Other than the European Union, Europe is tight for cosmopolitans. Zygmunt Bauman, Noam Chomsky, Roberto Saviano, Giacomo Marramao, Daniele Archibugi, Jacques Attali, Fernando Savater, are just some of the most famous names of the signatories of the Manifesto for a Global Democracy. That is, intellectuals and academics who ask for a greater political involvement and commitment worldwide. Today the movement will begin a session of press conferences entitled "Intellectuals from all over the planet call on global leaders and citizens of the world to build a Global Democracy". The first appointment is scheduled for June 27 at the London School of Economics, while in September they will arrive in Italy, in Rome, and then in Buenos Aires, New York, Brussels, Tokyo and New Delhi.
The project of the Movement, which may seem futuristic if not utopian, emphasizes the values that can be considered global and shared by people who have very different origins and ideological beliefs. Daniel Archibugi, manager of the National Research Center (Cnr) and one of the founders of the Movement, reminds FIRSTonline that "as old Keynes said, sometimes ideas win out over vested interests. Today we are talking about Eurobonds, the Tobin Tax and greater democratic control of the European institutions, things that were unimaginable even just 10 years ago”. Global democracy and pluralist engagement is the only way to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century that the figures at the top of world powers have been unable to handle properly. “They won't be easy-to-digest proposals,” admits Archibugi, “but global politics is unpredictable and, especially in times of uncertainty like the one we are experiencing, new ideas are needed, because the old ones are in the ditch of the crisis”.
Next year, participation in Global Democracy will be open to non-governmental organizations, social movements, political parties and cultural leaders and anyone interested. For this purpose, Democracia Global (the Movement for South American Union and the World Parliament), is preparing an online platform that will allow anyone to register and become part of the Network to actively participate in the project.
We report the essential features of the The Manifest:
- Politics is late. The economy has been globalized but this has not been the case for political institutions and democracy. Despite their differences, peculiarities and limitations, the protests that are sweeping the world today show a growing unease with the way decisions are made, with the existing forms of representation and their scarce ability to defend common goods, and they express the need for more democracy and a better democracy.
- The welfare and security of the world are under threat. The national/inter-national order created after the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall has not been able to manage the great progress of production systems for the benefit of all humanity. On the contrary, regressive and destructive processes are underway resulting from the economic and financial crisis, the widening of social inequalities, global warming and nuclear proliferation which threaten world peace and the survival of human civilization.
- Global crises require global solutions. For this reason we demand the urgent creation of new global agencies specialized in disarmament, stable, equitable and sustainable development, and environmental protection, and the rapid implementation of forms of global democratic governance on all the problems that the current leaders inter- governments have proved incapable of solving.
- We must move towards new, deeper and broader forms of democracy. We need a new globally sustainable development paradigm aimed at satisfying the needs of the poorest and most defenseless members of humanity. National-state organizations must be part of a larger and better coordinated structure, which should articulate regional democratic institutions on all continents, the reform of the International Court of Justice, a fairer and more equitable International Criminal Court, and a Parliamentary Assembly of United Nations, embryo of a future World Parliament.
- Globalizing democracy is the only way to democratize globalization. Beyond the differences on the contents and methods suitable for advancing towards a more just and stable world order, the undersigned signatories share a resolute commitment to the development of a global democracy. In the name of Peace, Justice and Human Rights we do not want to be governed on a global level by those who have been chosen to do so only on a national level, nor by international bodies that do not adequately represent us. This is why we work for the establishment of supranational political spaces.
- We invite all human beings to participate in building a global democracy. We vindicate our right to participate in the global decisions fundamental to our lives. We want to be citizens of the world and not just its inhabitants. Therefore we demand democracy not only at the local and national level, but also a global democracy, we commit ourselves to work for its development and we call on all political, intellectual and civil leaders of the world, all organizations, parties and movements, and all people of democratic convictions of the planet to actively participate in its constitution.
To find out more go to the site Global Democracy
