Free trade yes, but with caveats
RAGHU DAYAL
An anthology of essays and articles on the intricate issues of concern worldwide
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY: Dev Nathan, D. Narasimha Reddy, Govind Kelkar; Routledge, 912 Tolstoy House, 15-17 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 695.
Rather prosaic, the volume is essentially an anthology of essays and articles. As the authors themselves say, six specific subjects engaged their attention: global rules of trade be attuned to a country’s level of development, thereby allowing for “non-reciprocal access and non-reciprocal commitments”; enterprises and livelihoods, which are rendered uncompetitive, be propped up by policy intervention conducive to increasing productivity rather than continuous subsidies; for achieving “a social minimum of access to basic resources and opportunities”, “civil society actors” — trade unions, women’s organisations, farmers’ associations, etc., — need to be active; workers and producers must be able to operate across the globe consistent with the trend towards outsourcing of production and migration of capital; small producers be enabled to “achieve food security en route to decent work” with an emphasis on labour-intensive production; and for coping with gender inequality, women be offered incentives, for example, ownership of land, access to credit and technology, etc.
Strongly indicting the “renationalisation” focus and “the dominant anti-trade and anti-globalisation stands” taken by many NGOs, the book makes a stout defence of international trade. While firmly favouring trade, it clearly argues against “equal access, or the same rules, for all countries.” For the authors, “Access is essential; it is necessary but not sufficient”, and a “country must also have the capacity to utilise that access.” According to them, comparative advantage in labour-intensive manufacturing has been used by China and not adequately used by India. As flavour of the season, agriculture, a sector known to be “subject to high levels of protection,” looms large in their multi-dimensional approach to it — example, effects of low prices of food, imports of new technologies, and formation of regional, even global, “food banks” to play a role of “seller of last resort.”
Labour
Among the adverse impacts of international trade, authors recount “some special problems” encountered by the tribals and the Adivasis — termed in the book as “indigenous peoples” — who, it is maintained, need “economy-wide social welfare measures” to be instituted. Coupled with this concern is the “issue of the environment,” which at any rate generally tops the agenda today of a large number of “civil society organisations,” and it relates to depletion of resources, pollution havens, climate change, greenhouse emissions, et al. Almost inevitably, the authors delve into the intricate aspect of labour in a world much shaped by a wave of free trade and globalisation. What emerges from scattered references in different chapters is pretty unclear, if not inane.
Concerns
A plethora of concerns are brought up — ranging from “an improvement in labour conditions,” “market for labour standards,” and “child labour in international trade,” to the “global macro-economic implications of the entry of the working populations of China, India, and Russia into the global labour force,” and the “importance of growing inequality.” Likewise, amidst a medley of issues, Chapter 6 brings together “many of the trade-related gender issues”, analysing the impact of trade on women’s livelihood. Womenare prone to undertake less-productive activities, compared to men, who own more assets, the authors assert. In their view, India’s rural employment guarantee programme provides an assured income for a period of time that can “enhance risk-taking capacity.”
What the authors choose to term as “the second major point” is their concept of “a global countervailing power to capital.” They refer to civil society actors who “need to place their justified demands for employment and income security in the context of the changed economic environment.”
In keeping with the current debate on the revamping of global financial regime and a restructuring of the Bretton Woods institutions, in particular, the finale in the book addresses the question of international inequality and says there is “a need to deal with not just inter-country inequality…but also with inequality within countries,” “the urban-rural gaps in China and India,” and the “gendered gaps.” Again, the authors appear to be obsessed with taking up several intricate issues of concern worldwide instead of charting an uncluttered path to a clear destination they wished to reach.
Though painstakingly compiled, the book appears disjointed, with disparate contents collated without much thought to coherence or clarity. It could do with greater focus and lucidity in the enunciation of propositions sought to be espoused.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
