Global rules, local rulers

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Abstract

The project Global Rules, Local Rulers is a very welcome initiative from the Carnegie UK Trust to reinvigorate discussion, capacity building, and mobilisation in civil society around questions of global economic governance. The global economy and the rules that govern it have far-reaching implications for welfare, equity, sustainability and democracy in Britain today. Yet UK civil society activism on issues such as global finance, trade, production and investment remains modest in relation to the stakes at hand, and many activists struggle with the issues in a rapidly changing global economic policy environment. The challenge then is to encourage more sustained, more informed and more influential civil society mobilisation in Britain on these matters.

The initial Global Rules, Local Rulers survey research and report have usefully identified key issues in UK public perceptions of global economic governance. Building on this promising start, this follow-up report addresses a broader scope of global economy (i.e. beyond trade) and its governance (i.e. beyond well-known intergovernmental institutions such as the World Trade Organisation). It is also important to enlarge notions of citizen activism on global economic issues beyond non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to cover other types of citizen groups, including more informal social movements. In addition, domestic activism within Britain is often closely connected with wider international mobilisations.

Furthermore, it is crucial to understand the dynamics of this activism: why, how and with what consequence it happens. Factors that trigger civil society mobilisations include levels of economic literacy, resource availabilities, accessibility of relevant governance institutions, and tipping points of grassroots frustration. Once activism is underway its sustainability is largely a function of communications networks, coalitions, and relations of civil society groups with other sectors (e.g. business, government and media). Combinations of these forces to stimulate and sustain mobilisation in turn determine whether or not the activism makes an impact, and of what kind.

The Carnegie UK Trust and other civil society organisations can apply the framework of thinking developed in the present report: (a) in commissioned research on concrete experiences of UK citizen engagement of global economic governance; and (b) in capacity development activities such as workshops, short courses, web-based information, and school curricular materials.

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