Suchergebnisse

THE MEXICAN DEVALUATION AND SUBSEQUENT CRISIS OF DECEMBER 1994 THROUGH JANUARY 1995, PUT ALL LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS ON ALERT. THE "TEQUILLA EFFECT," AS THE MEXICAN DEBACLE WAS KNOWN, WAS THE RESULT OF PROBLEMS FACING THE WHOLE REGION, DESPITE ARGUMENTS BY GOVERNMENT MINISTERS IN BRASILIA AND BUENOS AIRES THAT "WE ARE NOT MEXICO." EVEN IN MEXICO, WHOSE LEADERS CLAIM THAT THE ECONOMY HAS STABILIZED, THE REAL CRISIS IS NOT OVER AS OF 1996. THE AUTHOR EXPLAINS THAT PROBLEMS RUN DEEPER THAN MERE EXCHANGE RATE DISEQUILIBRIA, AND RELATES TO THE CHANGING NATURE OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM. AS GLOBAL CAPITAL HAS EXPANDED RELENTLESSLY INTO THE FORMER COMMUNIST WORLD AND ALSO INTO COUNTRIES THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY OFFERED SOME DEGREE OF PROTECTION TO NATIONAL CAPITAL, THE RULES OF ECONOMIC LIFE HAVE CHANGED. CHANGES IN GLOBAL CAPITALISM HAVE LED TO THE REWRITING OF SOCIAL CONTRACTS IN MANY COUNTRIES AND AN ALARMING LOSS OF LEGITIMACY ON THE PART OF MANY GOVERNMENTS.

WHEN THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT OF JEAN CHRETIEN WAS ELECTED WITH IT STRONG MAJORITY MANDATE IN OCTOBER 1993, THERE WERE FEW PROSPECTS OF ANY SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN THE LONG ESTABLISHED LIBERAL-INTERNATIONALIST FOUNDATIONS OF CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY. AS THE GOVERNMENT MOVES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF ITS MANDATE, HOWEVER, IT IS CLEAR THAT IMPORTANT CHANGE HAS TAKEN PLACE. BOTH PEARSONIAN INTERNATIONALISM AND TRUDEAUVIAN NATIONALISM HAVE BEEN SWEPT AWAY AS THE CENTRAL ELEMENTS IN CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY, IN FAVOUR OF AN ASSERTIVE GLOBALISM. ALTHOUGH MANY OF THESE CHANGES WERE INTRODUCE BY THE MULRONEY GOVERNMENT AND FLOURISHED IN ITS LATER YEARS, UNDER CHRETIEN THE TRANSFORMATION HAS ACQUIRED NEW STRENGTH AND SPEED. YET BECAUSE IT IS LARGELY A REACTIVE RATHER THAN STRATEGIC PROCESS, DEVOID OF THE VISION WHICH PRIME MINISTER PIERRE TRUDEAU BROUGHT INTO OFFICE, THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE PERIODIC FAILURES, DIFFICULT ADJUSTMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES MISSED.

THE MISTRUST BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH WHICH WAS A FEATURE OF THE FOREST NEGOTIATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCED) HAS SINCE SLOWLY GIVEN WAY TO A NEW CO-OPERATIVE SPIRIT. FOLLOWING THE FAILURE OF THE UNCED TO PRODUCE A GLOBAL FORESTS CONVENTION SEVERAL NEW INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES ON FOREST CONSERVATION HAVE EMERGED. THIS STUDY DESCRIBES THESE PROCESSES AND ANALYZES THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. IT IS ARGUED THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN SLOW AND THAT THERE IS MUCH ABOUT THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL FOREST POLITICS SCENE THAT REQUIRES CLARIFICATION. CONTENTIOUS ISSUES INCLUDE THE ROLE OF TIMBER LABELING, THE FUTURE OF THE PROCESSES WORKING TOWARDS CRITERIA AND INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT, AND WHETHER A GLOBAL FORESTS CONVENTION IS DESIRABLE, TWO RECENTLY-CREATED FORA, THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON FORESTS AND THE WORLD COMMISSION ON FORESTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, BOTH OF WHICH WILL REPORT TO THE 1997 SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, MAY HELP TO CLARIFY THE SITUATION. HOWEVER, IT IS OW CLEAR THAT MANY GOVERNMENTS FROM THE SOUTH INTEND TO EXTRACT SOME MEASURE OF ECONOMIC COMPENSATION FROM THE NORTH IF THEY ARE TO AGREE TO SIGNIFICANT FOREST CONSERVATION COMMITMENTS. MUCH DEPENDS ON WHETHER A TRADE-OFF CAN BE REACHED BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS OF THE NORTH AND THE ECONOMIC CONCERNS OF THE SOUTH.

Current problems & potential improvements to the US political Left are discussed in a response to Richard Flacks's "Thinking about Strategy in a Dark Time" (1996 [see abstract 9710234]). Although Flacks is praised for his recognition of the deleterious effects of globalism on Left politics, it is argued that he fails to recognize the capacity of global capital to evade labor, political, & environmental regulation through capital flight. Therefore, Flacks's advocacy of social wage increases, aggressive unionization, & mass protest techniques is somewhat idealistic. It is suggested that contemporary Left politics must not resort to the strategies of the past, but develop new theories & techniques that recognize & confront the unique challenges of globalism. Under the increasingly restrictive control of conservative government, the Left must emphasize its past, present, & future capacity to improve the lives of ordinary citizens without giving in to the whims of global capital. It is concluded that the revitalization of the Left demands increased cooperation & global mobilization among currently fragmented & issue-driven liberals, progressives, & socialists. T. Sevier

THE STRUGGLES SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR ARE OVER RECOGNITION AND IDENTITIES EITHER LOST OR THREATENED BY THE ENORMOUS DISLOCATING PRESSURES OF A RAPILY CHANGING WORLD ECONOMY. THEY ARE A PROTEST AGAINST THE DECLINING QUALITY OF LIFE, THE BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNITY AND ORDER, THE ECLIPSE OF OLD SYMBOLS AND DISCOURSES. IT TAKES PLACE IN A MILIEU OF CAPITAL FLIGHT AND DISINTEGRATING ECONOMIES. THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE ESCAPE FROM POLITICS; ANTI-POLITICS IN THE US; GLOBAL ORDER AND DISORDER; AND A FALSE SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. IT WARNS THAT WHERE SOCIAL CONFLICTS TAKE ON THE CHARACTER OF VIOLENT, PAROCHIAL TURF WARS, THE RIGHT-WING AUTHORITARIAN SOLUTION BECOMES AN EVER INCREASING POSSIBILITY.

Critiques mainstream environmental values, arguing that they fail to acknowledge how ecological destruction is an essential function of capitalism's class structure. Eco-Marxism is offered as an alternative. Eco-Marxism's conceptual & pedagogical purpose is to demonstrate how the environmental crisis is the result of both the social & material relations of global capitalism, based on the belief that mere technical & behavioral fixes would not be adequate for ending environmental degradation. Instead, society needs to transform its social relations. John Bellamy Foster's The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment (1994) provides a good analysis of the class dimensions of the ecological crisis. D. Lou

Focuses on the interpenetration of global processes, regional dynamics, and local conditions.