4th Global Conference
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Tuesday 5th July - Thursday 7th
July 2005
Mansfield College, Oxford
Session 4A: Partnerships
Chair: Lucy Ford
State-Civil Society Marriage: Calculus of Changing
Zero Sum to Non-Zero Sum Game- Evidence from Pakistan
Zafar
Zahid
The Bank of Punjab, International Divison,
Karachi,
Pakistan
State apparatus in Pakistan is punctuated by all four
classical vices of ruling groups, namely: delay, corruption, roughness
and readiness to be influenced. Absence of strong civil society and presence
of clash between different stake holders in development matrix is a source
of perpetuating these evils and aftermath is sterilized development.
Every effort which can seed the pregnancy of development fails because
of prisoner’s
problem in state-civil society context. Development puzzle in countries
confirming to narrow definition can be solved by studying the linkages
between sate and civil society.
The major research questions to be
answered and hypotheses to be analyzed and tested are:
(i)Sustainable development
is linear function of civil society and NGOs
(ii)Threats to sustainability
of development in the framework of state- civil society equation are real
and a plain hedge is necessary
For hedging, three dustbin theory
has relevance in the context of sustainable development. By fostering state-civil
society partnership, apparently a zero sum game can be changed to non-zero
sum game for the benefit of the society. State- Civil society happy marriage
can help to overcome present prisoner’s dilemma in countries like
Pakistan, paving the way for freedom from barbarism by hedging the
threats which development process is confronting. Development will
become pregnant once state and civil society becomes partners in development
process . “Soma” of development is fusion of science,
religion and sex. Existence of Jirga and
Punchiet sytem fails to deliver justice and liberty which are very
founding bricks of sustainable development. Sardari system must be
replaced with a vibrant civil society which can offer happiness and
development by making better governance and making the ground for Monetary
and Fiscal policies to work while removing the frictions present in
different markets. No program of poverty alleviation can be implemented
if civil society in whatever worst form is present is not made the
part of process. The structure of the paper is based on a review
of earlier studies that deals with the main issues on civil society
and state in Pakistan and in the other parts of
the globe with addition of new realties on ground.
ISO 14001 and Scientific Activism
Monali
Ranade
International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), Hiranandani Gardens,
Powai, Mumbai – India
Natural environment and human development
share a very close relationship. Activities including, economic and
recreation build upon their surroundings and make use of the available
resources. Industrial development depends on and has greatest direct
impact on availability of different raw material, including water and
land resources. As these resources are largely finite and fall under
the common property realm, equitable distribution of costs and benefits
between local population, industry stakeholders and industrial product
users is a major concern. Marked deterioration of the natural surroundings
led to the introduction of environmental management practices.
To harmonize
the environmental practices and management systems used by the corporate
sector across the world, the ISO14000 family of voluntary international
standards was developed. With increasing awareness in the western hemisphere,
environmentally benign industrial production gained importance and ISO14001
has become a green passport for companies looking west for business growth
and. Many countries, including India , have adapted the ISO14001 into
their national standards and have gained wide acceptability. The global
face of the industry may hide behind it an uglier picture.
Cases where
local resources are being polluted and community voices are drowned behind
the respectable façade of environment friendliness
and ISO 14001 abound. The standard in many ways is a quality lock-in
as it adheres to already weak local environmental norms. Further it does
not promote transparency as the system, the documentation and audit findings
are not available for scrutiny. Traditionally communities have reacted
to industrial pollution with physical protest with the industry responding
with scientific explanations. Scientific activism tries to address the
pollution related concerns, in the same language as the industry, to
reduce confrontation and increase mutual accountability. This paper elaborates
these issues with the help of a case study and identifies some key changes
in ISO14001 to strengthen its role and ensure its efficacy.
Conventions and Success: E Waste and the
Basel Convention
Kerry
Joy Ard
University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Since it’s inception in 1989 the Basel Convention has been ratified by 164 countries, with the notable exception of the United Sates. The Basel Convention was set up to counter the environmental injustice inherent in the international hazardous waste trade. In the late 1970’s enactment of stringent environmental laws, and increasing NIMBYism, made it extremely difficult to place hazardous waste facilities in western countries, this created a market for the trade of toxic waste to countries with fewer environmental regulations. More than a decade after being enacted has this convention helped decrease environmental injustice in the hazardous waste trade? How is it dealing with the increasing flow of e-waste? Are the new technologies being supported in developing countries helping ensure toxics are dealt with sustainably or just providing a guise for the continuation of environmental oppression? This paper looks at these questions by analyzing where we have been, where we now stand and future courses we can take to reach the goal of environmental justice.