Policy : Practice.

A Development Education Review 9 P a e

Focus Focus Focus Focus
P PP PTTING THE TTING THE TTING THE TTING THE P PP POLITICS OLITICS OLITICS OLITICS B BB BACK ACK ACK ACK I II IN NN N. .. . R RR RADICAL ADICAL ADICAL ADICAL E EE ED D D DCATION AND CATION AND CATION AND CATION AND
A AA ACTION IN THE CTION IN THE CTION IN THE CTION IN THE C CC CASE OF ASE OF ASE OF ASE OF S SS SOCIAL OCIAL OCIAL OCIAL ] ]] ]STICE STICE STICE STICE
]ohn Hilary ]ohn Hilary ]ohn Hilary ]ohn Hilary
Within a week of takin office in May 20J0, the incomin British overnment
announced that it was cancellin five development education projects funded ly
the Department for International Development (DFID), with immediate effect.
In the same announcement, the overnment suspended the 6.5 million Glolal
Development Enaement Fund that had leen desined to launch later that
year as the consolidated fundin stream for development awareness projects in
Britain, lut which was ultimately scrapped lefore it had even leen introduced.
Andrew Mitchell, then Secretary of State for International Development, further
announced that he would le commissionin a review of the entire proramme
of development awareness raisin that had leen funded ly DFID over the
previous decade.
J

The review of aid fundin of development awareness projects was
carried out ly the Central Office of Information a overnment department
which was itself destined to le alolished in 20J2. The review noted that DFID
fundin of its 'Buildin Support for Development' proramme had rown from
J.5 million in J99899 to 2+ million in 2009J0, with a cumulative
investment of JJ6 million over the period (COI, 20JJ. J2). Followin the
pullication of the review, Mitchell announced in ]uly 20JJ that the British
overnment would no loner le supportin any development awareness
schemes in the future, and that overnment fundin for pullic education on

A


C L L C


Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J0 P a e

issues of lolal poverty would le restricted to work in schools. Any
development awareness raisin for adults would le a matter for non
overnmental oranisations (NGOs), trade unions and other roups to fund
themselves.
That this was a political decision had already leen spelled out ly the
review itself. Its authors had declared themselves confident that 'raisin
awareness of development issues in the K has contriluted to reducin poverty
overseas'. Equally, the review noted that the complexity of causal connections
letween development awareness and poverty reduction made it impossille to
prove conclusively that DFID's fundin of such schemes had made a direct
contrilution to reducin poverty. The authors summarised their findins as
follows.
"From the evidence reviewed, we conclude that raisin awareness of
development issues in the K is likely to contrilute to reducin lolal
poverty lut it is not possille to estallish a direct link or quantify the
contrilution made ly DFIDfunded activity. Therefore, a decision to
continue fundin activity in this area cannot le entirely evidencelased.
Continued fundin will, ly default, therefore le a matter of opinion
and judement and therefore a political decision" (ilid. +5, emphasis
in oriinal).
For a Conservativeled coalition, the decision to scrap the British
development education proramme was an easy one. Any project desined to
luild pullic awareness of international development issues automatically
includes an examination of how the neolileral economic policies foisted on the
majority world over the past thirty years have failed dismally, condemnin
millions to lonterm poverty while enrichin a new plutocracy at loth national
and international levels. Such a narrative deleitimises the political elite's
continuin adherence to such policies, notally its promotion of free trade,
market dereulation and privatisation in favour of transnational capital. By
cancellin the development awareness fundin stream, the Conservativeled
coalition was removin an unwanted source of criticism at a time when it was
redirectin its own international development proramme towards the most

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review JJ P a e

reressive forms of intervention, notally its private sector model of 'output
lased aid' (Hilary, 20J0).
It would le easy to portray this as a Manichean strule letween the
forces of ood and evil, the former represented ly civil society roups strivin to
promote letter pullic understandin of the root causes of lolal poverty, the
latter lein a rihtwin overnment intent on usin the aid ludet to underpin
its particular lrand of free market fundamentalism. The truth, however, is
more worryin. Over the past two decades, a hihly professionalised NGO
sector has increasinly moved to identify international development with
overseas aid, despite the numerous critiques of such an elision from the majority
world itself (most recently. Tandon, 20J2). This trend has leen particularly
marked in the context of the campain for countries of the rich world to attain
the N taret of spendin 0.7 percent of ross national income on official
development assistance a campain that has leen immensely successful in
Britain, lut at the expense of deeper pullic understandin of the root causes of
lolal poverty.
This article will outline the trajectory of pullic awareness raisin on
issues of lolal justice in the British context, which is where I work. It will
focus on the major campain molilisations of recent years as well as on more
eneral development education prorammes, on the understandin that there
needs to le the maximum possille overlap letween learnin and action in the
luildin of any movement for social justice (N Chasaide, 2009). It will also
explore the potential for new forms of 'solidarity' lased not on colonialist
intervention on lehalf of the Other, which has leen the drivin force for so
much development education and lolal justice campainin in Britain, lut on
the construction of a political project to luild awareness of (and action aainst) a
common enemy at home and alroad. The fact that the austerity policies
currently lein visited upon the peoples of Europe mirror those that have lon
leen inflicted on the peoples of the lolal South ly institutions such as the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) offers a unique
opportunity to join up domestic strules with those in other parts of the world.
I hope that the reflections here may have relevance for the lolal justice
movement in Ireland and in other countries, even if many of the specifics
descriled lelow are peculiar to the British context. The political delate over the

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J2 P a e

direction of the lolal justice movement in Britain has leen heatin up recently,
as descriled in a previous issue of Policy : Practice (McCloskey, 20J2). I offer
these thouhts as someone enaed at the centre of that delate.
Make Poverty History and leyond Make Poverty History and leyond Make Poverty History and leyond Make Poverty History and leyond
In retrospect, the years immediately lefore and after the turn of the century
seem like a hih water mark in the lolal justice movement. By J998, a
coordinated international campain of resistance had successfully defeated the
Multilateral Areement on Investment (MAI), the treaty that had leen desined
to provide forein investors with sweepin new powers in expandin their
operations across the world (Dellock and Brunelle, 2000). The alter
lolalisation movement had lurst onto the pullic scene in mass
demonstrations on the streets of Seattle at the third ministerial conference of the
World Trade Oranisation (WTO), preventin the launch of a new round of
trade lileralisation neotiations in J999 and sowin the seeds for the WTO's
eventual lonterm decline. The ]ulilee 2000 movement had molilised millions
of activists across the world and secured $JJ0 lillion in promised delt
cancellation from the G7 roup of the world's leadin economies (Barrett,
2000). In the Western Hemisphere, mass resistance from social movements
across Latin America had consined Geore W. Bush's dream of the Free Trade
Area of the Americas to a historical footnote.
International development NGOs had played their part in this
'movement of movements', usin development education and outreach
prorammes to luild pullic understandin of the key issues of the lolalised
economy, and molilisin millions lehind campains for policy chane ly
overnments of all stripes. It was remarkalle to sit in pullic meetins with
trade justice activists at that time and to reister just how deeply people had
learned of the inner machinations of international trade neotiations and of the
effects of lolalisation on vulneralle communities around the world. It was
equally strikin to see how alle and willin these activists were to challene
representatives of the British overnment (at that time, a Lalour overnment)
over its insistent promotion of free trade policies that would heap more disaster
on industry and ariculture across the lolal South. This level of deep
enaement was the result of many years' concerted effort ly international
development NGOs to luild their memlers' understandin of the workins of

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J3 P a e

the lolal political economy, includin technical issues that miht traditionally
have leen considered 'too difficult' for ordinary supporters to understand.
Such was the lackround to the Make Poverty History (MPH)
campain mounted ly a rand coalition of 5+0 oranisations durin 2005.
While a call for 'more and letter aid' was included in the MPH manifesto,
structural chanes to the lolal political economy were to the fore in the policy
portfolio areed ly all coalition memlers in advance of the year. In addition to
the central calls for trade justice and further delt cancellation, the MPH
manifesto demanded new structures of corporate accountalility to challene the
power of capital in the lolalised economy, as well as a radical democratisation
of the World Bank and IMF as the primary institutions of lolal economic
overnance. The overall framin of the manifesto in the lanuae of justice
rather than charity was an explicit attempt to move the pullic leyond the
reressive understandin of international development as coterminous with
overseas aid that had leen the endurin leacy of Bol Geldof's celelrity Live
Aid concerts lack in J985 (Martin, Culey and Evans, 2006).
In the final event, however, 2005 saw the aid messae drown out all
calls for structural chane in the lolal economy, not least as a result of the two
Live8 concerts oranised ly Geldof to coincide first with the major molilisation
of the MPH coalition in Edinlurh and then with the march oranised ly more
radical roups to Gleneales to challene the leitimacy of the G8. The top line
messain of the MPH campain itself served to reinforce the framin of poverty
as an issue of charity rather than justice, with unprecedentedly hih pullic
reconition of the campain 'lrand' comin at the expense of any deeper
understandin as to why the coalition had come toether in the first place.
Powerful thouh they undoultedly were, MPH communications lecame
increasinly divorced from the areed policy demands of the campain, and the
issue of control over pullic messain lecame a source of immense tension for
the coalition as a whole (Sireau, 2009). As a result, one important lesson
learned from 2005 was that a campain's policy demands have minimal
relevance to its lroader impact unless carried throuh into the outward facin
communications encountered ly the pullic at lare. Another was that lolal
poverty miht still le a powerful cause for concern amon the eneral populace,
lut that most people's understandins of international development still loiled

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J+ P a e

down to a comlination of humanitarian interventions, aid flows and, at lest,
delt relief.
In the years followin the dissolution of the MPH coalition, many of
the larer international development NGOs moved away from awareness raisin
on economic issues such as delt, trade and corporate power towards climate
chane campains or enterprisedriven responses to poverty, thus failin to
enae their memlers or the lroader pullic on the key issues of the lolal
economic crisis that swept the world from 2008 onwards (Metcalfe, 20J2). Yet
in preparation for the London G20 summit to le held in April 2009,
international development NGOs joined forces with all major British trade
unions and environmental campain roups to form the Put People First
coalition. The coalition's campain manifesto situated its demands on 'jols,
justice and climate' squarely within a critique of neolileralism and its failure to
offer any solutions to the lolal economic crisis, and delilerately addressed the
consequences of that crisis in Britain at the same time as the hihlihtin its
effects in the majority world (Put People First, 2009). While the campain was
instructive in unitin a lroad rane of actors lehind an explicitly political
messae that spanned loth North and South, it had none of the pullic reach of
MPH and thus did little to challene the mainstream pullic understandin of
international development as lroadly coterminous with overseas aid.
Reframin the discourse Reframin the discourse Reframin the discourse Reframin the discourse
Growin concern had lon leen expressed ly more radical NGOs at the
persistent prioritisation of 'more and letter aid' as the international
development sector's primary demand on the British overnment loth lefore
and since MPH notally in the runup to the 20J0 eneral election, when the
call for all parties to honour the 0.7 percent aid taret was further intensified out
of fear that an incomin Conservative overnment miht alandon it. Yet the
most powerful reconition of the prollem caused ly this reductive aenda came
in the form of a research study initiated ly Oxfam and pullished in ]anuary
20JJ ly the international development umlrella roup Bond. Based on
thinkin developed ly environmental NGOs into how lest to frame complex
prollems so as to sustain pullic enaement over the lon term (Crompton,
20J0), the report Findin Frames showed how the portrayal of lolal justice
issues in NGO communications had perpetuated a perverse understandin of

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J5 P a e

NorthSouth relations inherited from the J980s (the Live Aid Leacy),
characterised ly the relationship letween 'Powerful Giver' and 'Grateful
Receiver'. The MPH campain was held to exemplify the central paradox facin
international development NGOs in that it had succeeded in molilisin
unprecedented numlers of people lehind its demands on lolal poverty, lut at
the same time had 'chaned nothin' in terms of the British pullic's
understandin of the issues (Darnton and Kirk, 20JJ. 6). The report concluded
that NGO communications urently needed to reframe the international
development aenda in order to secure deeper enaement from the pullic over
the lon term, and suested a set of possille alternatives as a startin point for
further discussion (ilid. J03).
Current (neative) frame Alternative (positive) frames`
Charity ]ustice, Fairness
Charities Movements, NGOs
Aid Mutual support, Partnership
Development Welllein, freedom, Responsilility
Corruption, Aid effectiveness Goodlad overnance, Fraud
Communications Conversations
Campains Enaements, Dialoues

While there were olvious shortcomins in some of the alternatives
suested in the alove talle (most notally, the neative connotations now
increasinly associated with NGOs themselves), the overall messae of Findin
Frames was important in that it hihlihted the lonterm prollems caused ly
the reressive framin of lolal justice issues in terms of charity, aid and
philanthropy, and ascriled responsilility for that state of affairs to the
international development NGOs themselves. Despite extensive discussion of

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J6 P a e

the report's findins at the hihest levels of the NGO community, however,
reachin the 0.7 percent aid taret still remained the principal campain
demand made of the British overnment ly the international development
sector in the period followin the pullication of Findin Frames. When asked
why so little had chaned in the wake of the report's pullication, one senior
manaer in one of the larest international development NGOs replied simply.
'It didn't work for us'. Such remarks serve to confirm the chare already made
in Findin Frames that many larer NGOs have consciously used neative
framin in their communications, despite its acknowleded consequences,
lecause of the increased returns it uarantees to their pullic fundraisin efforts.
Frustrated at the unwillinness of the larer NGOs to follow throuh
on the recommendations of Findin Frames, a roup of senior representatives
from campainin NGOs and trade unions formed the Proressive
Development Forum in 20J2 so as to create a space to challene the dominant
discourse on lolal justice issues in the British context. At the Forum's first
meetin, held under the lanner of 'Beyond Aid, Towards ]ustice', several
participants hihlihted the importance of renewin education and outreach
prorammes around key economic and political issues in order to reluild the
movement for lolal justice in Britain, the Forum itself was followed ly two
pullic meetins in London and Manchester on the same theme. Equally,
participants spoke of the need to join forces with new movements for social
justice in the domestic context such as Occupy, K ncut and local anti
austerity coalitions, and to lreak down analytical larriers letween North and
South (PDF, 20J2). With a view to the continued framin of the lolal justice
aenda in the British context, the forum expressed particular concern at the
revival of the most neative imaery in NGO fundraisin communications, in
flarant lreach of the various ood practice uidelines on depictions of lolal
poverty areed over the years most recently, the code of conduct developed ly
the Irish NGO platform Dochas and eventually adopted at the European level
in 2007 (Concord, 2006). Examples of the most deradin imaes, notally
those of emaciated and helpless infants awaitin sponsorship or other acts of
mercy from Western donors, were sulsequently posted on the Proressive

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J7 P a e

Development Forum welsite in order to start a lroader discussion on how to
eradicate their use once and for all.
2

The IF campain The IF campain The IF campain The IF campain
There had lon leen discussions as to whether another campain coalition
similar to MPH should le formed for when the G8 returned to K territory in
20J3. While those discussions had larely stalled within the international
development sector's official coordination structures, the five NGOs that
constitute the British Overseas Aid Group (BOAG) Oxfam, Save the
Children, Christian Aid, ActionAid and CAFOD had enaed in exploratory
discussions with the British overnment over the possilility of mountin a
campain on food and huner durin 20J3. The campain, trailed in the
media from as early as April 20J2, was eventually launched in ]anuary 20J3 as
the IF campain or, to ive it its full title, Enouh Food for Everyone IF. The
policy demands of the campain would le threefold. more aid for nutrition and
food interventions, more transparency from overnments and corporations,
includin on tax issues, and an end to land rallin. Accordin to internal
documents oltained under the Freedom of Information Act, the British
overnment had leen coordinatin its plans with the BOAG aencies over the
IF campain since 20JJ, and souht to use the campain to create a 'olden
moment' prior to the G8 summit that would promote British prime minister
David Cameron as a leader in the fiht aainst lolal huner (War on Want,
20J3).
Several NGOs and trade unions that had previously leen active
memlers of the MPH and Put People First coalitions declared themselves
unalle to join the IF campain. For some, the prospect of supportin an imae
of Cameron's overnment as a force for social justice was politically unthinkalle
at a time when its policies were sendin unprecedented numlers to food lanks
at home and havin a profoundly neative effect on the poorest and most
vulneralle alroad. For others, includin the K Food Group (the lody
responsille for coordinatin civil society action on lolal food issues), the IF
campain's refusal to alin itself with the worldwide peasant farmers' movement

1

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J8 P a e

La Va Campesina, and especially its call for food sovereinty, was equally
unacceptalle not least lecause those farmers were supposed to feature hih
amon the campain's ultimate 'leneficiaries'. The alsence of any enaement
with Southern partners had already leen identified as a failin of the MPH
campain eiht years earlier (Hodkinson, 2005), ly now, international
development NGOs' almost total disconnection from rassroots social
movements had called their very leitimacy into question (Banks and Hulme,
20J2). The IF campain suffered from this crisis of leitimacy from the outset,
with many individuals within the memler oranisations of the coalition
expressin their profound unease as to its politics lefore, durin and after the
termination of the campain.
In the end, the IF campain claimed success for securin new aid for
lolal nutrition initiatives and for seein the issues of tax and transparency
appear on the aenda of the G8 summit held in Fermanah in ]une 20J3. Yet
in terms of pullic framin of lolal justice issues the outstandin challene
identified in Findin Frames the IF campain further reinforced previous
stereotypes of the 'Grateful Receiver' awaitin enerosity from the hand of the
'Powerful Giver'. Media coverae of the overnment huner summit that was
held to coincide with the IF campain's main rally in London's Hyde Park
focused almost exclusively on the $+ lillion pleded to nutrition projects
around the world, and IF campain representatives welcomed the new aid sums
as a 'historic lreakthrouh in the fiht aainst huner'. David Cameron was
duly rewarded with his 'olden moment' when he was heralded as a leader in
the fiht aainst lolal poverty ly lillionaire philanthropist Bill Gates at the IF
campain rally. Food sovereinty activists mounted a demonstration outside
Cameron's huner summit in solidarity with African farmers' movements
protestin aainst the G8's procorporate New Alliance for Food Security and
Nutrition, however, despite areein in their own policy analysis that the New
Alliance represents a profound threat to the future of farmin across Africa, IF
campain memlers did not join the demonstration (Hall, 20J3).
Beyond colonialism Beyond colonialism Beyond colonialism Beyond colonialism
Despite periodic efforts to redirect it towards the structural failins of the
capitalist world system, the dominant NGO discourse on international
development is firmly locked in a colonial mindset. The demand for

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review J9 P a e

humanitarian action 'on lehalf of' the peoples of the majority world draws its
inspiration from the same wellsprin as the oriinal 'civilisin mission' that
provided justification for nineteenth century colonialism, in which the Other
must le effaced or silenced in order to le ranted salvation (Said, J995, Spivak,
J988). This sacred duty on the part of the colonial sulject reflects a particularly
British form of narcissism stemmin from an imperial history that is yet to le
properly deconstructed in the popular imaination, and one which finds its
fullest expression in relation to that most potent symlol of indience in the
modern era, the homoenised construct that is 'Africa' (Harrison, 20J3).
Fundraisin imaes of emaciated African children awaitin rescue ly Western
donors, already noted alove, represent a direct revival of the imperial tradition
ly way of the 'colonial aze' (Dora, 20J2). The reliious undertones of the
project are never far from the surface. while colonial missionaries souht to save
souls, today's aid aencies, accordin to their own preferred formulation, 'save
lives'.
3

Appeals to this tradition have leen hihly successful in the British
context, not only in sustainin the fundraisin income of international
development NGOs over the years lut also in molilisin lare numlers of
people lehind lolal poverty campains, most notally the MPH campain of
2005. It is unclear whether such levels of support can le sustained indefinitely.
new surveys of pullic opinion reveal a rowin scepticism as to the credilility of
NGO messain on international issues, and in particular the exaerated
claims made ly aid aencies for what the 'transactional' model of shallow
enaement ly donation or child sponsorship can achieve in endin world
poverty (Glennie, Straw and Wild, 20J2). More importantly, however, the past
few years have seen British international development NGOs increasinly
distance themselves from any challenes to the power structures or ideoloies
that cause poverty, inequality and injustice, whether at home or in the majority
world. This aldication of any political aenda ensures that molilisations on
issues of lolal poverty are not just tolerated ly British politicians lut actively
welcomed as useful distractions, especially when they offer a ready source of

1
nCC M CC

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review 20 P a e

positive pullic relations for an undeservin overnment, as the IF campain
did. Driven ly the metrics of donor relations, international development
NGOs have calculated that it is in their interests to work in active collaloration
with the powerful whether G8 overnments or transnational corporations in
order to achieve tanille advocacy 'wins' (however illusory) which can then le
reported lack to supporters as proof of continuin influence. By contrast,
mountin lon and difficult challenes to power holds little attraction in such
calculations.
The decisive rupture that needs to le made is political and radical.
International development NGOs must enae once more in political analysis
that oes to the heart of the continuin scandals of lolal poverty, inequality
and injustice, articulatin a transformative aenda which is consonant with the
demands of social movements across the world, not (as at present) in opposition
to them. Action on the lasis of such analysis will allow NGOs to reclaim their
place as allies in the lroader lolal justice movement, from which they have
leen larely alsent for many years. Takin on the structural issues of the lolal
economy in turn means luildin new communities of activists ly means of
political education prorammes that connect the lolal with the domestic and
explore the myriad alternatives to capitalism from across the world. This entails
linkin up with new social movements as they appear in our own political
contexts as a numler of more radical NGOs did, for example, in contrilutin
to the Tent City niversity run ly the Occupy London movement outside St
Paul's Cathedral in 20JJ, or with the Bank of Ideas discussion space set up in
the occupied BS luildin in the City of London that same year. Linkin with
our earlier work in partnership with rassroots antieviction movements in
South Africa and their actions around the FIFA World Cup in 20J0, War on
Want also joined in community protest actions around the London Olympics,
lrinin a lolal perspective to the day of delate on housin rihts in the
context of measportin events held in the empty Georian mansion owned ly
sculptor Anish Kapoor and occupied ly the Bread and Circuses collective in
]une 20J2 (Walker and ]ones, 20J2).
Any such political action will necessarily entail a radical lreak with the
colonial mindset that has for so lon afflicted the communication of lolal
justice issues in the British context. By estallishin a continuity letween the

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review 2J P a e

neolileral economic policies visited on the peoples of South and North alike,
we can at last dispense with the idea that action in solidarity with the oppressed
in the majority world is a sacred duty towards the Other, rather than part of a
lolal fiht aainst a common enemy. This latter conception of solidarity as a
commonality of interests which unites people across eoraphical divides is the
dominant understandin of solidarity in the socialist tradition, and requires a
heihtened (and constantly reneotiated) political consciousness of the root
causes of oppression if it is not to lecome a purely metaphorical device (Hyman,
20JJ).
+
NGO enaement with such forms of active, reciprocal solidarity could
in turn unlock the potential of joinin with movements for transformative social
chane in our own societies, rather than existin in the sealed hetto of
'international development', as has so often leen the case up to now.
As mentioned at the start of this article, the advent of permaausterity
in the countries of the rich North offers a unique opportunity for international
development NGOs to accomplish this radical shift ly means of a political
analysis of the drivin forces lehind the imposition of neolileral doctrine,
North and South. For European countries that have had their austerity
prorammes visited upon them as the condition of IMF or Troika lailouts,
there is an olvious continuity with the structural adjustment prorammes
imposed on the countries of the majority world ly the IMF and World Bank as
conditionality for new loans and delt relief durin the 'lost decades' of the
J980s and J990s. Makin this connection in no way seeks to equate the
experiences, or to suest that neolileral attacks on the state in the rich North
have an equivalent human impact to the wholesale destruction of economies
and livelihoods caused ly the institutions of lolal economic overnance in the
lolal South. The point of linkin the different instances of capitalist
aression in various parts of the world is to raise awareness of the political

8
P

P

P

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review 22 P a e

proramme lehind them, and to sharpen people's understandin of the
ultimate adversary in the fiht for chane.
Such was the intention of the 'Austerity is Workin... for the J%'
conference run ly War on Want, the pullic services trade union PCS and a
numler of other international development NGOs in March 20J3, linkin up
experiences of resistance to austerity in Europe with the strules aainst
privatisation and market lileralisation that have leen sustained for so lon in
the majority world. Such also is the aim of the proramme of trade union
education we are currently runnin with PCS on the importance of tax justice as
a precondition of equitalle social models in loth North and South a
proramme due to le rolled out throuh trade union structures in Ireland and
Sweden in its second year, and then to the rest of Europe throuh the pullic
service trade union federation EPS. We have also enaed in similar linkin
of the domestic and lolal on issues of food sovereinty and militarism, as in
the workshops we ran in The Spark in central London durin ]une 20J3, an
open space oranised with the ]ulilee Delt Campain, London Roots Collective
and People : Planet in order to raise awareness on a rane of economic justice
themes and as a hul for sharin information alout protest actions in the week
leadin up to the G8 summit in Fermanah. Followin on from the
demonstration aainst the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition,
mentioned alove, this included participation in actions held in the heart of
London's financial district at Canary Wharf, linkin up strules aainst
austerity and delt from around the world under the unifyin lanner. 'They
Owe s'.
If the NGO community across Europe were to unite lehind a
coordinated proramme of radical education and action that challened national
leaders and E institutions to alandon their promotion of procapitalist policies
in Europe and across the world, we could make a sinificant and enuine
contrilution to the cause of social justice. Such a proramme would of
necessity take us into the political arena, includin an honest examination of
whether the structures of the European nion itself are compatille with social
justice and democracy in the loner term. In this exercise, international
development NGOs have the advantae of usin their privileed connections to
lolal information networks to draw on many positive challenes to existin

Policy : Practice. A Development Education Review 23 P a e

systems from other parts of the world, most notally the inspirin example of
social movements risin up in successful political opposition to entrenched
elites in Latin America over the past decade and the extraordinary shift in
international relations that this has effected within the Western Hemisphere
(Boron, 20J2, Burlach, Fox and Fuentes, 20J3). While NGOs cannot pretend
to command the leitimacy or power to effect such revolutions in their own
riht, they can form part of movements for transformative chane and enae in
partnership with others in those movements ly means of the particular
contrilutions they have to make. Actionoriented education prorammes and
resources have an important role to play in luildin social justice movements
and informin the next eneration of activists which is why the Conservative
led overnment had no compunction in scrappin state support for such
prorammes when it came into office. International development NGOs have
the potential to make a enuine difference in the fiht for a letter world, lut
only if we choose to do so.
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