tyhe representation (of what is to be communicated). Communication involves representation in understandable narratives (‘stories’). The key questions to be asked about communication and representation are: What/who influences these representations? Is it carried out democratically or produced under a hegemonic situation? c) The(ANvdeaawlputDeedeslfhorion:mCeeAhnnotrileldAfosgraaSrnwcideanltc(heedea.n)v,diTsEhienovCnihroaolnnlemnegehenato,fs1th9ae9b7Bo)a,ulpatn. c1se3o:.cEinevtiyron(mFiegntualreEc4on) odmiirces ctly characterise communication and the practice of representation. Thus, if society is influenced by the commodity culture in a general sense, the representations made by the media (largely the ‘commercial media’ - see Table 3 below) will be a type that will rationalise and legitimise the society that supports 257

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ Table 3: Sector and Media Type i) To conclude, the democratisation of the media needs to include not only a reform in the technological and content creation aspects of the mediation process but also an active contribution to the re-formation of our society towards a sustainable model (Figure 6). Private sECtOr Civil society government audience Figure 6: Media ReformsrfeocripaieSnutsstaoifnable Society j) This framework not only contributes to an internal democratisation process of the media and its institutions but also allows media activists to build networks with other movements. RepProelsiteincatling the generic property of communication, iwtshelifchinitsouannayvomidoavbelme einnstautlrhlvarivetalialstiaonnismhiaptes,dmbeydtihaeacstuivstiasminacbalne naturally insert development agenda. References 258

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ direction of unsustainability – environmentally, politically, economically, socially and culturally. ‘Society C’ is unsustainable. The only way we can change that is by creating a critically self-conscious society that is willing to learn and change from its unsustainable ways, creating social learning loops, and, consequently, alternative institutions. This can be created by democratic media through social criticisms and by encouraging social learning and establishing feedback loops. ‘B’ and ‘C’ are hypothetical societies that have transformed themselves in the direction of sustainability (though one does so faster and earlier than the other). g) It is important to keep in mind thdaitreccotmiomnunication is a generic property of all human interaction. The respornespibrielsiteyntoaftimonedia activism is therefore really much larger than what it is made out to be. The way to connect media activism to this larger sruessptaoinnsaibblielditdeyemvcoealcnorpabtmiecenatcahliiesvme.d by placing media within the framework of Communication ph)roTvhiedersefeortehnevcraedluteoetasdielsmoofcrtahteictmypeedsiaoafbmoveediiam. pTlhieesseotahreer forms. Table 3 below sort of ‘ideal types’. There are transactions between these types and there are certainly hybrid types. Thus, for example, the commercial media transforms people into ‘demand’ and ‘market’. However, people are not merely ‘demand variables’ but have the capability of taking action to deal with the market hegemonic situation. 259

Sustainable Development and theRole of the ‘Democratic Media’ Agarwal, Anil (ed.), The Challenge of the Balance: Environmental Economics (New Delhi: Centre for Science and Environment ,1997) Berthold-Bond, Daniel, ‘Can There Be a `Humanistic' Ecology? A Debate Between Hegel and Heidegger’, Social Theory and Practice, Vol.20, 9-1-1994, p. 279. See http://www2.elibrary.com. December 1996. Cuello Nieto, Cesar, Fundacion Neotropica and Paul T. Durbin, ‘Sustainable Development and Philosophies of Technology’. See http://vega.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v1_n1n2/nieto.html. October 1997. Guha, Ramachandra and Juan Martinez-Alier, Varieties of Environmentalism: Essays North and South (London: Earthscan, 1997) Lee, David and Howard Newby, The Problem of Sociology (London: Unwin Hyman, 1983) Martell, Luke, Ecology and Society: An Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 1994) Ravindra, Ravi, ‘Ahimsa, Transformation and Ecology’, Re-vision, Vol.17, 1-1-95, p. 23. See http://www3.elibrary.com. June 1997. ‘Religious Coalition Press Environmental Policy Concerns’, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2. 12. 1997. See http://www3.elibrary.com. June 1997. Snarey, John, ‘The Natural Environment's Impact Upon Religious Ethics: A Cross- cultural Study’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol.35, 6-1-1996, p. 85. See http://www3.elibrary.com. December 1996. The Society for International Development and Centre for Respect of Life and Environment, Towards Sustainable Livelihoods (Rome: The Society for International Development; Washington: Centre for Respect of Life and Environment, 1996) Welford, Richard, Hijacking Environmentalism: Corporate Responses to Sustainable Development (London: Earthscan, 1997) 260

On tHE dangEr Of tHE us fOr glObal sustainability the amoral beast Published in Malaysiakini, March 2003 This article is dedicated to the memory of those innocent Iraqis who were killed in the unilaterally-decided US-led unjust war against Iraq. It was a war carried out without the formal sanction of the world community. It was really an invasion, a practice that the US Administration is rather well experienced in. The article reflects on its character in a global context. Many years ago, I saw a film called Jaws, directed by the then young director, Steven Spielberg. At that time, it was an exciting film to see. I even saw the sequels, though I did not enjoy them as much. Many years later, rethinking the film and particularly the mechanical shark featured in it, I began to wonder how close that was to the character of the US. Here was a representation of an animal that was a ferocious eating machine. It hunted, attacked and killed its victim without a conscience. While that is not what a real shark will do just for fun or for the entertainment of an audience, the Hollywood representation of it is, in a sense, what the US has grown up to be today: a terror without a conscience. In Jaws, the essential nature of the US was captured pretty accurately. In fact, many films after that which portrayed the beast in many forms truly reflect the US. Perhaps it is some sort of an unconscious representation of itself! How else can one even begin to understand the US? How else can you explain its behaviour in the global context? Americans have written about their guiding values. In one trajectory, Americans (read: Anglo-Saxon Americans) like to claim that rationalism, empiricism and individualism are their foundational values. Can one see any rationalism in their collective behaviour? Here is a country that beats its breast and broadcasts to the world the mantra ‘individual liberty and democracy’ every opportunity it can get. They would like us to perceive them as a personification of those principles. Should we? This same country spends an incredible amount on its war machinery. For the year 2000, US military spending stood at $343 billion. This was 69 percent 261

The Amoral Beast institutions that promote marketing and militarism. Both are based on the reality of aggression, ranging from ‘soft’ to ‘hard’. They form the real core. The gentler, funnier side that we see in their sitcoms or their Academy award nights are really a marginal America in terms of the decisions and direction the US takes in a global context. The ‘angry’ US today behaves as though there was no history before September 11. It seems to say \"How could they do this to us? We are innocent.\" Is the US innocent? There is a definite history before September 11, one in which the US played the role of the ‘big white shark’, doing what it wanted to do and as it pleased. Nothing in that history shows any semblance of respect for the kind of values it likes to project or be identified with. In his book Rogue State (referring to the US), William Blum notes that from \"1945 to the end of the century, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. In the process, the US caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair\". Against this collective violence of the US, the individual dictator Saddam Hussein seems rather innocent. A few cases would illustrate what the US really stands for and what animates it. After Congo in Africa became independent from Belgium, Patrice Lumumba was democratically elected to power and became its first prime minister. He leaned to the Soviet Union for help. In the midst of the Cold War, that was too much for the US. And, never mind democracy. According to a memo relating to a National Security Council meeting in 1960, former US president Dwight Eisenhower ordered the assassination of Lumumba. He was to be eliminated by the use of a vial of poison to be injected into something Lumumba might eat. Though this was not what actually killed him (it was the agents of the Belgium government), it simply goes to show the Beast at work. Lumumba was killed in January 1961. Many years later, the Belgium government apologised for its role in the killing of Lumumba. The US, of course, thought that it was their right to eliminate leaders whom they did not like. They, of course, continue to think so. In the 1960s, Chile was experimenting with a dynamic form of socialism quite different from the Soviet or Chinese model. It involved the election of a Marxist leader, Dr. Salvador Allende, to power. That was again too much for the US. Everything that it built and promoted as the communist approach to politics as part of its Cold War policy was crushed by Allende and the development of 262

Nat The Amoral Beast greater than that of the next five nations combined. Russia, which has the second largest military budget, spends less than one-sixth of what the US does. Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Iran and Syria spend $14.4 billion combined; Iran accounts for 52 percent of this total. Does this not look a little strange – promoting a culture of liberty and democracy while maintaining an aggressive militaristic culture? Where is there rationalism in this? In terms of its consumption behaviour, consider again this nation that is so concerned about life, liberty and democracy across the world. The amount of energy used by one American is equivalent to that used by 3 Japanese, 6 Mexicans, 14 Chinese, 38 Indians, 168 Bangladeshis, and 531 Ethiopians. A person in the US causes 100 times more damage to the global environment than a person in a poor country. Where is the rationalism in this? In fact, recent estimates indicate that at least four additional planets would be needed if each of the planet's 6 billion inhabitants consumed at the level of the average American. The USA is that much unsustainable and dangerous to all life on earth. This brings us to a number of questions. What is it that makes it tick as a collective entity? The above values of rationalism, individualism, liberty and democracy? Or, the values that are presented in another trajectory, namely: fairness, compassion, honesty, justice, winning, and patriotism? What are its ‘real’ core values? What drives an amoral America? What really animates this conscienceless nation? Certainly not all that it claims for global consumption. There is also a classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the American character. Individual and collective America are at disjunction with each other, with the dominant collective Hyde dominating the global context, making American exceptionalism its principle of engagement. The twin pillars that govern the behaviour of this collective amoral beast are centred on the ideas, practices and 263

The Amoral Beast in 1978 after overthrowing Somoza’s dictatorship. The Sandinistas were thrown out of power in 1990. How that happened is instructional in understanding the nature of US behaviour in the global context. Under President Carter, the initial strategy of sabotaging the Sandinista government was both diplomatic and economic. But later, under President Bush Sr., the fight was through Washington’s proxy army, the Contras, whom the US Administration lovingly called \"the freedom fighters\"! This was the army mobilised by those who had terrorised the Nicaraguan people under the dictator Somoza. The US refused to allow the Sandinistas to rule peacefully and concentrate on the development of their country. Not only did it train and supply the Contra rebels, but it showed contempt for international law by having the US navy lay mines outside Nicaraguan ports and assist attacks on harbours, oil installations and naval bases. Nicaragua brought the US before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In the 1986 Nicaragua vs. US case, the ICJ commented that the US Congress was entitled to criticise the Sandinista human rights record but not seek to ‘improve’ it by mining Nicaraguan harbours, destroying oil refineries and sending in the Contras as surrogate soldiers! The critical point here was that the \"right of humanitarian intervention\" arises in an emergency to stop continued crimes against humanity but not for a bad human rights record (in the US view). In effect, the \"right of humanitarian intervention\" is not really the \"right of ideological intervention\", which is what the US is guilty of. How did the US respond? The US argued at first that the ICJ had no jurisdiction. When that argument was lost, it ungraciously walked out, announcing that it would not be bound by any decision that did not suit the interests of America or its (questionable) exceptionalism. Then it withdrew its agreement under the Optional Clause, so that it could not be forced before the ICJ again. (The optional clause makes countries, unconditionally or with certain reservations, accept the jurisdiction of the Court for all legal disputes as compulsory.) Thus, when an international instrument is not in its favour, the US withdraws or sabotages it, which it has done to the UN today (in the case of intervention in Iraq). The US is really unconcerned about all this, even as it quite successfully projects the values of fairness, compassion, honesty and justice as the reasons for its global mission. That is the power of the ‘American Lie’, and the danger of the \"American Dream\" to the world. 264

Nat The Amoral Beast Chilean socialism. Not only was he elected but he also upheld the constitution and was increasingly becoming popular. If Dr. Allende had been with us today, not only would he have given us a model of ‘Third World parliamentary socialism’ but he would also have been there to oppose the Iraq war! The minute Allende started to become popular, the US market and military forces started to take over. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, John F. Kennedy, and his brother, Robert Kennedy, and later Richard Nixon, were all involved in making sure Allende’s rule came to an end. The CIA, American corporation ITT, World Bank and IMF played a crucial role in this conspiracy. In 1973, in a military coup by the US-supported Gen. Pinochet, Allende was killed and there was a ‘regime change’, supposedly for liberty and democracy. What happened? Pinochet, who came to power in 1973, killed over 3000 people and tortured a thousand more. In the midst of this, the Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, assured Pinochet that, \"In the United States, as you know, we are sympathetic with what you are trying to do here … We wish your government well.\" This was the same Pinochet who left his well-guarded ‘hide-out’ at the beautiful Andean foothills in Chile for treatment and was arrested in London in 1998, about 25 years after the coup, on a warrant from a Spanish magistrate alleging his systematic use of torture. The American presidents or the American institutions or the corporations that stood behind these tortures and deaths escaped that ‘humiliation’, as they always do. Their modus operandi is to work with locals so that they are not implicated. If they are, they deny it vehemently. If enough evidence is there to prove their involvement, they protect their institutions by deflecting scrutiny to individuals or technical matters. An extremely smart beast. Fidel Castro in Cuba is a constant embarrassment for the US. Unable to do anything directly with this small nation, the US has made sure no other socialist society came into existence in the region. Thus, in the late 1970s, the US was yet again interfering in the affairs of another Marxist government in Latin America. In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas, under the leadership of Daniel Ortega, came to power 265

The Amoral Beast projects became public which stretched the limits of the BTWC and – in some cases – violated it. These included the testing of mock biological bombs, explosive testing of aerosols, and production of weapons-grade anthrax. In the wake of the anthrax attacks, the US Congress has approved spending over US$10,000,000,000 for bio-defence studies.\" The outputs of these studies are potential materials for the development of bio-weapons. We will have an even more dangerous US in the future, who may claim then that bio-weapons are, after all, okay to have. The self-proclaimed life-liberty-and-democracy defending US has become a major obstacle to many international efforts to make the world a safer place for us today and for our children tomorrow. All these, only to protect its interests. The image of ‘Selfish America’ is, of course, well hidden behind legal or academic jargon. Take, for instance, the growing problem of climate change. This is a serious global problem. Among the many consequences, it will lead to the melting of polar ice formations, and the rising of the sea level. This will certainly threaten small island nations. For instance, Tuvalu, a tiny island country in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia, and barely 23 years since it gained independence, will soon be lost forever. Global warming and the consequent rise of the sea level are no longer just ideas. Rice- growing river floodplains in Asia, including those in India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China, are also predicted to be affected, threatened by the inundation of coastal areas. The UN Protocol concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in early December 1997 cannot completely succeed because of US Congress hostility. With about 5 percent of global population, the US is responsible for about 25 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide, the main pollutant covered by the Kyoto Protocol. (China has a quarter of the world’s population but produces only 13.5 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.) The Protocol commits 38 industrialised nations to reduce the emissions of the main gases produced by human activities. These gases are blamed for climate change. By 2012, they would have to cut emissions by an average of 5.2 percent on their 1990 levels, and the US by 7 percent. Of course, the mighty US did not like that. A former British ambassador to the UN, Sir Crispin Tickell, commented that \"The US decision is very short-sighted, and a confession of weakness. Saying [that the] Kyoto [Protocol] would harm their economy just shows how inefficient it is…They’re pleading protection for their own inefficiency.\" In relation to this, the esteemed environmental group Friends 266

The Amoral Beast There are far too many episodes that show the character of this dream. Consider the issue of biological and chemical weapons, which the ‘Anglo-Saxon horde’ (US, UK and Australia) are singing about. While there is a long history to the use of chemical and biological agents as weapons, the supposedly-civilised British and the Americans excel in its deployment. Not only did they develop and use them but they also ‘shared’ that technology. Thus, as the US geared up for possible military action to ensure that Iraq is stripped of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), there was renewed attention on Washington's instrumental and pivotal role in helping Baghdad develop its arsenal of chemical and biological agents in the 1980s to help the Iraqis in their war with Iran. This programme allegedly involved the crucial role of the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, which, of course, he claims he does not remember. Just as the US was instrumental in creating the al-Qaeda, so it was instrumental in giving Iraq the WMD, making the world that much more unsafe and unsustainable. Rational America? The American Dream worldwide? (Incidentally, this kind of selective ‘memory loss’ is part of the American foreign policy practice as they seem not to remember much of what they did to the world before September 11.) Knowing the danger chemical and bio-weapons might cause to its own citizens, the UK and the US renounced biological weapons in the 1950s and 1960s respectively. This eventually led to the introduction of the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). About 144 states are party to this. In 1994, a verification protocol was introduced. The US, as in many other international efforts and treaties, has not allowed the conclusion of this binding multi-lateral verification agreement claiming that other countries may cheat and that \"Honest America\" will lose in the process. Another problem in this context reveals where the US is going in relation to bio-weapons. The developments in science can be used in both ways, i.e. for peaceful use and for war. A hammer is an instrument of gentle creativity in the hands of a carpenter but a weapon in the hands of a murderer. This is true for atomic energy. So it is for biological and chemical weapons. The \"dual-use ambiguity\" has been creatively used by the US. In a report by the respected Sunshine Project, an NGO that \"works to bring facts about biological weapons to light\", it states: \"The US has been especially creative in this regard. In September last year (2002) and following the anthrax attacks, several US bio-defence 267

The Amoral Beast above). In the list mentioned above is Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. Does this company follow the values Americans so cherish and project? Even the US-based KLD Domino 400 that checks on social responsibility does not think so and has dropped Wal-Mart from its list for being socially irresponsible in relation to labour practices. Over half of Wal-Mart’s imports come from its contractors in China. In 2000, a human rights organisation discovered a factory in Zhongshan City, China, where workers for Wal-Mart’s contractor were forced to put in 14-hour shifts, seven days a week, 30 days a month. They were effectively held as indentured servants in overcrowded dormitories. At the end of the month, nearly half of them owe the company money – to cover two dismal meals a day and pay deductions for talking to co-workers while sewing. Nike presents another case. In 1991, Indonesian workers who have been making products for Nike, an US clothing and footwear giant, for the past ten years, were paid US$0.45 per day, not enough to meet basic physical needs. In addition, they were exposed to sexual and verbal harassment, had limited access to medical care and had to do compulsory overtime as is commonplace in Indonesian factories. Female workers in one factory were forced to trade sexual favours to gain employment. In spite of the fact that Nike, giving in to pressure from human rights groups, issued a statement in 1998, promising to improve conditions for the 500,000 employees of their contractors across Asia, many claim that the situation has not significantly improved. Sweatshop workers are still being exploited. This is another multinational that has also been dropped from the KLD list for bad labour practices across Asia, and not only in Indonesia. Nat Central to the secret life of Corporate America is corruption and bribery. Transparency International annually produces the Bribe Payers Index (BPI). The BPI shows that US multinational corporations have a high propensity to 268

The Amoral Beast of the Earth commented that \"George Bush is attempting to tear up the Kyoto Protocol in the face of world opinion,\" something that we hear very often in the context of the war on Iraq. It created a similar situation in the process of the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the determination of its powers. The Statute outlining the creation of the ICC was adopted at an international conference in Rome in mid-July 1998. Some 120 countries voted to adopt the treaty. Seven countries abstained. The supposedly ‘fairness-conscious and justice-minded’ US was one among them. So was Israel. The ICC is established to investigate and prosecute people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. The USA has been the only state to actively oppose the establishment of the ICC. To scuttle this effort, the USA has approached many governments requesting them to sign agreements not to surrender or transfer US nationals to the new ICC. It has already signed such bilateral agreements with Israel, East Timor, Romania and Tajikistan. The USA is exerting extreme pressure on states to meet their demands, in many situations threatening to withdraw US military assistance. Amnesty International observes that \"These agreements seek to undermine and weaken the ICC which was created to end impunity for the worst crimes known to humanity\" (which could include the US or its citizens). It has done a similar thing to the UN today by taking unilateral action on Iraq, claiming the support of some 35 nations. Of course, a strained, stressed, sombre-looking, American TV-managed Bush sold it to the American people by presenting a weak statement of support from about 35 countries. There are many more such obstacles put by the US for ‘improving’ the world to protect its selfish interests. The behaviour of its corporations is just another area to explore the ‘real’ values animating the US. According to the World Development Report, in 2001, in relation to revenues earned, 6 out of 10 top MNCs are from the US. Their earnings are so huge that they are far more economically powerful than many sovereign nations, but without the accountability we assign to a nation-state. There are, of course, many more in addition to this list that constitute American corporate power in all economic fields. There have been many US-based corporations involved in all kinds of anti-labour and subversive activities across the globe (see the case of Chile 269

Nat The Amoral Beast refused to comply with the WTO ruling. Chiquita then donated $350,000 to the Republican Party and the Republican-dominated Congress prepared legislation to impose tariffs on goods imported from the EU as punishment for refusing to comply with the WTO's ruling.\" The EU had to comply and the US corporation had its way, putting a lot of poor people in difficulties. Compassion? Fairness? Sensitivity? The list can go on. And on. Its support for the South African apartheid regime before it was dismantled and the provision of sensitive intelligence information for the arrest of Nelson Mandela, its double standards in dealings with Israel and other states like Palestine in the Middle East, its convenient use of terms, such as ‘just war’ and ‘humanitarian intervention’ when it really wants ‘regime change’, are some more of its hypocritical behaviour in a global context. Last, but not least, is the US ‘export’ of the debris from the Twin Towers (bombed on September 11, 2001) to a number of countries in Asia, including Malaysia. The debris contains highly-toxic elements. Bad for Americans. Good for business. Never mind the Asians. Really, what do all these suggest? The US of America is really the US of (Chronic) Aggression, the basis of its marketing and military activities. That is the core of the American Dream and values. The rest is merely sugar coating delivered through their various cultural channels for global consumption. Or, values that are sustained by a small number of good Americans who are a non-entity, ashamed of their nation and helpless, in many ways like the rest of the world. Instead of a nation of Martin Luther Kings, Howard Zinns, Oliver Stones and Noam Chomskys, we have Bushes, Rumfelds, Powells and their likes. Dangerous for the world. USA is certainly an amoral beast that knows only one thing: to protect itself (even if it means destroying world peace and its institutions, if not destroying the world itself). With an entity that is amoral or without any conscience, you cannot discuss anything. It will get on with what it wants to do. Though one 270

The Amoral Beast pay bribes to foreign government officials. The BPI ranges from 0 to 10: 0 represents very high perceived levels of corruption while 10 represents extremely low perceived levels of corruption. The US scored 5.3 for 2001 (matched by Japanese companies, but worse than the scores for corporations from France, Spain, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom). In fact, the propensity to bribe has only increased. In 1999, the US managed 6.2 on the BPI. What values really govern the corporations that systematically offer bribes? Certainly not ones America likes to officially project. Consider corporations from the land that loudly claims to the world to be fair, understanding and compassionate and so on, and their closeness to political power and their use of international instruments whenever it is convenient and in their favour. The issue illustrated here pertains to the Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) nations in the Caribbean growing banana. The European Union (EU) maintained a preferential trade relationship with ACP nations. An agreement, called the first Lomé Convention, was signed in 1975 between the then European Community and 71 ACP nations creating, in a sense, an EU-ACP trading bloc. In the Caribbean, the EU used to buy 8 percent of its bananas. These banana sales contributed to the livelihoods of about 200,000 people in countries where unemployment rates reached 30-50 percent. In effect, it was a trade bloc helping the poor farmers of the Caribbean who were also practicing environmentally-friendly agriculture and equitable distribution. However, in the world of global free trade, under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, this preferential arrangement could not be practised. Why? Because the WTO says it is unfair market practice! In a decision made by WTO in September 1997, the Europeans can’t make their buying decisions based on anything other than price. One report on this matter reveals the following: \"The Chiquita Company is a U.S. company that owns banana plantations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras and The most Panama where thousands of underpaid workers are dangerous exposed to dangerous pesticides and unions are banned. predator on Chiquita supplies 50 percent of the EU’s banana imports each year, but wants an even larger market share. Chiquita the Earth grows no bananas in the US, but a few days after the today is not corporation donated $500,000 to the Democratic Party, the Clinton/Gore administration filed a complaint with the ‘man’ but WTO on behalf of Chiquita. The WTO ruled in favour of ‘the US’. the U.S. and Chiquita (in September 1997). The EU initially 271

The Amoral Beast cannot imagine or support that the world community do to the US what Hollywood did to the great white shark in Jaws, the only language the US understands is force and aggression. This is what Tony Blair passionately argued in the House of Commons about what Saddam Hussein understands. Will the world community be able to ever stop the US? Can the world community stop the Anglo-Saxon Horde – led by Bush in America, Blair in UK and Howard in Australia – by a global collective political will and common moral and material force? The US must be disarmed for an authentic free world to emerge. Otherwise, we will have to live indefinitely with the Hollywood style \"hungry great white shark\" in our midst. To paraphrase what many nature programmes like to note at the end, the most dangerous predator on the Earth today is not ‘man’ but ‘the US’. 272

aftErWOrd The Unbearable Likeness of Democratic Multiculturalism By Yeoh Seng Guan, Ph.D. Lecturer, Media Studies Monash University Malaysia The first time I met Dr. Nadarajah (or \"Nat\" as he is more commonly known amongst acquaintances and friends) was at that much-beloved Malaysian watering hole, a roadside teh tarik shop in Brickfields about 3 years ago. The meeting was set up by a mutual friend who probably felt that our common interest in things ‘cultural’ (and beyond) would spark off a mutually-fruitful exchange in ideas. At that time, Nat was researching Georgetown’s fascinating multicultural landscape. Subsequently, about a year later, we were to collaborate in the pioneering international conference, The Penang Story: A Celebration of Cultural Diversity1 jointly organised by the Penang Heritage Trust and Star Publications. Consisting of a body of work written over a Composed under period of time that bridges the end of a specific circumstances millennium and the beginning of another, the articles in Another Malaysia Is Possible are and for particular remarkable for what they document and audiences in mind, the illuminate. Amongst his long and diverse list of salient feature of all topics are the sorry state of the Malaysian media, the chapters is to probe the perceived irrelevance of mother-tongue and to re-question the education, the perpetuation of the \"male- supremacy complex\", failed meritocracy in norm and the public universities, the roots of the Kampung celebrated. Medan tragedy, the draconian effects of the Internal Security Act, and the predatory American invasion of Iraq. The work sits squarely within a particular fraternity of writers that embraces the 1 See www.penangstory.net for more details. 273

AFTERWORD market rationality. Epitomising this point are myopic calls to abandon Tamil schools simply because \"critics perceive that the national-type schools are better equipped to achieve the economic agenda of modern education\". The ambivalence towards the long-term economic viability of Tamil mother- tongue education becomes starker if one were to juxtapose its plight with the array of mediated cultural images that come to the foreground during National Day celebrations and religious festivals, as well as those that adorn colourful and cheerful tourist brochures and advertisements. In these instances, Nat claims that whilst these messages attempt to suggest that sharing and hybridisation are something new and worthy of promotion, the truth is that these sanitised and abstracted images gloss over a phenomena that has evolved for decades, if not centuries, without official sanction. Paradoxically, these repackaged cultural commodities belie the ethos of standardisation and homogenisation rather than actually buttressing authentic local cultural diversity and natural heritage. By contrast, for Nat, the active promotion of \"ethnocultural consumption\" would recognise and affirm, amongst others, the wisdom of supporting mother-tongue education as an essential precondition for sustaining cultural diversity. But what is the structural blinker that currently renders \"ethnocultural consumption\" unpalatable and insignificant? Not surprisingly, Nat’s diagnosis reveals a sentiment that perhaps strikes a chord with many \"Malaysians\" but which is, nonetheless, not raised often enough in public discourse for fear of real and imagined reprisals. Rather than \"Malaysianisation\", what is more in evidence is \"Malay-sianisation\". The latter is an ...ethno-communal hegemonic form of nationalism [which] rests on the assumption that Malaysia is part of the Malay world and that the Malays must necessarily have ‘more’ rights – symbolic and real – than the others in the country… Malay hegemony is a cultural agenda with a political programme; Malay unity is a political agenda with a cultural programme. The beast of marginalisation of whatever colour and form attacks its victims differentially. Thus, in the context of poverty alleviation programmes that seem to cater more for the majority rather than the minority community, Nat pleads, When are we going to learn that ethnicity alone is really an inadequate criterion to 274

AFTERWORD pleasure and responsibility of putting thoughts and feelings to paper. Composed under specific circumstances and for particular audiences in mind, the salient feature of all the chapters is to probe and to re-question the norm and the celebrated. Indeed, taken as a whole, they embody a blend of acute sociological observations, timely commentaries, and passionate scholarship. Because many of the chapters were written in direct response to contemporary events, they retain the freshness and urgency of eyewitness narratives. And because they contain sociological analysis and critique, they are more than snapshots or slices of the Malaysian social fabric. They are contrapuntal narratives probing incisively beneath the surface of superficial (and even erroneous) descriptions, prescriptions and proscriptions that are often characteristic of dominant media reporting and the ruminations of the powers-that-be. Applying his critical gaze on events, trends and policies that have engulfed the Malaysian nation for the last few years, Nat’s concerns are both ecumenical and particular. Particular, because of his specific attention to the plight of the Tamil community in Malaysia; and ecumenical in the sense that they pose to other Malaysians disturbing questions on what it means to be a multicultural citizen in Malaysia at the dawn of the 3rd millennium. Both concerns interpenetrate one another, and mark out the master trajectory that all of us are being currently propelled along. The key refrain seems to be: \"Are these structured beliefs and practices socially just?\" Equally important, \"Are they culturally sustainable?\" What is of specific concern to him is the kind of hegemony that currently pervades the Malaysian social and political fabric. Whilst its manifestations are non-discriminatory, Nat strategically draws our attention to the particular debilitating impacts that they have on a community with which he is most familiar with – the working-class Tamil community. Let me summarise selectively some of Nat’s key observations and arguments. In assessing whether the current educational system provides young Malaysians with \"multicultural competencies\" in order to \"navigate in multicultural, multiethnic, and multi-religious worlds\", Nat’s diagnosis is stark – \"the national educational system is an utter failure in terms of education’s cultural agenda. It is hardly the place to look for an active and informed support for cultural diversity in this country\". More in evidence, instead, are mechanisms for sustaining a culturally-hegemonic situation as well as serving an all-pervasive 275

AFTERWORD – the labouring class – are less optimistic. As Nat puts it, The labouring community needs support during a crisis – natural, socio-economic, sociopolitical or a combination of these – which is not of their making but which results from the growth model on which the economy is based. Whilst Malaysia has promoted some social protection programmes, it has neither institutionalised social protection of the labouring community, nor set up a stable ‘crisis-response’ mechanism during crisis times. For some, the prerequisite for mitigating ‘crises’ and ensuring predictable levels of ‘stability’ lies in the wielding of a strong, even authoritarian, government. Others differ, seeing a system of democratic governance, where there are substantive checks and balances as the more sustainable alternative. In this scenario, the existence of vibrant and principled opposition political parties is vital. Nat opines that these parties – and one might add the political parties of the ruling coalition – should not be animated by short-term and cynical pragmatism but by deeper and more lasting convictions. For those who have been hoping for values and principles-based politics, a strong opposition that cares for values and principles and defends them is a must. In conceiving such a political practice, merely winning is certainly not the issue … The opposition to BN is not just about winning an election but also, and more important, about the process we must set in place, guided by values and principles, so that a victory is a victory of one set of principles over the other, of democracy over authoritarian politics. The value of Another Malaysia Is Possible is not confined to its timely and lively commentary. By empirically linking together the separate realms of politics, economics and culture as they manifest in a particular community in Malaysia, and repositioning them vis-à-vis the larger questions of social and cultural sustainability, Nat prompts us to inquire into our own perceptions of Malaysian citizenship, and the conditions that must be encouraged for a more socially-just and convivial co-existence between communities. Whilst the tone is arguably provocative at times, the book does suggest new lines of inquiry for the possible contours of a \"democratic multiculturalism\" in Malaysia. Further research, dialogue and reasoned debate would help to fill in incrementally the fuller details of this new and more desirable \"imagined community\". Among some of the research questions I have in mind: In what ways do the present regime of prescriptions (and proscriptions) for 276

AFTERWORD deal with poverty? In an uneven playing field, I think we need to look at poor Malaysians. They are Malaysian. They are our people. They need help. Why is this so difficult to see? We look but do not see. We hear but do not listen. Our drive for political survival is so narrow and blind that it suffocates and kills our sense of justice and compassion. Apart from equipping the individual with ‘competencies’ of the sort noted earlier, many would consider education In what ways do the present – especially tertiary education – as the vehicle par excellence for easing regime of prescriptions (and families and communities out of the proscriptions) for national poverty cycle. But even then, Nat integration facilitate (and discerns an alarming gap between undermine) such a process? In rhetoric and reality. what ways are the particular Our present mode of governance of experiences of the Tamil tertiary educational opportunities through a working-class community meritocratic system will work if there is a replicated in other ethnic and sub-ethnic communities? What level playing field between the players, a common university entrance system and transparency to examine the processes that kinds of empirical evidence contribute to the moderated meritocratic and ethnographic data need to system. Unfortunately, we have a situation be generated in order to render where none of the above is applicable. more visible the mechanisms The malaise of non-transparency in of exclusion as well as the governance becomes particularly acute in the context of a mode of economic everyday practices of mutual rationality that is prone to throw up recognition? What are the casualties even as it favours a small group strategically positioned to draw structural and cultural habits from its bounteous well of material and of thought that need to be put symbolic wealth. Whilst those \"strategically positioned\" will most in place (or dismantled) likely be able to escape relatively to allow a more expansive unscathed from the vagaries of free- market forces, the prospects of those form of citizenship to who provide the very fuel and flourish in Malaysia? foundation for the generation of wealth 277

AFTERWORD national integration facilitate (or undermine) such a process? In what ways are the particular experiences of the Tamil working-class community replicated in other ethnic and sub-ethnic communities? What kinds of empirical evidence and ethnographic data need to be generated in order to render more visible the mechanisms of exclusion as well as the everyday practices of mutual recognition? What are the structural and cultural habits of thought that need to be put in place (or dismantled) to allow a more expansive form of citizenship to flourish in Malaysia? The answers to these questions have both particular and ecumenical implications for all of us. Like the teh tarik stall, one hopes that they will help us arrive at a convivial point of nourishment, both intellectual and physical, if not in the here- and-now, then in the not-too-distant future. More to the point, I recall the words of Martin Luther King: Youngsters will learn words they will not understand Children from India will ask: What is hunger? Children from Alabama will ask: What is racial segregation? Children from Hiroshima will ask: What is the atomic bomb? Children at school will ask: What is war? You will answer them You will tell them: Those words are not used any more, Like stage-coaches, galleys or slavery Words no longer meaningful That is why they have been removed from the dictionaries. 278

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