19th January: Biting back

19 January 2004

Catching up

Today I've been finding out about some impacts of corporate globalisation on India. As usual, it's the already marginalised sections of society that are hit worst.

Dalits

Dalits are widely regarded as inferior by the rest of the Indian population. They usually do the most menial and degrading jobs. Historically, they have been subject to appalling levels of abuse and repression.

Now corporate globalisation threatens to further erode their labour rights, work opportunities and access to basic services like health and education.

Dalits are an extreme example of the way people are excluded from decision making all over the world. It's good to see they have strong representation at the WSF.

Agriculture and the WTO

Via Campesina meeting

Friends of the Earth has been linking up with the powerful international peasants' movement Via Campesina to talk about agriculture and globalisation.

Over the past 4 years, around 10,000 farmers and other producers have committed suicide because the impossibility of their situations and the undermining of their livelihood by free trade.

Biting back against the
WTO

Now the WTO is posing a new threat to food sovereignty - which includes the right of a country to grow enough food to feed its people.

We've been making our own small contribution to the agriculture debate by collecting signatures for our Bite Back campaign to stop the US forcing GM food on us via the WTO.

Rough and ready?

There are some criticisms of the WSF - including the alternative forum Mumbai Resistance - and not everyone can agree on what it's for and who it should represent.

But it's amazing to experience so many people participating in debates about issues that affect them.

True democracy might be messy and sometimes frustrating, but it's certainly exciting, incredibly rousing and definately worth the effort.

Love,

Hannah

Hannah Griffiths, our Corporates Campaigner is sending daily updates direct from the WSF in India.