sadf report final.docx

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Development Serving the Global Common Good

Civil Society Dialogue Forum for South Asia

Mumbai, ! " September #$%

DAY 1- 22/09/2014

The civil society dialogue forum in South Asia on, Development serving the global common

good, commenced on the 22nd September 201! The South Asian dialogue forum held in

"umbai #as third in the series of si$ regional civil society dialogue forums! %irst being held in

&ima, 'eru and second in "almesbury, South Africa! This dialogue forum #as organi(ed by, The)avier *nstitute of Social +esearch Action -)*S+. "umbai, *ndia/ #ith "*S++ -Aachen,

ermany/ and the *nstitute for Social and Development Studies -*'. "unich, ermany/ in

"umbai!

The session began #ith introduction of the participants present from different countries of the

South Asian region, follo#ed by a brief presentation by eorge Stoll highlighting the genesis,

frame#or3, ob4ective and general structure of this pro4ect! The main purpose of the pro4ect being

to promote a shared vision of, 5a global common good6, reconcile development #ith the progressof the poor, 7uestioning the conception of development understood as material progress alone

and understanding the civil society6s conception of a 5good life6, among others!

The follo#ing session began #ith group discussions! The participants groups reflected on the

7uestions of, #hat constitutes a good life! -As development #as understood as people6s

aspiration for a good life/ 8hat are the factors that help or hinder people in pursuing a good life9

A fe# things that emerged from the group discussion #ere:

The idea of a good life is a sub4ective and a relative concept! ;onception of a good life ho#ever

necessitates that individuals at least have access to basic resources, socio


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pro4ected good life as more and more capital accumulation, resulting in increased consumption

of goods and services often #hich are not essential but pro4ected indispensable for a living! This

conception of a good life understood as material o#nership is not 4ust popular but e7ually

problematic often promoted by the media and corporate ne$us! %urthermore this conception of

good life is neither sustainable ecologically -Depletion of resources, increase in carbon and >

emissions, climate change/ or socially -as a fe# sections #ere completely left out from this

model of development/! ?uestions #ere raised as to, 5ho# much is enough69 Should the

overnment through la#s regulate the consumption habits of individuals to offset the negative

impacts -$: "a3ing fuel or cars e$pensive/ or should there be conscious voluntary effort on the

part of the individuals9 r maybe a combination of the t#o #ould help9 Some argued that

government regulation #ould not be effective as that #ould go against the individual autonomy

or choice most liberal democracies of the #orld guarantee their citi(ens! All the more those

people in emerging economies #hich have 4ust got a taste of good life may not tolerate such

e$ternal interventions!

There #ere t#o field trips organi(ed in order to gauge #hat constitutes people6s aspirations of a

good life! To that effect the first field trip #as organi(ed in a village at the foothill of lephanta

caves!

DAY 2 23/09/2014

Field &rip ' ! (lephanta

Appro$imately 200 families lived in these villages, mainly belonging to the Agri


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means, not 4ust protecting the caves or architecture but the surrounding nature, people and their

livelihood!

B Access to drin)ing *ater< The drin3ing #ater is available at the caves -about 120 steps above

ground level/! 8omen do the hard #or3 of carrying utensils to and fro! "oreover, there are legal

snags to any development in the caves in order to pull #ater do#nhill as it is an archeological

heritage site!

B (lectricity< The *sland, #hich is an hour a#ay from the "umbai city, gets only three hours of

po#er supply each day i!e! pm to 10 pm #hile the city of "umbai en4oys a 2;/ in the village! There have been

instances of fatalities because sna3e bite and a case of pregnant #omen having delivered in the

ferry en


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B -aste ManagementE The place #as littered #ith plastic and other debris! The locals had not

ta3en any initiative to address the issue of litter or garbage! 'articipants emphasi(ed on the need

on (ero


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socially conscious managers and administrators! ther pressing issue being that of

commerciali(ation of education, popularity of private education to that 'ublic Schools!

B Gation< states need to come together< +egional ;oalition of governments to address the

challenge at regional level #as proposed!

B Ge# indices to measure development: %rom D' as indicator of gro#th to other indicators

#hich ta3e into consideration income along #ith 7uality of human life! Got necessary to limit to

only those indicators that could be 7uantified! *mportantly, bringing in ecology, community at the

heart of re


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ma4ority -the proponents and supporters of economic model of development/! ut at the same

time, participants more or less agreed that central democratic polity should still be the final

decision ma3ing authority citing that the Gs and ;Ss are mostly elite formations and should

not be in deciding positions!

The subse7uent 7uestion of 5ho# do #e change6 is e7ually important! During the sessions certain

3ey arguments emerged! ne of them #as that, ho# do #e identify ourselves9 Selfuman Development *nde$ ->D*/ etc! can be added to the D'!There #as emphasis

on increased developing a mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability of the

activities of states, corporations, G6s, ;S6s and other sta3e holders! +adical reforms to

regulate private businesses and corporate need to be instituted as the concept of ;orporate Social

+esponsibility -;S+/ alone cannot serve the purpose! ;orporate reforms in order to ma3e #or3er

sta3eholders #as proposed! Also, Ge# e$periments in financial lending, #ith a change in interest

based lending model needs to be e$plored! The prevalent electoral system, first


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the ;ho#3, a coastal village #hich has predominant fishing community! The village community

also faces the ris3 of health ha(ards due to heaps of garbage being dumped each day! The

agitation against dumping (one started in 200! There #as a sustained movement of resistance by

the locals against the dumping activities! *n 200J, villagers stopped ";" garbage truc3s! The

police intervened and resorted to lathicharge, it also used acid gas to scatter the agitators!

The local politicians= councilors are in a #ay protecting the dumping (one and are co


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ta3ing up people6s cause even at the ris3 of facing bac3lash from the state and also

ac3no#ledged the po#er faith based organi(ations possess! At the same time, some participants

#ere critical of the paternalistic role played by the church and the lac3 of inter


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'2 olitics, Governance and 3ustice

+egional disparity=ine7uality often blamed on geography but it is actually perpetuated due to the

lac3 of initiative from the political leadership sometimes rooted in the very political culture of

the place. a bac3#ard region is often characteri(ed #ith a 5sub4ect6 political culture! Lote

ban3ing and politics of patronage is a ma4or hindrance as it often instigates populism and ignores

long term policy initiatives! 'ositives of regionalism are fre7uently countered by po#erful

neighbours #ith motives of establishing hegemony over the region! The rising dominance of

businessA", %*;;*, ;** have lobbied for patronage and support

from the state6s policy interventions! The doctrine of 'ublic


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'''2 Financial Systems

;orporate leaders have been e$ploitative of ba3ing systems as they fre7uently indulge in

siphoning of money from ban3s! *nformal financial systems li3e pa#n shops #ho charge

e$orbitant interest rates could be lin3ed to formal financial systems #here investors pitch in

money! The +ight to *nformation Act passed in 200C has institutionali(ed a citi(en


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52 Media

'atterns of media o#nership is fast changing #ith American style 5grand media corporations6

controlling almost all segments of media and o#ning huge sta3es in various other industries!

Today mass


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"igration, #hich is both forced -due to #ar, ethnic cleansing, natural calamity or human

traffic3ing/ and voluntary is becoming a ma4or challenge and concern for nations in the #orld!

*mproved &abor la#s, protection of migrant6s rights, steps to prevent rain Drain from

developing to developed nations, calls for co


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There is a need for publishing of material on alternative development discourses! oo3s and

other forms of literature should be made available to students at cheaper rates! -thoda add 3arava

lagel/

&astly, along #ith sharing our common suffering there #as an e7ual emphasis on sharing the

success stories, ideas that have transformed the #orld!

sadf report final.docx

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