Сенгуло Альберт Мселлему - молодой преподаватель кафедры истории факультета общественных наук Университета Дар-эс-Салама в Танзании. Студент, а затем и аспирант Российского университета дружбы народов, С. А. Мселлему прожил в Москве одиннадцать лет. Предлагаемая вниманию читателей статья написана им специально для журнала "Восток (Oriens)". Уверен, что ее публикация имеет гораздо больший смысл, нежели просто донесение до российских коллег позиции конкретного иностранного ученого по столь остро дебатируемой ныне (в том числе и на страницах "Востока (Oriens)") проблеме глобализации. Дело в том, что, вольно или (скорее) невольно, С. А. Мселлему уже в самом заглавии своей статьи предельно четко - без всяких вопросительных знаков - обозначил восприятие процесса глобализации значительной частью танзанийцев вообще и танзанийской интеллигенции в частности. Еще за год до того, как д-р Мселлему передал мне свою статью для "Востока (Oriens)", я сам убедился в широкой распространенности такого отношения к глобализации, когда выступал с гостевыми лекциями об исторических судьбах Африки перед преподавателями и студентами Университета Дар-эс-Салама.
Весной 2003 г. в ходе экспедиции, организованной Центром цивилизационных и региональных исследований РАН, Институтом Африки РАН и Росзарубежцентром при поддержке Университета Дар-эс-Салама (в том числе в лице автора статьи) и посольства Российской Федерации в Танзании, среди прочих вопросов в предлагавшейся для заполнения анкете присутствовали и такие, как "Ваше отношение к распространению западной массовой культуры" (как известно, вопрос, чрезвычайно тесно связанный с проблемой глобализации) и "Ваше отношение к колониальному периоду в истории страны". Всего было опрошено 954 человека. На первый из двух названных выше вопросов ответило 830 из них. Вариант ответа "полностью отрицательное" выбрало 28.3% респондентов (а среди людей с высшим образованием и студентов вузов -23.0%), тогда как вариант "полностью положительное" - лишь 9.2% (7.2) (впрочем, если добавить к двум крайним позициям менее жесткие - "в целом отрицательное" и "в целом положительное", то картина примет несколько иной вид: в сумме негативное отношение к западной массовой культуре выразили 42.1% опрошенных, а позитивное - 39.7%; среди наиболее образованной их части - соответственно 42.4 и 33.5%, из чего следует, что позиция, заявленная в статье С. А. Мселлему, наиболее характерна именно для высокообразованной части танзанийского общества; кроме того, как следует из взятых в ходе экспедиции многочисленных интервью, в которых вопрос об отношении к глобализации задавался напрямую, отношение танзанийцев к экономической составляющей глобализации в целом более положительное, чем к культурной). На вопрос же об отношении к колониальному периоду ответ дали 790 человек. Вариант ответа "колониализм принес главным образом вред народам Танзании" выбрало большинство - более половины от общего числа ответивших на вопрос: 432 человека (54.7%); среди людей с высшим образованием и студентов вузов таковых оказалось 52.8%. Сторонников двух других предлагавшихся в анкете вариантов ответа: "колониализм был не более чем кратким эпизодом в долгой истории страны и ее народов" и "в колониальный период были заложены основы нынешнего единства и прогресса Танзании и ее народа" оказалось гораздо меньше как в целом, так и среди образо-
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ванных людей - соответственно, 19.7 (18.6) и 25.6% (28.6). Хотя и имеет смысл обратить внимание на чуть менее негативную оценку колониального прошлого интеллигенцией, следует признать, что для любого слоя танзанийского общества уже сама постановка глобализации в один ряд с колониализмом (и, следовательно, неоколониализмом в роли связующего звена между ними независимо от оценки не только культурного, но и экономического аспекта глобализации), как это сделано С. А. Мселлему и делается теми, чье отношение к глобализации он объективно выражает, - залог ее отрицательной оценки. Таким образом, взгляд на проблему глобализации, нашедший столь яркое выражение в статье С. А. Мселлему, безусловно, нельзя считать характерным для всех танзанийцев (что подтверждают и интервью, взятые участниками экспедиции). Однако, как было показано выше, такой взгляд распространен действительно широко, и прежде всего в силу данного обстоятельства, считаю, что статья Сенгуло Альберта Мселлему заслуживает того, чтобы быть опубликованной в журнале "Восток (Oriens)". Благодаря этому ее читатели увидят современный мир, каким он может представляться не из России или, например, США (где работает едва ли не большинство его исследователей), а из Танзании - с континента, ныне являющегося не столько субъектом, сколько объектом глобализации.
Д. М. БОНДАРЕНКО, д. и. н., зав. сектором культурной антропологии Центра цивилизационных и региональных исследований РАН при Институте Африки РАН
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AFRICA: GLOBALISATION IS NEO-COLONIALISM
This paper examines the concept of Globalisation, its origin and problems it causes for the African continent. While identifying it as the recent developments currently changing the world politics, it specifically focuses on its challenge and implication for Africa, particularly, in the realm of equality of all countries taking part. In the process it was revealed that globalisation is the final conquest of capital over the rest of the world and that inequality explainable within the context of triumph of capitalism, i.e. exploitation. The central thesis of our study is that the economic inequality and interest of the states in globalisation as well as imbalance in the rule of the game there in, cannot benefit Africa and its people. This is so and likely to continue if allowed because so far globalisation is marginalizing Africa in all its spheres of existence. Statistics show re-colonisation of Africa in a neo-neocolonialism style. In globalisation process Africa shows a picture of disastrous entrapment from which Africa must free itself, through a genuine committed effort in all spheres of life with reconstruction which will be truly African in nature if it hopes to survive the challenge of the twenty-fist century. The world political system can help with deliberate effort to lay down clearly the rule of the game, which will be fair for all parts interested and check the social dimension of globalisation. Globalisation like colonialism, like neo-colonialism is exploitative in nature too.
Globalization has become the catchword today. It has both symbolics and ramifications. The most prominent areas associated with the concept within the contemporary international interaction are involving information technology (IT) and global economy. At the economic level, globalisation is responsible for integrating national economies into a single world economy. Changes, which are taking place around the world today touch everybody and show that
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something qualitatively new is taking place. It is of no doubt that we are witnessing a qualitatively new complex situation of internationalisation and interdependence of the world economy. Globalisation has changed the lives of people of our era faster and more unpredictably than perhaps any other phenomenon. Globalisation intensifies human interaction by reducing the barriers of time, distance and ideas that had separated people and nations before. All these manifest a fundamental change in the world economy.
The agency of globalisation is Transnational Corporations (TNC's). They are the chief organizing agents. Their power is promoted by a variety of new conditions, that is advance in information technology, a convergence in national patterns of consumer demand, intense global competition, and a less restrictive environment for trade and investment. The TNCs and developed countries do not need territorial acquisition or direct political domination any longer. TNCs are incommensurably stronger in the size of capital, labour productivity, access to information and global connections. TNCs come and bring in their finished goods at much cheaper price than those of developing countries manufacturers, thus forcing many local industries to close down. TNCs attain their goals by GLOBALISATION.
Globalisation is not new in itself rather it is a continuum of historical trends of development of imperialism. What is new is the rapid pace of change through free trade, economic integration, and financial liberalization. At the financial level the process of globalisation has integrated markets. The dimension of information technology is the backbone of the process of globalisation. The most obvious expression of information technology is the Internet and electronic media. This widens the gap between the extremely rich and the poor. It is unfortunate that "globalisation theory" assumes that all players, rich and poor on the national, regional and global level will be affected equally. Tokeo Hiranuma, the Japanese Minister for Trade and Industry, has complain that, "there have been always poor and rich people in the world, but never in history there has been such a gap between the rich and the poor like what we have now. This is the evil of globalisation" [Rai, April 18 - 24, 2002, p. 7].
Globalisation is just a new phase in transformative character of global capitalism. The tendency of integration, which is typical of globalisation, is not a new feature. It is part and parcel of the expansionistic tendency of capital. Therefore, global linkages and integration are historical processes inextricably connected with the development of capitalism. They aim to integrate the whole world into a single system of global capitalism. Globalisation has increased the ability of the strong to advance their interests to the detriment of the weak. Historically, there has been a persistent tendency of the world economy to become more closely integrated across different geographical spaces - national, regional and global but the effects of globalisation are beyond prediction. History shows that capital has always been global. The capitalist system is the most adaptable and voracious. From its beginning capital has been, driven by the need to constantly "expand or die". The changes that occurred in recent years are an expansion of that need. Philip Ochieng, a writer and journalist, writes that by its very nature the capitalist bursts any national cocoon in a ceaseless search for cheaper labour, raw material and market [Ochieng, 2002, p. 6]. This character of capital is called Imperialism i.e. export of capital abroad to chase for superprofit. For this purpose "third world" is a paradise of markets, labour and resources exploitation. Globalisation has taken off as a concept in the wake of collapse of the Soviet Union and socialism as a viable alternative form of economic organization. The fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the "Cold War" between the forces of capitalism and socialism with capitalist triumphant. While Soviet Union existed with its socialist ideology - it always acted as a restrain to the Western forces. The West now has nothing to restrain it. It has perfected a new form of the old ideological sop with which to persuade the world that Globalisation is what the doctor ordered. Ochieng says, "if globalisation is "free commerce" it is only free for western - often really just American corporations. It has become "free world" only because everybody else has been knocked out of competition" [Ibidem].
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"Globalisation of the world economy is pushed ahead by the forces which demands national boundaries be opened for trade and movement of capital and information. This has proved useful to some people and marginalized much more other people, augmenting inequality both within the nations and among them" [Daily News, May 17, 2002, p. 12], reads the Report on Human Development included in the UNO Development Programs (July 1997). The Report warns against the absence of control that would ensure that rich foreign companies investing through globalisation do not rob poor countries of their wealth:
"The income ratio between the one fifth of the world population who live in the richest countries and one fifth who live in the poorest ones was 74 : 1 in 1997, 60 : 1 in 1990, 30 : 1 in 1960 and 11 : 1 in 1913. In thelate 1990's one fifth of the world accounted for 86% of the world GDP, 82% of the world export and 68% of direct foreign investment. At the same time, the poorest fifth accounted for just 1% of these amounts" [Vasiliev, 2000, p. 22].
Kevin Watkins, Senior Policy Advisor with Oxfam, notes that, "Already obscene global income inequalities are widening. At the end of 1990's, high income countries representing 14% of the world population accounted for over three-fourth of the world income roughly the same as at the start of the Decade" [Watkins, 2002, p. 12].
Inevitability of Globalisation demands analytical examination of the devastating effects of globalisation. It should be stated that the extent of coping as well as the ability of its victims are explainable within the context of human history, which on its own has not been static and which had continuously evolved with the society itself over the years. The position of Latin American is more striking, the governments in this region have liberalised imports far more rapidly than in any other region, turning their countries into models of trade openness. The return in terms of poverty reduction has been abysmal. The obvious example is Argentina, once seen as the IMF's star pupil. In return for US $20 billion in loans, Argentina did virtually everything it was asked to do, including the adoption of the dollar peg in 1991. However overvalued currency stymied exports and its economy was not strong enough to service its debt. The IMF's withholding of a ? 1.2 billion payment at the end of last year triggered the banking crisis that forced Argentina's middle classes on to the streets. According to Avinash Persaud of Street Bank, Argentina suffered from "instability born out of the pursuit of stability itself [Matiason, 2002, p. 1].
The reality demonstrates that globalisation of the world economy is a chance to take advantage of the accelerated economic development and transition to new technologies, yet globalisation exhausts Africa and other weaker countries more and more. Russian Prof. Alexei Vasiliev notes:
"The total foreign debt of the African countries increased from $340 billions to 348 billions in 1997. As a whole the pumping out of the African resources continues. It amounted to 3.3% of the GDP annually in 1975 - 1984, 4.6% in 1985 - 1989 and 3.8 in 1990 - 1997". According to IMF criteria, 31 African countries were recognized unable to carry the debt burden and granted concessions in its servicing, but the rest countries keep paying in spite of everything" [Vasiliev, 2000, pg. 23].
Examining what is happening in Africa, it is clear that this is a new order of marginalisation of Africa. Communication possibilities, mass production, market exchanges and redistribution in globalisation process, subverts Africa's autonomies and powers of self-determination. Africa is surrounded by poverty, diseases, and the burden of external debts. These have deprived the citizens of the continent all the requisite essence of meaningful life. Africa in the context of globalisation suffers from marginalisation socially, politically, economically and even technologically. This can be exemplified by considering the position of Africa in four aspects of globalisation: trade, technology, investment, and the autonomy of the state.
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Nation-states in Africa today, rarely define the rule and regulations of their national economy, production, credits and exchange of goods and services due to the rampaging menace of globalisation. Decisions and policies at international level increasingly shape what governments can and cannot do, affecting the lives of many ordinary people in many ways. In the past people could call their governments to account for the policies they implemented. Today governments are able to claim that they have been pushed to implement policies by agencies such as the IMF, World Bank and WTO institutions that are not accountable to their people. Governments are now hardly capable of making decisions in managing their political, economic and social-cultural development.
Any characterization of globalisation that excludes the roles of the International Monetary Funds and the World Bank will be too reductionist since the primary goal of Globalisation is of global capital. The instruments of globalisation - the Breton Woods institutions (The IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development - World Bank), also the World Trade Organisation have played crucial roles in the enthronement of global capital. This has been done through policies of liberalization, privatization and deregulation. In respect to liberalisation, this is a process of removing artificial restriction on production, exchange or use of goods, services and factors of production, which are necessary conditions for firms to globalise. It must be noted that economic and social strategies of African countries are formed under the impact of Bretton Woods institutions. These are the organisations, which prepared the reform programs with the ideal purpose of overcoming "backwardness". African governments were advised to do the following:
* Minimize the states' interference in the economy.
* Reduce the trade barrier and let local producers compete with foreigners at par.
* Curtail or cancel subsidies and price control.
* Retrench budget expenditures.
* Lift the limitations imposed on capital movements.
* Privatise the state enterprise.
* Lift limitations imposed on foreign private investments adopting the laws aiming at encouraging them.
Most African governments, after gaining independence strove for modernization of their countries, investing into education, health care, social protection programs and creation of infrastructure. This was characteristic of the state regardless of the political orientation, whether "socialist" or "capitalist". From the SAPs (Structural Adjustment Programs) most African governments were advised practically to give up their participation in development of their own economies. On effects of SAPs, Vasiliev says, the SAPs in Africa succeeded only in strengthening polarization and fragmentation in the society. There is no country behaving like this in the world, neither in Europe nor in America. The economic development proved more successful in the countries of Eastern Asia, whose model of state machinery functions well opposite in many respect to those recommended in Africa.
In order for African countries to participate fully as equal partners in the globalisation process, something must be done to harness the forces of globalisation. World leaders must make sure that increasing markets benefit all people by adopting more stringent regulations on investment and concrete measures to help rid poor nations of debts. German's President Johannes Rau in his annual Berlin speech on social problems in 2002, talking on the need to control globalisation said, "If the market is going to become more global, then we also need regulations that will ensure the freedom of peoples world-wide" [Boston, com 5/13/2002]. Rau called on politicians to take up the role of creating limits to globalisation. On the need to control globalisation President of Finland Ms. Tarja Holonen, co-chairperson of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation said: "Globalisation has given hundreds of millions of people the opportunity to achieve a standard of living incomparably higher than ever before, but it has likewise driven many into great economic distress and insecurity" [Ho-
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lonen, 2002, p. 10]. She adds that global development also needs global ground rules, "to enable us to make our world develop in a more equitable way, we must be able to manage many variables at the same time. In this nation-states still have an important role, and we must strengthen their opportunity to create favourable conditions for people and companies to operate in". Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania talking on the rational trade relations to reverse the increase of global insignificance of the continent in globalisation process said that".. .trade opportunities are useless if the capacity to produce exportable products is not there" [Ibidem]. Giving figures President Mkapa said: "net aid for developing countries in 2000 was 53.7 billion dollars, which was 0.4%, lower than 1999 figures. The official funding of development in 2000 which totaled 65.5 billion dollars was the lowest since 1990" [Ibidem]. Mkapa continued: "What is worse, agriculture exports on which most of our economies depended have to compete with massively subsidized agricultural products in rich industrialized countries. In 1998 on average, every farmer in those countries received about US $19,000 as agricultural subsidies..." [Ibidem]. Rich countries block imports that would lift economic growth and reduce poverty in the developing world with high tariffs and subsidies.
While goods from developing world are kept out of Western markets, poor nations are pressed by the IMF and World Bank to open their markets rapidly. This guarantees goods from rich countries easy access to the economies of the poorest nations and depriving the developing world of the chance to build up industrial and services sector that could compete with the West. "The problem for poor nations is that markets are good at generating wealth and allocating resources but bad at addressing inequality" [Ibidem]. In order for globalisation to be sustainable the needs of all people that are its ultimate goal should be, to make globalisation a resource to promote decent work, reduce poverty and unemployment and foster growth and development. Most of the positive aspects ascribed to globalisation like increase in trade and investment, integration into global economy, technological advancement, long-term employment prospects and enhanced quality of life are not evident in Africa. Whatever indices one cares to use, there is little doubt that sub-Saharan Africa is in steady decline. Per capita income, life expectancy, prenatal and maternal mortality, agricultural output, water availability etc., all indices are showing deterioration and decline. Without an exaggeration, Africa is the hardest hit continent by the rapaciousness of globalisation, despite some positive aspects of globalisation, e.g. the spread of democracy, the emphasis on human right, rule of law and good governance.
Globalisation is the economic processes in which production marketing and investment are increasingly integrated. Agriculture being the basic economic activity in most African countries is the most highly affected area in the process. Farming has been severely affected by introduction of trade liberalization and this failed to ensure the availability of credit agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and insecticides at a reasonable prices. According to the International Coffee Organisation over the past five years the price received in Africa, Asia and Latin America has fallen by more than half, "in the three years, developing countries saw the value of their coffee exports fall from around $13 billion to $7 billion, even though they exported more coffee" [Kinana, 2002, p. 10]. One symptom of dependence on primary commodities is a high level of vulnerability to debt. Losses associated with adverse price trend are very huge. Figure from the ICO shows that during the year 2000 - 2001, developing countries coffee exports sold nearly 20% more coffee on to the world market than in 1997/1998, for which they received 45% less foreign exchange. The main problem for the peasants in the globalisation process is marketing. Peasants have been urged to increase production of cash crops as a result they can't sell their crops. The transformation in this case has clearly led to a negative development that is the break up of the market security. The emphasis on production of raw material has gradually become marginalized. Globalisation no doubt is a return to competitive economic system but at this stage almost everybody is involved. "Multilateral negotiation can help to reduce some pains, but will not change the power of capitalism to destroy less developed modes of
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production" [Kimambo, 2000, p. 6]. Blaming our past never helps but Africa should follow the example of those countries, which were once in a desperate situation like that of African now and managed to do something out of it like China, South Korea, Singapore etc. In order to save their cash crops African countries have to sell their crops as the half-processed or finished commodities, which can compete in the world market system.
Despite their free-market rhetoric developed countries have been practicing protectionism against products from developing countries. These protectionist policies are one of the reasons why integration into world markets is not delivering its full benefits to poor countries. According to the OECD, rich countries currently subsidize their farmers to the tunes of $630 billions. So the Western farmers increase their global share of world agricultural markets at the expense of the globe's rural poor. Rich countries block imports that would lift economic growth and reduce poverty in the developing countries with high tariffs and subsidies.
So far Africa has nothing to rejoice in globalisation process, her contribution to the global economy continues to decrease day after day. In great deal Africa has been affected by globalisation, Africa is almost forgotten in the world economic affairs, despite its vital role in production of raw materials and minerals. "Two general observations can be made about Africa's experience of globalisation. First, the continent is mainly excluded from globalisation and second, when globalisation does impinge on Africa, the experience is mainly negative" [The East African, N 432, p. 28]. Africa needs political will to rectify the situation. To bridge the gap as once the first President of Tanzania Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere said, Africa has to run while others are walking.
REFERENCES
Boston, com 5/13/2002.
Daily News. May 17. 2002.
Holonen Tarja. Global Developments are really challenge //Daily News. August 22. 2002.
Kimambo I.N. From Enlargement of Scale to Globalisation // Paper on millennium conference. UDSM, 2000.
Kinana Abdulrahman. Globalisation and Democracy: The case of EALA // Daily News. July 5. 2002.
Mwamunyange Joseph. Africa Has Just 1 pc of the World's Income // The East African. N 432.
Mathiason Nick. IMF's one size fits few // The Guardian {UK). April 28, 2002.
Ochieng Philip. Globalisation is man's most divisive enemy // The African. September 6. 2002.
Rai, April 18 - 24,2002.
Vasiliev A.M. Africa is the stepchild of Globalisation I/African Studies in Russia, 1998 - 2000. Moscow: IF AS, 2000.
Watkins Kevin. Making Globalisation Work for Poor // Sunday News. April 21. 2002.
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