Ethical Response to Marginalization in Globalization

Abstract

By all accounts Sub-Sahara-Africa is a forgotten region in the age of globalization. In order to illuminate the root causes of the current crises in Sub-Saharan-Africa this essay will examine exogenous and endogenous factors contributing to the marginalization of the region and offers an ethical critique of the present paradigm of globalization. Drawing upon the rich resources of Christian ethics this essay advocates a different kind of globalization, one which not only promotes economic growth but also affirms the values of human dignity, participatory justice, solidarity, and subsidiarity. This essay is written by an African whose theological perspective has been shaped and informed significantly by his own personal experiences , both the painful experience of feeling marginalized in our global village and the hope-filled experience of feeling spiritually empowered to help forge a new age of globalization that is more responsive to the needs of the poor and powerless.

Today, Sub-Sahara-Africa is in a sad state of affairs. The region has become a by-word for distress. News on Sub-Sahara-Africa is too often dominated by reports about warlords, massacres, refugees, drought, and famine. In a globalized world, Sub-Sahara-Africa goes more and more marginalized. The region is increasingly perceived as an entity that does not seriously matter as an actor in international affairs. Colonialism, Neocolonialism, the support of Western nations for repressive regimes in the Cold War, the creation of the debt trap, and the massive failure of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) imposed by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank have widely contributed to these crises.

For decades economic and development policies toward Sub-Saharan-Africa have not been carefully prepared, nor have they been fair. The outcomes of militant insistence upon free market ideology, rapid implementation of liberalization and privatization, and Structural adjustment programs (SAP) have been increased destitution and social conflict in many Sub-Sahara-African countries.

In his book Globalization and Its Discontents, Joseph Stiglitz argues that globalization has the potential to make poor nations better off, but only if proper policies are used and if each country’s history, culture and economy are taken into account. Poorly designed, one–size-fits-all, policies that do not involve the local population will lead to sociopolitical instability, reduce economic growth, and increase poverty.[1] Many African writers belong to the pessimistic camp that condemns the process of globalization as a force of destruction. In their eyes, globalization like slavery and colonialism is an oppressive system that denies the African people their right of economic and social independence, indeed, their right to life. While I understand their point of view, I recognize globalization’s potential for good and hope to shed light on ways in which its potential can be actualized.