The battle in Seattle: Globalization cries out for solidarity

The massive protests in the streets of Seattle Nov. 30 - Dec. 3 during the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Summit echoed a theme in many sessions of the CTA conference three weeks earlier: globalization should enhance, not imperil, the solidarity of the worldwide human family. Economist Sr. Amata Miller told her audience solidarity means doggedly pursuing the common good in an era when "one and a half trillion dollars change hands every day." Theologian Shawn Copeland said that modern Catholic social teaching since "Rerum Novarum" has moved us beyond almsgiving to solidarity - which looks at unjust structures, not just victims. Moral theologian Charles Curran connected the Catholic moral tradition to the contemporary push for a global ethic led by Hans Küng.

Miller said that millions suffer because "globalization is taking place in the context of an unbridled return to laissez faire capitalism." But the news is not all bad. This economy also has the potential to eradicate poverty and disease, assure longer life expectancy, and provide wider access to education. More people have more wealth along with commitment to a global community, she said, because young people don't think in terms of national boundaries. Also, "multinational NGOs - non-governmental organizations - are rising."

Her words anticipated the drama of Seattle, where some 15,000 NGOs participated in protests, seminars and teach-ins - offering the world's people another voice besides those of 135 nation's governments whose officials were meeting behind closed doors. One NGO active in Seattle was Center of Concern (COC), whose staff members Jim Hug, SJ, and Maria Riley, OP, were presenters for multiple sessions at the CTA conference. Hug and Riley are major contributors to "Socially Responsible Trade," a special 24-page issue of COC's Center Focus that sorts out the facts about the WTO, and the issues at stake in Seattle and beyond.

Visit the COC website: www.coc.org/coc/ Call COC at 202 635-2757