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  Issue No 36 Official Organ of LaborNet 22 October 1999  

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Review

Bowing down before Globalzilla

By Nick Wailes - Department of Industrial Relations, University of Sydney.

It is my experience that books that have the word "globalization" in the title should be avoided at all costs.

Reading this book placed me in a very uncomfortable position. On the one hand, the title screamed "beware". It is my experience that books that have the word "globalization" in the title should be avoided at all costs. As one author recently proclaimed, globalization is "a multifaceted phenomenon and difficult to summarise". Which of course is a nice way of saying, "I don't know what the hell it is, but it can explain everything bad that happens to us and it sells books to boot". So it was with a great deal of trepidation that I approached this book subtitled, 'Australia and the Politics of Globalization'. The end result is that I find myself having to do something which does not come easily and which may never be repeated - say nice things about a book with the words globalization and Australia on the cover. What follows may seem a little clumsy - praise is not a natural form for me - but here goes!

This is a terrific book and I would recommend it to just about anybody wanting to understand how changes in the international economy are affecting Australia, how Australia has chosen to react to these changes and the alternatives that are available to the current dismal state of affairs. Roughly speaking, the first few chapters talk about what globalization is and what it isn�t; the next few talk about Australia�s policy reaction to the perceived threat of globalization and the consequences of this policy reaction; and the last part of the book examines the alternatives that are available. The first two sections are excellent. I am a bit "iffy" about the third, but compared to Mark Latham's recent Civilising Global Capital, the policy prescription is commendable. I will deal with each section in turn.

I think what makes this book so good is the liberal use of the question mark in the titles to chapters and sections. This is illustrated well in Chapter three - 'Transforming the Global Economy? Trade, Capital and Power in the Late Twentieth Century'. In the first part of the book, Wiseman's aim is to actually put some edges on the "multifaceted phenomenon" and provide an accessible picture of what has actually happened in the world economy and how this impacts of Australia. He makes two very worthwhile points: one, that the underlying forces driving economic activity haven't basically changed; and two, that the way in which these forces are structured, and therefore the way they could potentially impact on a country like Australia, has changed in important ways. This is a much better approach to globalization than the standard view which is that a bolt of lightning from out of the blue has produced some mutant monster (Globalzilla) and that we are helpless before it.

In the second part of the book, Wiseman shows that the reaction of Australian policy makers has been by and large to treat the challenges of globalization as insurmountable and to systematically abrogate responsibility for providing decent social outcomes. Wiseman makes a distinction between the soft love (Labor) and the hard love (Liberal) versions of this abrogation, but correctly notes that the overall effects have been pretty much the same. In a good straightforward overview (Chapters 4 and 5), he summarises the major changes in economic and social policy, explains how they are connected to the desire to increase 'national competitiveness' and maps their perverse and disastrous consequences.

The overwhelming picture you get is that these policies have been singularly unsuccessful in all but one regard. They have helped accelerate and exacerbate the growth of inequality, thereby helping to systematically disenfranchise a large percentage of the population. This is certainly the Australia that I live in and it is refreshing, but no less lamentable, to see it accurately depicted in a book about Australian �politics�. Furthermore, Wiseman does not depict the inequality as the unavoidable aftermath of the ravages of Globalzilla, for which no one is to blame, but rather treats it as the obvious consequences of policies deliberately chosen by policy makers who found it �all too difficult to cope with�. For this he is to be congratulated.

In the last part of the book, Wiseman bravely confronts the handmaiden of Globalzilla, TINA (Thatcher�s famous retort - �there is no alternative�), which is largely responsible for the increasingly unequal society in which we live. He sets himself the task of outlining what the alternatives are and how they are to be achieved. The charitable amongst you will find in the last few chapters some interesting ideas which could be developed into a useful program. All I can really find is a plea for action and a call to arms, which is not really an fully fleshed out alternative to my way of thinking. Much of this section reminds me of reading a self help book on self discovery - enough said.

Nevertheless, if you compare the alternatives laid out in this book with those spelt out by Latham, the contrast couldn't be more stark. Wiseman calls for grass roots political action and mobilisation across a range of social, environmental and political issues. Latham calls for further abandonment of the social democratic legacy to accommodate and tame Globalzilla. The differences between the two reflect the differences in their understandings of how we got where we are now- Latham�s is wrong, Wiseman�s promising.

Let me conclude by (again) noting the importance of the question mark in 'Global Nation?' This book provides the basis on which to question the inevitability of the current state of affairs in Australia. I hope that it is widely read and discussed.

John Wiseman, Global Nation? Australia and Politics of Globalization, Cambridge University Press, 1998. $24.95.

This review first appearwed in Worksite


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*   Issue 36 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: When All�s Not WEL
Suzanne Hammond explains how the federal government�s decision to cut off funding to the Womens� Electoral Lobby wil impact on all women.
*
*  Republic: The Great Constitutional Swindle
In an upcoming book, Peter Botsman argues the blanding out of Australian consitutional history is one of the big barriers to the Republican cause.
*
*  Unions: Beaten by the Clock
Ron Callus from ACIRRT counts the social cost of increased working hours.
*
*  International: Pakistan Military Urged to Protect Workers' Rights
The ICFTU is urging General Pervez Musharraf, who yesterday seized power in a military coup, to take urgent steps to ensure a return to constitutional rule in the shortest possible time.
*
*  History: How the Cunning Fox Survived
Len Fox recently turned 94. He celebrated the event by sending out copies of his latest publication to friends; a booklet of his selected pencil and crayon sketches since 1925, with autobiographical commentaries.
*
*  Satire: Direct Electionists to Keep Voting No
Pro-direct election republicans who plan to vote �no� in the upcoming referendum have announced plans to extend their approach to every future election held in Australia.
*
*  Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
Read the latest issue of Labour review, a resource for union officials and students.
*
*  Review: Bowing down before Globalzilla
It is my experience that books that have the word "globalization" in the title should be avoided at all costs.
*

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