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World Conference on Racism: Asking the Real QuestionsAuthor(s): Samir AminReviewed work(s):Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 49 (Dec. 8-14, 2001), pp. 4523-4524Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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7/28/2019 2001 World Conference on Racism_Asking the Real Questions

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W o r l d Conference

o n Racism

Askingthe RealQuestions

A breathof revival was clearly palpable at the worldconferenceonracismat Durbanarisingfrom the solidarity of the Afro-Asianpeoples attending t. The success of the conferencewas thatthe

Africanand Asiangovernmentshave beenmindfulof whatclearlyare theprevailingviews of their ownpeople

SAMIRAMIN

T he ignificance of the World Con-

ference against Racism lies in the

new prospects that it has opened.

A breath of revival was clearly palpablein Durban arising from the solidarity of

the Afro-Asian peoples attending. In fact,a renewal of this solidarity is one of the

essential, or rather fundamental, condi-

tions for building a more equitable form

of globalisation than the present system,which the G7, led by its North American

boss, wants to impose on the peoples of

theplanetby every meanspossible includ-

ing extreme violence.

During the 1990s, the United Nations

initiated a series of global conferences

addressingsome of the majorproblems ofour time ('poverty', population, children,

women, and the environment, among

others). It also introduced a new way of

holding conferences at two levels simul-

taneously: official meetings at govern-ment level and,at the same time, meetingsof delegates from 'civil' society. Until

then,the dominantestablishment, namely,the US, workingthroughthe World Bank

(in its role as a kind of ministry of pro-

paganda for the G7) and through the UN

bureaucracy,hadeffectively controlledthe

statements of this 'civilsociety'.

With

financial inducements and by manipulat-

ing a majorityof NGOs - so naive, to putit mildly, as to subscribe to the dominant

system's motions - they were able to void

the impact of the demands and declara-

tions of the peoples the NGOs were sup-

posed to have represented.The Durban conference - the last in the

cycle - had been concocted on the same

patternthat had worked for the US in the

past.Protestsagainst'racism' and all forms

of 'discrimination' had been worded so

as to make them meaningless: govern-ments and NGOs attendingtheconference

were invitedto confess their sins in chorus

and express regrets about the surviving

'vestiges' of discrimination against 'in-digenous peoples', 'non-Caucasian races'

(to use the official parlance of the US),women and 'sexual minorities'. The rec-

ommendations that had been prepared n

advance were painless and based on the

North American faith in legalism, that is,

that problems can be solved throughleg-islation. Theunderlyingcauses of advance

were painless and based on the North

American faith in legalism, that is, that

problems can be solved through legisla-tion. The underlying causes of the'major

forms of discrimination, direct results ofthe social and international inequality

producedby thelogic of globalised liberal

capitalism, were left out of the originaldraft.

But at Durban the massive number of

participating African and Asian

organisations, bent on asking the real

questions, stood intheway of this strategyof Washington and its cronies. Racism

and discrimination in all its forms are not

synonymous with the sum of criminal

behaviours sufferedbythehapless victims

of 'extreme' prejudice who, regrettably,continue to be found in large numbers and

in every society across the planet. Racism

anddiscriminationaregenerated,producedand reproduced by the logic and expan-sion of capitalism, as we know it, espe-

cially in its so-called liberal form. The

kind of globalisation imposed by domi-

nant capitalism and its henchmen (withthe governments of the Triad in the lead)can only result in 'apartheidon a globalscale'.

I have summarised the main strategy

adopted by the African and Asian

organisations attending the Druban con-

ference. Having sensed danger duringthe

heated discussions of the preliminary

committee, thegovernmentsof theG7 had

decided in advance to boycott the confer-

ence anddeclare its 'failure'. The African

and Asian delegates held out. According

to plan, they forced discussion of the two

topics that westerndiplomatsdid not want

to broach.

First, was the subject of 'reparations'for the devastation caused by the slave

trade. I use quotation marks because the

papers that were presented brought out

into the open the depth of the chasm

dividing the two sides. American and

Europeandiplomats labouredstrenuouslyto undermine the issue, reducing it, with

condescension and a touch of contempt,to a question of the 'amount' that these

'professional beggars' were claiming indamages. That is not how the African

delegates saw it. They did not see it as a

matterof 'cash' but ratherof acknowledg-

ing thatcolonialism, imperialism, andthe

slavery that they entailed, were largely

responsible for racism and the 'underde-

velopment' of the continent. These were

the motions that made therepresentativesof the western powers explode.

Second was the subject of Israel. Both

African and Asian delegates were clear

andprecise on this point, namely, that the

continuing colonialisation by Israelof theoccupied Territories, the eviction of Pal-

estinians in favour of Israeli settlers (ineffect nothing other than 'ethnic cleans-

ing'), and the planned 'bantustanisation'

of Palestine (Israel here applying down to

the last details the methods of South

Africa'sformerapartheid), llsimplymake

up the final chapter in a long history of

imperialism which is 'racist' by defini-

tion.

By withdrawing from the conference

withits faithfulally Israel,Americaopenly

declared its intent to sabotagetheproceed-ings. The Europeans stayed on though,

represented from lowergchelons of gov-ernment and, as we know, exerted every

pressurewithin theirmeans to corruptthe

most vulnerabledelegates. ('How much?'

was one of theways, asreportedby several

of those who were contacted in this re-

gard.)These efforts were not without success

at the official level of the conference and

the resolutions adopted by majority vote

Economic and Political Weekly December 8, 2001 4523

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toned down considerably the originalmotions,which hadbeen introducedbythe AfricanandAsianorganisations. hisis where the Durbanconferencewas asuccess - that the African and Asian

governments ad been mindful of what

clearlyare the prevailingviews of theirownpeoplewhonow wereprovoked venmorebythearrogancef thediplomats f

the west.The spirit of Bandunghas breathed

again.The 1955 Bandung conferencewhichsaw the tide of Afro-Asian olidar-

ity and of the Non-AlignedMovement

(non-alignedn liberal lobalisationhese

days) et nmotionafirstround f nationalliberationmovementswhich primedtheworldforcomingchanges.Whateverhelimitations f thesystemsarisingrom hisfirstphaseof independencerom mperi-alism,andwhatever he llusions heymayhaveinspired not unusual n history), t

was their decline which made possibledominant apital'scounter-offensive ndthe deployment f a new imperialismntheformof globalisation.Beforeoureyesa new wave is buildingof afarther-reach-

ingliberation.Durban as been oneof its

precursors.We shall no doubtsee othersin future.

BecauseDurban onstituted people'svictory, the whole G7 propagandama-

chineryhasbeenputto work odisparageits significance.It is very disappointingthatthedominantmediahave not under-

stood this. Even more that they parrotwhatever heUS andIsraelwantthemtobelieve.Atbest therehavebeen'reports'by journalistswho were not presentattheDurbanconference;but there alsohave beenoutright ies. Thetruth s thatnone of the texts coming out of theconference an be in anywaybe termed'anti-semitic'. t is timeto stop giving into this kindof blackmailwhichhas been

paralysingnycriticism, owever elevant,of Israel.

WithSeattle,Nice,Gothenburg,GenoaandPorto

Allegro,Durbanhas been one

of a chain of encouragingdevelopmentsat this time. Now is the moment for all

those, who justly condemn dominant

capital's neo-liberalglobalisationstrat-

egy, to understand hattheirsis a com-monstruggleand thatthe struggleof the

peoplesof the southagainst mperialismandthe hegemonyof the US is no less

importanthan hefightforjustice by the

underprivilegedwithin the developedcapitalist tatesthemselves.In the after-

mathof theattacks n thesymbolic argetsof New York'sfinancial centre and the

Pentagon,we must realise thattherecan

beno united rontagainst errorismwith-out a unitedfront against internationaland social injustice.1R1

N o F u l l S t o p s f o r t h e

NarmadaLife afterthe Verdict

A year aftertheNarmadaverdict,all presumptionsheld by thecourt has beenprovedwrong.Adivasiland and theirhouseshavebeenprogressivelysubmergedwithoutthemhavingbeen ullyresettled.In the ace of thegovernment'scontinued ndifference otheplight of the ousted,theNBAcontinues itsprotests,recentlycompellingtheMaharashtragovernment o set uptwo independentcommittees o assess issues of resettlementand the cost-benefitaspects of thedam.

SANJAY SANGVAI

n October 18,2001, exactly a yearafter the majority decision of the

SupremeCourt n the matterof the

SardarSarovarProject(SSP), thevillagersin the Narmada valley held rallies and

meetings and signature campaigns, to

protest against the verdict and declared

that their struggle for the justice and the

fundamental rights is still continuing. Onthat day, over 2,000 tribals from the

Maharashtra gathered at Dhadgaon (inNandurbar district) and questioned the

proprietyof the majority judgment, when

the state governments and the Narmada

ControlAuthority(NCA) tooadmitted hat

theresettlementupto 90 metres of the SSP

was not complete.

They pointedout thatthelatestdecisions

by the Maharashtra government, was a

clear admission of the illegalities inherent

in the continued construction of the dam.

OnSeptember 27, the 11th day of theindefinite fast by main activists of the

NarmadaBachaoAndolan(NBA), the state

government agreed to verify the total

number of oustees and the status of reha-

bilitation of Maharashtraoustees of the

SSP with the help of the NBA. It also

formally announced that in case the com-

mittee found that the oustees below 90

metres were notresettled, it would conveyto the NCA not to increase the present

height of the SSP. The state government

agreed to constitute a task force to verifythe status of resettlement in every SSP-

affected village inMaharashtra,withintwo

months, which include the officials and

the representatives of the NBA and the

Punarwasan Sangharsh Samiti (PSS).The government also agreed to set up

asecretary evel 'overview committee' and

a 'planning committee' on a ministerial

level to preparea master plan of resettle-

ment. No ex parteallotment of land wouldtake place hereafter.About the land rightsof the 73 villages in Akrani tehsil, the

governmentwould takeapositive approachand it would support the NBA's conten-

tion regardinggiving the landrights in the

Mumbai High Court.

It was the latest, though an indirect one,admission of thefailureof theresettlement

up to 90 metres of the dam and that there

have been major problems over this. This

admission is doubly important.Firstly, the

same Maharashtragovernment has been

filing theaffidavits atregular ntervals thatthere was no problem regarding the re-

settlement of the SSP oustees up to the

height of 110 metres. Secondly, based on

these affidavits and also by the state

governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat,

Madhya Pradesh and the union govern-ment, the Supreme Court, on October 18,

2000, by a majority udgment by the chief

justice Anand andjustice Kirpal, ordered

that the resumption of the work on the

dam. Itorderedthe immediatecompletion

4524 Economic and Political Weekly December 8, 2001

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