Pablo Solon

2014
Systemic Alternatives

Abstract: What is Deglobalization? To answer that question, we must first be clear on our definition of globalization. Dr. Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan has compiled around one hundred definitions of globalization in his paper, “Definitions of Globalization: A Comprehensive Overview and a Proposed Definition.”1 The majority tend to define the term as a process of worldwide integration at different levels (social, economic, cultural, and in terms of infrastructure, communications, ideas, worldviews, etc.). In this regard, globalization is a process of increasing interdependence and integration toward a world society. Taking as a reference these definitions of “globalization,” the common approach to “deglobalization” is that it is a “process of diminishing interdependence and integration between certain units around the world, typically nation-states.”2 In other words, “deglobalization” would be a call to isolation or to revert from the increasing integration of the world. The concept of deglobalization that we will use in this text departs from a very different definition of globalization. Walden Bello, founder of Focus on the Global South, who coined the term “deglobalization” in 2001, has described globalization as “the accelerated integration of capital, production and markets globally, a process driven by the logic of corporate profitability.” Systemic Alternatives is a initiative that aims to build an interactive dialogue to deepen the analysis and strengthen the alternatives that are being developed by grassroots movements and thinkers to overcome the capitalist system. Our goal is to compile information about key alternatives such as vivir bien (“living well”), the commons, degrowth, deglobalization, ecosocialism, the solidarity economy, ecofeminism, food sovereignty and others, and to produce a constructive debate about their strengths, weaknesses, limitations and contradictions. We examine systemic alternatives in a holistic way, focusing on various dimensions, including: the environment, economy, inequality, cultural diversity, gender, and discrimination. 

Keyword(s): Deglobalization ; Understanding ; Deconstruction ; Principles ; Alternatives ; Economy of life ; Debate ; Delegitimize ; WTO ; TTIP ; TTP ; FTAA ; TNC ; Global South ; Globalization ; North-south ; Latin America ; Localization