Ando Isamu, SJ (Tokyo Jesuit Social Center)
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On 15-19 April, 2002, Jesuits of the Assistancy of East Asia and Oceania,
from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Micronesia, Philippines
and Taiwan met in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) Manila, Philippines,
for the first regional Global Economy and Cultures (GEC) gathering in this
part of the world.
The Meeting is one more important step in a worldwide project Jesuits have
undertaken to deal with the issues of globalization, as this phenomenon
affects the lives of millions of people around the world. We are aware
that globalization strongly affects the pastoral and educational tasks
we perform and thus changes would be needed. We need to know where the
world is moving to plan ahead the future direction of our endeavors. It
helps to have a clear idea of, who are the actors and the motors of globalization?
Who are the winners and losers? In order to find this out, common discussions
based on serious research that lead to cross-culture cooperative action
are very important. There is no intention of stopping this modern phenomenon.
The issue here is how to face its challenges?
Let me, first, briefly introduce the project.
The GEC project is a five-year, collaborative effort of sixty Jesuit social
research and action centers worldwide. Its purpose is to come to a better
understanding of how the global economy operates in local cultures, especially
among the poor, and to provide them with a learning tool that helps them
respond to the harmful and beneficial dynamics of the global economy as
they experience it locally.
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This project responds to the need for dialogue among the local and global
"actors" so that those involved in local economic and political
processes can better address the rapid cultural changes occurring in their
local situations.
Participants employ the Jesuit method of decision-making, which begins
with experience, continues with reflection, and ends with decision and
action. The participating centers begun by gathering local experiences
in the form of narratives. They deepen and develop this data through interpretative
and consultative analysis. Finally, the participants will arrive at a publishable
consensus that explains what is happening in some illustrative instances,
and offers options as to what can be done in view of basic human needs
and values.
The outcome of the project will be an educational handbook that can be
used in the design of materials that enhances grass roots educational programs.
The same handbook will be useful to decision makers, business people and
others, who shape or influence local, national and international economic
policy. The project is unique, in that it seeks to address questions related
to globalization "from below" by building on the grassroots experience
and scholarship of the participants who live and work closely with the
poor throughout the world.
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In our last regional meeting we begun our discussions on globalization,
accepting it as a real situation that is present practically everywhere.
We tried to come to an agreement on, when did globalization start in East
Asian countries? It was considered important to fix a date for the beginning
of globalization, so that following that date we could consider the real
effects of globalization in our own societies, especially on the issue
of how it affects the lives of the poor in East Asia.
A working hypothesis had been established at a number of International
Consultations and regional meetings, recognizing the fact of globalization
and fixing the year 1992 as its provisional starting point.
But, from the start of our meeting we encountered difficulties to admit
such hypothesis. From the point of view of Japan, the process leading to
what is called globalization takes different steps. Thinking of the postwar
period alone, Japan after the destruction of the II World War went gradually
through a process of modernization (kindaika), industrialization (sangyoka)
and internationalization (kokusaika). Although we have Japanese expressions
for all those steps, there is none for globalization. Japanese only use
the English word. Would this be a sign that globalization is an imposed
phenomenon from outside, and that Japan tries to reject it? Opinions, most
probably, vary. Our discussions clarified different situations in East
Asian countries and proved to be enriching and fruitful.
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Sticking to the last 60 years of the postwar we can rightly assume that
the oil crisis of the early '70s produced, as a result, a wide opening
of the Japanese economy and of its trade, especially in the Asian region.
Such development grew increasingly during the '80s, the bubble times, when
lavish consumption and capital investment patterns greatly changed. The
long economic depression of the '90s drastically changed employment, consumption
ways, capital investment, etc. Japanese society is still suffering from
astronomical public debt and bad assets and many companies have taken severe
re-structuring reforms. The so-called "Big Bang" focused on financial
institutions is a recent ambitious reform of banks that are key to Japanese
economic development.
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In Manila we accepted globalization as a free international global movement
of trade and finances, a process of an open flow of information and movement
of money, goods, images and ideas between different countries and cultures.
In fact, it is the opening of the economy. Most publications on this matter
will essentially agree on that definition, and people tend to add that
globalization also refers to the free movement of peoples.
It is considered important to fix an approximate date, regarding the beginning
of globalization, in order to analyze the changes that occur once globalization
has started. The GEC built, as a valid hypothesis the year 1992, when the
world financial crisis was evident. Once more, it was clear that the countries
of East Asia, especially Japan, have gone through different experiences
and the year 1992 was not based on objective findings. Nevertheless, there
is no doubt that globalization brings definite changes in production and
consumption patterns, as well as in trade and in the lives of people. The
powerful presence of multinational companies, as a result of globalization,
strongly influences many societies.cc
All participant organizations in the GEC project worked on their narratives.
Each narrative tries to represent or symbolize some essential dimensions
of globalization, within its own society. All narratives, from about 60
different research institutes and social centers were analyzed at Woodstock
Theological Center (Georgetown University) and re-edited. They became the
content of the International GEC Consultations and of the various Regional
Meetings.
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The meeting in Manila dealt with the narratives gathered from the 8 participant
countries. We thoroughly discussed the narratives from Korea, Japan, Philippines
and Taiwan, comparing them with the case studies of Australia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Micronesia.
On the second day of our discussions I presented a 5-page narrative that
had been sent 3 years ago to Woodstock, coordinator of the GEC project.
The theme is "Construction Business in Japan and Migrations".
It is the story of a man, Mr. Kato, from a rural area (Niigata prefecture)
who migrates to Osaka (Kamagasaki) to take day work at construction companies.
He ends homeless and unemployed. The narrative covers the life span --about
60 years-- of Mr. Kato in the countryside and in Osaka where he works as
a day worker. The case study deals with the Japanese construction business
(Zenecon), about 586,000 companies with a 10% share of all industrial activities
that employ 6,850,000 workers or about 9.7% of the total work force in
Japan. The narrative gives a short historical background and presents the
Traditional Japanese Construction Culture and the Actual Winter Times for
Constructors. Social issues such as the situation of homeless people and
foreign workers are also presented in the narrative.
A very important aspect of the GEC project is the analytical framework;
the Methodology and Analysis used. The objective is to look for changes
in the way of life in terms of actors as decision-makers in economy and
society and as carriers of cultural meanings and values.
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We studied together in detail the narratives trying to know fully persons,
like Mr. Kato, that appeared there. We discussed them in common, asking
questions about their lives and background. Then, we proceeded further
into the political and social realities, the situation of foreign workers,
and the attitudes of labor, NGOs and church groups. We also looked for
the changes globalization produces in the business and official sectors
as they relate to the narrative presented. We continuously referred to
objective indicators and MacroEconomics and Social Data from international
sources like the World Bank.
An important aspect of the analysis dealt with the changes globalization
produces in cultural meanings and values, like religious observances, family,
social and political relations or indigenous traditions. The narratives
also offer a valid platform to look for other variables like, access to
information and knowledge, the participation of women, crime and public
morality and the treatment of the environment.
Nevertheless, there is a very important vacuum in the whole process: How
to proceed from now on? What should be done to help persons like Mr. Kato
to face a more human future?
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We started each day with a prayer prepared before hand and ended the day
with a few minutes of reflection and sharing.
The process of the GEC project continues and the discussions on the narratives
have produced a very enriching new material to review them. On the other
hand, the Meeting has given a new impetus to strengthen and enlarge the
networking that has started. During the years left to complete the GEC
project, the Tokyo Social Center agreed to monitor the e-mail networking
or flow of information around East Asian countries with the help of Woodstock.
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