Democratizing Global Economic Governance: A PERI Symposium

This working paper is the fruit of a symposium on Democratizing Global Economic Governance held at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) on October 20, 2000, an event co-sponsored by the Five-College Peace and World Security Studies program. The speakers were asked not only to critique briefly the principal institutions of global economic governance - the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank - but also to suggest progressive alternatives. In other words, they were asked for their views on not only what progressives should be against, but also what they should be for. A recurrent theme in their remarks is the 'fix it' or 'nix it' debate: whether to seek reform of the existing international economic institutions or their outright abolition. As several speakers suggest, the tension between these two positions can be creative, with both sides playing complementary roles in advancing a process of change. Beyond this strategic issue, however, is the more fundamental question of what would constitute a desirable and feasible institutional architecture for democratic global economic governance. Like states, international institutions will always be imperfect. It would be ironic if those who reject the neoliberal vision of a minimalist state, in which vital decisions are left tocompeting private interests, in turn were to embrace a minimalist vision of global economic governance, in which vital decisions are left to competing nation-states. The struggle to build a democratic framework for such governance is among the great challenges that humankind will face in this century. The discussion presented here is intended as a modest contribution to that historic task.