*** GERALDINE FROGER (Ed.): La mondialisation contre le développement durable ? Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "EcoPolis" series, No. 6. 2006, 288 pp, €34-90. ISBN 90-5201-326-8.
Globalisation and sustainable development are all the rage at the moment and are also controversial, being used to spice up any issue. As economist Géraldine Froger explains in the introduction, the aim of this book is not to analyse issues surrounding globalisation, like the predominance of the financial dimension which has now become its main characteristic, but rather to explain the issues connecting globalisation of the economy with environmental and development matters. Likewise, rather than returning to the institutional and historical origins of the concept of sustainable development or the question of its relevance (although, as Géraldine Froger points out, "one can query its real capacity to provide sufficiently solid principles to guide public political action"), the aim is to make a critical assessment of what the notion provides when it comes to the political action of countries in general and developing economies in particular with regard to globalisation. Following on from a conference organised by the 'Centre d'économie et d'éthique pour l'environnement et le développement' of 'Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines' in France, the book aims to take a multidisciplinary, horizontal approach to the complementarities and/or contradictions between globalisation, development and the environment, and to analyse sustainable development strategies and practices and the governance questions they raise in developing economies in general and Madagascar in particular.
Entitled 'Globalisation and sustainable development: complementarily or contraction?', the first part of the book provides nuanced answers to big issues which are highly significant for people prepared to look at their human consequences. Do globalisation and sustainable development demand a new analysis and do they require a new challenge to development theories and practices? In terms of the economic and social dimensions of sustainability, are contemporary modes of globalisation likely to provide an opportunity for some economies or, on the contrary, do they increase restrictions? Which indicators should be used to assess the impact of globalisation on the environment? Finally, aware that the link between globalisation and sustainable development raises considerable problems of regulation and governance, is regional integration (which the European Union is pushing for all it's worth) protection against globalisation or, to spell it out even more, do some forms of regional unity encourage more than anything else the emergence of rules and standards which will promote the social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development? Just as many questions are addressed in the second part of the book entitled 'Which types of sustainable development governance are best for developing countries faced with globalisation?', looking at forms of governance established by developing economies. Are they symptoms of controlled globalisation, produced to serve a liberal market economy, or are they at the heart of the expression of new forms of development taking root in the interstices of globalisation? The 1990s and the end of the 1980s were determinant in the consensus crisis in Washington - the challenging of the structural adjustment doctrine - and the arrival of 'participatory development, but which players are asserting themselves in the national and local context of developing economies? What strategies and practices to they use when it comes to sustainable development? The third part of the book examines in the light of the Madagascar experience a state's field of action when it comes to drawing up public environmental policy and promoting activities likely to lead to sustainable development, as well as the role of the state economy and the right to publicly intervene in a globalised context. The whole book examines the arguments for and against, providing a highly nuanced and extremely credible picture.
Michel Theys
*** CLAUDE SERFATI (Ed.): Mondialisation et déséquilibres Nord-Sud. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (see above). "Regards sur l'International" series, No. 6. 2006, 354 pp, €33-90. ISBN 90-5201-325-X.
This book is a very useful complement to the one reviewed above since it extends the focus of analysis on the same issue and its authors, who took part in the same conference at Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, develop a criticism of the dominant economy while reviewing the powers, asymmetries and imbalances that characterise the political economy of globalisation, weighing up intellectually the alternatives that have been suggested. The first part of the book looks at the predatory power of finance and its role in the processes of globalisation which give rise, in François Chesnais' words to political "Balkanisation" in a huge number of economies, while Claude Serfati demolishes the theory that liberalising trade and finance is an element of peace among nations these days, forcing them to be dependent on one another and integrating them economically. The second part of the book looks at asymmetries and imbalances in modern economic exchanges between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Two essays critically analyse the policy of the United States, and Claire Mainguy studies the impact of cooperation between the European Union and ACP states. Senior lecturer at Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, she argues that the Economic Partnership Agreements aim to open up markets in the Southern hemisphere somewhat to European products and cause considerable de-industrialisation and a big fall in tax revenues.
The third part of the book sheds light on the health and environment consequences of unfair relations between countries in the Northern and Southern hemispheres in the light of intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical industry and the relocating of extremely polluting industries which, explains Sandrine Rousseau, only aggravates the situation of the most vulnerable populations. The chapters in the fourth part of the book look at conditions whereby it would be possible to reduce the strong inequality and asymmetry prevailing today, and the fifth section of the book looks at the social dimension, stressing the necessary implication of social stakeholders in policies to cut inequality. The final section looks at two ways of promoting autonomous development in two essays not exactly overflowing with optimism. But then, does our world really inspire optimism?
(MT)
*** ANTONIO GARCIA VELASQUEZ, PIERRE GEVAERT, FRANCOIS HOUTART, THIERRY LAUREYS, HERVE LE MEUR, RICCARDO PETRELLA: Agriculture, développement durable et mondialisation. Colophon Editions (25 rue Gratès, B-1170 Brussels. E-mail: essais@colophon.be - Internet: http://www.colophon.be ). "Essais" series. 2006, 104 pp. ISBN 2-930254-15-7.
The authors of this book are politically committed figures who slam the impact of globalisation in their essays, which they believe is responsible for regression in terms of development, for farmers at least. The tone is set right from the start by Riccardo Petrella calling for 'ungrowth' in globalisation, slamming the power of enterprise, capital and the market which prevails under globalisation and commenting that only an energetic, systematic and permanent struggle against this globalisation will allow agriculture to be preserved for the future which respects everyone's right to life. The former high-ranking official at the European Commission says we should drop the idea that farm products are destined for export and admit that this is the priority which is its logic. In his view, the important thing is to reinvent local cooperative farming in a framework of inter-regional and international cooperative farming among several regions or countries. Thierry Laureys slams the devastating impact of European farm subsidies and the most recent 'pseudo-reform' of the Common Agricultural Policy, along with the other great heresy, the ideology of low prices being profitable for all, an idea pursued by the massive marketing industry. This Belgian ecologist calls for an EU directive to make supermarkets responsible for prices that reflect proper remuneration, along the lines of what is found in the wine and cheese industries, to stimulate sustainable agriculture and, more importantly, to smash once and for all the trend to move back towards agricultural productivism. Other essays look in the same spirit at natural farming, GMOs and patenting life.
(MT)
*** WALTER LEAL FILHO, ARNOLDS UBELIS, DINA BERZINA (Eds.): Sustainable Development in the Baltic and Beyond. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 37617217 - Fax: 3171727 - e-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Environmental Education, Communication and Sustainability" series, No. 23. 2006, 611 pp. ISBN 3-631-55282-3.
Talking about integration in sustainable development means connecting up a large number of pretty heterogeneous areas, requiring a wide range of skills, like those of the 200 experts attending a conference on integration to stimulate sustainable development, upon which this book is based. The first section takes a general approach to the challenges of measuring the 'sustainability' of a system like the economy which, Prof. Spangenberg explains, is part of a whole whose level of complexity is beyond the scope of current economic theories, the role of industrial technology in producing sustainable energy and the impact of policy in this field, and application of the concept of zero emissions in an industrial production process (the car industry). The second part, the central focus on the book, comprises some two dozen essays studying the Baltic region (which can usually be generalised) and considering issues like policy for and implementation of sustainable development technologies. The book also contains summaries of the work of young researchers and essays on corporate social responsibility.
(FRo)
*** STEPHANE BÉCUWE: Commerce international et politiques commerciales. Armand Colin (Paris). "CIRCA" series. 2006, 254 pp, €20-35. ISBN 2-200-34485-6.
In this age of globalisation, international trade and the pitting of free trade ideas against protectionism take centre stage and influence the life of nations and individuals alike. The supporters of free trade and their foes, the supporters of protectionism, are often at daggers drawn with the fundamentals of both currents of thought often being lost in the background. Stéphane Bécuwe, professor at Bordeaux University in France and researcher in economic analysis and policies at CNRS, has written a book to refresh our memories and set things against the proper background. The first part of the book describes the classic theories of international trade, covering Adam Smith and his fellow theorists, and verification of these theories in the field. As the author points out, the theory of international trade is basically built up in layer upon layer of inter-dependent theory and coming first in time does not necessarily mean being inferior in terms of logic. All the same, these layers have shown their limits and the book describes later contributions providing, for example, better explanations of the role of product differentiation and imperfect market structures. The second part of the book looks at trade policies, asking whether we are seeing the end of free trade. The author answers in the negative by exposing the arguments of protectionism. Other chapters look at international mechanisms like the former GATT and the present WTO, trade policies in the nineteenth century, a century characterized for the most part by protectionism, contrary to popular belief, particularly in the United States. The book is rich in theories, mathematical economic formulae, statistical demonstrations and graphics. This is no doubt due to Stéphane Bécuwe's teaching skills. The book is not necessarily light-hearted, but provides the theoretical framework and information required to gain good understanding of international trade and trade policies.
(FRo)
*** NICOLAS THIRION (Ed.): Libéralisations, privatisations, régulations. Aspects juridiques et économiques des régulations sectorielles. De Boeck & Larcier (39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-10) 482500 - Fax: 482519 - E-mail: commande@deboeckservices.com - Internet: http://www.deboeck.com ). "Droit / Economie International" series. 2007, 282 pp, €65. ISBN 2-8044-2368-9.
Sectors which in the past were not subject to competition rules for non-commercial reasons (public interest or 'universal interest' in the EU's jargon) are these days becoming subject to market rules to an ever greater extent. Nevertheless, the non-commercial values underlying the exception have not disappeared. The authors of this book aim to feed debate on the regulatory mechanisms of industries, studying (in increasing order of importance in terms of the weight of non-commercial values) at the financial markets, telecoms, media and health. The book pays particular attention to highlighting mechanisms used to strike a degree of balance between economic and non-economic concerns through a comparative approach to French and EU law and economic elements. The application or re-application of market rules is carried out on the basis of arguments drawn from this very discipline.
(FRo)