[P2P-F] Fwd: A World Political Party: The Time Has Come (GTN Discussion)

Sat Jan 5 11:18:37 CET 2019

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Great Transition Network <gtnetwork at greattransition.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 4, 2019 at 10:49 PM
Subject: A World Political Party: The Time Has Come (GTN Discussion)
To: <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>

>From Ronaldo Munck <ronnie.munck at dcu.ie>

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It is great to see Heikki articulating the case for a World Political
Party. As Paul says, if we disagree or have another option for an adequate
vehicle for global transformation, we should offer it up. While there is
not space to do that here, I will make a few points.

What we are offered or suggested is a new global political party, defined
as “an open ethico-political association in pursuit of a broad program of
societal reorganization on a global scale. A WPP offers the most promise
for fostering political coherence in civil society.”

What is suggested as a precursor is the Varoufakis-inspired European civil
society movement DiEM25 which “intends to have a draft constitution
prepared by 2025 that, if adopted, would replace all existing European
treaties. Beyond this process, the movement strives to overcome austerity
and harmful competition in Europe with concrete policy proposals, including
the dedication of 500 billion euros per year to green investment and
industrial conversion.”

What is immediately apparent to me is the mismatch between the enormity of
the tasks set and the relative lack of visibility of the vehicle proposed
to meet the challenges. You cannot just ignore the current political party
set-up, the state alliances, and the forces contesting them and just wish a
WPP into existence. Is it to be ‘beyond left and right’? The Third Way also
said that. Is to be transnational? Take a group of European intellectuals,
add Assange and Chomsky, and off we go?

To call this utopian thinking does not even begin to describe the
analytical and political problems emerging. There seems little strategic
notion of any sort to describe or think how we get from the here to where
we want to go.

For me, one of the underlying conceptual problems in this call is the
reliance on the notion of global civil society, which I (and others) have
critiqued at length elsewhere (
www.researchgate.net/publication/225521084_Global_Civil_Society_Royal_Road_or_Slippery_Path
). Global civil society (GCS) in contemporary guise (See, for example, John
Keane's Democracy and Civil Society or Mary Kaldor's Global Civil Society:
An Answer to War) is based on universalist moral norms and values. This
normative vision owes much to the work of Habermas, in particular the
importance of communicative dialogue to fulfill the promise of the European
Enlightenment. Thus, GCS is an ideal or virtual space, quite distinct from
the actually existing civil societies around the world. This normative
space is characterized by non-instrumental dialogue and ethical principles.
It eschews all that smacks of self-interest and, of course, the merest hint
that force might play a role in progressive social change and
democratization. Reflecting its origins in Eastern European oppositional
discourse pre-1989, this view of GCS is deeply imbued with the notion of
“anti-politics,” the rejection of all state-oriented or party or mass
politics in favour of an ethical, moral, and individualistic conception of
the good politics.

I have no problem with that, but it is not a global perspective. It cannot
be the basis for a World Political Party because it does not reflect the
politics of the global South in any way. Think of the rise of Bolsonaro in
Brazil now and what it will mean for progressive forces (civil society if
you will) there. The struggle against this will be built by the trade
unions, peasant movements, and community organisations and by those seeking
to rebuild the Workers Party to make it fit for purpose again.

So, I am not against Heikki’s project -- how could anyone? -- but I would
just like to point out that it does not travel well in the parts of the
world where struggle is raw.

Ronaldo Munck

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Thursday, January 3, 2019

>From Paul Raskin <praskin at tellus.org>

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Dear GTN,

Our 2018 forums have spotlighted key movement streams (with more in the
queue for 2019). We have generated a remarkable compendium of essays and
commentary that stands as a unique resource for understanding the vitality
and diversity of progressive forces now at play. Significantly, the series
affirms the fundamental GT premise that different oppositional paths can
lead to a shared conviction: we must urgently act collectively for global
transformation.*

Yet, the nagging sense persists that the current array of movements remains
too fragmented and weak for the task of systemic change. The political
culture still lacks an overarching global organizing framework for
nurturing synergy, mobilizing the discontented, and spreading new social
visions – not to mention serving ultimately as an instrument for attaining
public power.

What might such a framework look like? The question brings me to our
January discussion. Heikki Patomäki offers an answer in his new essay, “A
World Political Party: The Time Has Come.” Heikki envisions a World
Political Party (WPP) as a transnational association dedicated to
democratic principles and processes that, under an umbrella of shared
principles and aims, spawns a vast network of semiautonomous nodes at all
levels. While noting the high hurdles to establishing a WPP, Heikki points
to the deepening world crisis that compels the attempt and makes success
plausible; indeed, he believes an important precursor has already been
launched.

What do you think? Please read the essay at
www.greattransition.org/publication/world-political-party, and let us know.
Does the idea of a WPP resonate? How would you modify Heikki’s conception?
To those of you pursuing other approaches to fostering movement coherence,
this would be a terrific time to tell us about them.

Since we’re starting late, the discussion will go through Monday, February
4.

Over to you,
Paul

* See the framing paper that kicked off this series at
www.greattransition.org/publication/how-do-we-get-there.

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