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the magazine of the student christian movement I issue 1,12 | autumn 2OO2<br />

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movement<br />

issue <strong>112</strong> | autumn 2OO2<br />

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MOVEMENI is the termly maglazine of<br />

the Student Christian <strong>Movement</strong>,<br />

distributd free of chatf,e to memberc<br />

and ddicated to an open-minded<br />

ery t o rati o n of Ch ri sti a n ity.<br />

Editor: David Anderson<br />

e: movementmagazine@hotmail.com<br />

Designer: Liam Purcell<br />

Nert copy date:, 22 November<br />

Editorial board: David Anderson, Liam Purcell,<br />

Elinor Mensingh, Marie Pattison, Kate Powell<br />

SCM staff: Co-ordinator Elinor Mensingh; [,nks<br />

Worker Marie Pattison<br />

SCM office: University of Birmingham, Weoley<br />

Park Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham 829 6LL.<br />

t: (O121) 471,2404<br />

f: (O121) 4L4 2969 mark faxes 'FAO SCM'<br />

e: scm@movement.org.uk<br />

Website: www.movement.org.uk<br />

Printed by: Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester<br />

lndividual membership of SCM (includes<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>) costs f,15 per year (t1O if unwaged).<br />

Subscription to <strong>Movement</strong> only costs E7 per year.<br />

Disclaimer: The views expressed in <strong>Movement</strong><br />

are those of the particular author and should not<br />

be taken to be the policy of the Student Christian<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>.<br />

tssN 0306-980x<br />

Charity No. 241896<br />

@ 2002 scM<br />

Dft '-J '-J<br />

It.-itplatform<br />

Robert Cook 3<br />

newsfile 4<br />

diary 6<br />

worldview: globalising resistance David Lasso 7<br />

disarmin$ actions Helen Steven 8<br />

frustration, humiliation, courage David Anderson 9<br />

celebrity theolo$ian Rachel Muers 70<br />

small ritual Steve Collins 7!<br />

movement what is globalisation? C/FOD !2<br />

feature:<br />

gtobatisation globalisation for the $ood of all<br />

Noreena Hertz 74<br />

globalisation and the $ospel<br />

Andrew Bradstock !6<br />

people not profit Katherine Anderson !8<br />

see also... 20<br />

ties and binds Jim Cotter 2!<br />

ecumenism is like riding a bike... Tim Woodcock 22<br />

first amon$ equals Claire Connor 24<br />

the education of desire Kathryn Powell 25<br />

movement the mysteries David Anderson 29<br />

reviews<br />

sacred century Liam Purcell 27<br />

no ordinary child Ethan Black 28<br />

attack of the ctones Kathryn Allan 26<br />

writin{ in the dust David Anderson 30<br />

the serpent 31<br />

Wanted! Student Editor, no experience necessary<br />

<strong>Movement</strong> is put together by an editorial panel including the designer and editor, SCM staff,<br />

and student representatives. There is a vacancy at the moment for a third student representative<br />

on the panel. lf you would like to be involved in deciding the content and themes of<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>,' and could spare one afternoon a term for meetings, e-mail the editor at<br />

movementmaEazine@hotmail.com<br />

Wanted! Articles, teviews, artwork<br />

We want <strong>Movement</strong> to be as open as possible. All your ideas are welcome. Have you got somethin$<br />

to say? An issue you want explored? Ever fancied yourself as a writer?<br />

Send your articles and ideas, or just your details if you'd like to write for us in the future, to the editor<br />

at movementma{azine@hotmail.com. All submissions will be considered by our editorial board.


platform<br />

anythin€ Soes<br />

do we need creeds?<br />

{<br />

I'll lay my cards on the table. I am<br />

actually a bit of a conformist. I have<br />

grown to be intolerant of those choosing<br />

to be different or radical merely for the<br />

sake of that label: we should have well<br />

thought-out reasons for being different. I<br />

firmly believe that achieving Ghristian<br />

unity is a duty we cannot afford to shirk.<br />

We all need to come to our own conclusions<br />

about the truth of the Christian<br />

message, but we should seek the truth,<br />

not just what we find appealing, and<br />

when we believe we have found the truth,<br />

be able to profess it with others.<br />

My problem is this: all too often in our secular<br />

culture we are encouraged to choose what we<br />

individually want, to be consumers. From a<br />

religious perspective this translates into<br />

exploration of a lonely kind, perhaps selfseeking<br />

and perhaps self-styling, but certainly<br />

looking for what fits with our intellectual and<br />

emotional whims, such as a desire simply to be<br />

different. Satisfying our personal desires and<br />

'doing' religion alone is not what Christianity is<br />

about.<br />

Perhaps the part of my faith most in conflict<br />

with the rise of self-styled religion is the creed.<br />

Creeds proclaim a complete truth, a full<br />

statement of faith, which is inflexible and<br />

potentially exclusive. Who better for me to turn<br />

to then than Cyril of Jerusalem? Writing around<br />

AD350, he said of the creed:<br />

'This synthesis of faith was not made to be<br />

agreeable to human opinions, but to present<br />

the one teaching of the faith in its totality, in<br />

which what is of greatest importance is<br />

gathered together from all the scriptures'.<br />

Harsh words maybe. However, on balance I<br />

am inclined to agree with Cyril's sentiments<br />

and feel I should set out why.<br />

Christianity is at heart an outward-looking,<br />

corporate faith: it believes in worshipping with<br />

others, professing belief in front of others and<br />

extending God's love out to others. There is a<br />

vital role for private reflection and prayer, but<br />

equally something is crucially missing without<br />

the collective aspect to worship. lf you want a<br />

biblical imperative for it, look no further than<br />

'when two or three are gathered in my name'.<br />

However, sitting around in a room with others<br />

who wish to meditate on spirituality can never<br />

amount to collective worship: it does not affirm<br />

the 'we believe'. There is something magnificent<br />

about all confessing the same truth: the total is<br />

greater than the sum of the parts. This cannot be<br />

accomplished by many private worshippers in one<br />

place. Creeds are vital in enabling us to engage in<br />

collective Christian worship. Most obviously, the<br />

creed is never prayed individually: it is our most<br />

important collective statement of unified belief.<br />

More subtly, a creed provides a clear framework<br />

around which we can grow in faith and<br />

understanding.<br />

the creed is never prayed individually:<br />

it is our most important collective<br />

statement of unified belief<br />

I do not deny that formal doctrines such as<br />

creeds have been used to carry out unacceptable<br />

acts of persecution and may still be<br />

unfairly used to exclude some people from<br />

genuine religious searching. This is completely<br />

wrong, but used properly, personal exploration<br />

can be enabled rather than stifled by creeds.<br />

Creeds act as a framework, creating a space<br />

around which personal reflection can take<br />

place. We need some sort of structure to<br />

develop our faith around. Without a reference<br />

point no-one would know where to start<br />

exploring or where to focus discussion.<br />

Religious dialogue would descend into anarchy<br />

and collective worship would be doomed to fail.<br />

It is only realistic to expect that people will have<br />

differing opinions on matters of faith, yet if we<br />

believe it is our duty to work towards Christian<br />

unity, we need to look for and uphold some sort<br />

of 'Christian denominator' which enables fruitful<br />

discussion to take place, working towards<br />

reconcili ng differences.<br />

A creed not only provides a clear reference<br />

point for debate, but since it is backed up by<br />

threefold authority: the Bible; centuries of<br />

theological debate; and the work of the Holy<br />

Spirit, it provides the closest approximation we<br />

can hope for to a common denominator that is<br />

substantial enough to provide the framework we<br />

need.<br />

ln the necessary quest for a personal faith<br />

there is a fine line between satisf,ing a requirement<br />

that we have thought deeply about our<br />

faith and developing a self-styled religion,<br />

pandering to our own whims. Creeds act as a<br />

vital counterbalance to this danger and enable<br />

us to worship together meaningfully, as our<br />

faith requires. I<br />

Robert Gook<br />

. Robert Cook 13 a student<br />

at O)dord Unlversity and<br />

Warwlck Chrbtlan Focu3.<br />

movement l3


NEWS<br />

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a new face<br />

Hi, I'm Rebecca, and I'm SCM's new office administrator. I started<br />

work on 12 August. For now, here's a quick guide to me so far:<br />

Full name: Rebecca Frances<br />

Hawthorne<br />

Date of birth: 2 January 1981- (mY Mum<br />

swears blind she got me in<br />

the January sales!)<br />

Brutrers & sisters: none, unless you count the<br />

cats!<br />

Height: 5'10'<br />

Eye colour: blue<br />

Hair:<br />

brown and (very) curly<br />

Favourite colour: yellow<br />

Favourite Teletubby: Laa - Laa<br />

Likes: bare feet, Star Trek Voyagler, sleeping, Abba'<br />

kids, Birmingham (call me weird), dinosaurs,<br />

cats, lona music, trains<br />

Dislikes: wearing shoes, fish, long car journeys, Jim Carrey<br />

films (exceplThe Truman Show), clubbing<br />

Education: Three Bridges First School, Dunottar School<br />

(Reigate), Birmingham University (studied maths)<br />

Religion:<br />

Brought up Anglican. St Barnabas Church<br />

(Crawley), Church of the Holy Family (Crawley),<br />

Birmingham UniAngsoc<br />

At university: Many things to Angsoc, including Chair. General<br />

hanger-on and troublemaker to Methsoc. Cause<br />

of confusion to several chaplains. Co-cause of<br />

chaos last Freshers'!<br />

! hope this helps give you an idea of who I am, and I look forward to<br />

meeting some of you in Person!<br />

editorial changies<br />

This issue of <strong>Movement</strong> has been put together by Acting Editor David<br />

Anderson, who has done a marvellous job of pulling together all the<br />

material from a range of contributors before his deadlines.<br />

From issue 113, the new editor of <strong>Movement</strong> will be Liam Purcell' Liam<br />

has been the designer of <strong>Movement</strong> for three issues, which means that<br />

he's been responsible for jobs such as fitting two thousand word articles<br />

onto one and a half pages with pictures, and finding photos for the back<br />

cover. He is an avid fan of Emma Bunton and his favourite television<br />

program is Watercolour Challenge. To find out if some, all or any of this<br />

is true, watch this sPace neK time.<br />

Liam would like to hear from anyone interested in writing articles or<br />

reviews tor <strong>Movement</strong>. See page 2 for contact details'<br />

Quick Questions<br />

What's your favourite Possession?<br />

My jeans with a dinosaur and my name stuck on<br />

What are you reading at the moment?<br />

Just flnished The Most Arnazing Man Who Ever<br />

Lived by Robert Rankin, and about to start<br />

Suddenly he thinks he's a Sunbeam by Adey<br />

Grummet<br />

What is your favourite film?<br />

Ghost<br />

How do you relar€<br />

Sleepl Or flnd the nearest person who'll give me a<br />

hug<br />

What's your favourite journeY?<br />

A long train journey with a gfoup of ftiends -<br />

Birmingham to lona was Pretty good<br />

What do you like most about yourself?<br />

Creativity<br />

What do you dislike about Yourself?<br />

My very bad sense of directionl<br />

What's your fuvourite word?<br />

I could tell you, but then everyone would be able<br />

to access my e-mail!<br />

lf you could be someone else who would it<br />

be?<br />

When I was little I always wanted to be a trapeze<br />

artist, but now I think maybe someone who can<br />

sing really well - Maddy Prtor perhaps<br />

When did you last cry?<br />

Tears of joy when SCM gave me a job!<br />

What are you scared of?<br />

Fish and snakes<br />

What do you never miss on W?<br />

Star Trek Voyager, although I have most of the<br />

videos, so I don't really mind missing it too much!<br />

What music do you listen to most?<br />

At the moment it's folky stuff, Steeleye Span'<br />

Wateson Carthy, Pentangle. Plus the odd musical<br />

- Cats, Godspell, Joseph<br />

What pet hates do you have?<br />

Car drivers who don't respect cyclists<br />

What would your motto for lMng be?<br />

Never grow upl<br />

4lmovement


Created in God's imaSe?<br />

6-13 April, Amsterdam<br />

ln an 'A€ree/Disagree With The<br />

Statement' activity a Nonrve$an<br />

participant rcvealed her sexuality.<br />

She was lesbian, and some of tre<br />

other participants were clearly<br />

intrigued. lt was the WSCF<br />

Eurcpean Gonfiercnce on 'Body and<br />

Crende/ and alrcady on the opening<br />

day itwas clear hordiverce opinion<br />

in the eFoup was goin€lto be.<br />

The group was of diverse nationality:<br />

it consisted of people from Romania,<br />

Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark,<br />

Italy, Finland, Norway, Belarus,<br />

Estonia, the UK, and Germany, and a<br />

number from Amsterdam, the host<br />

city of the conference. The conference<br />

itself was a week-long<br />

discussion of a variety of issues<br />

relating to body and gender and<br />

Christianity. There were also more<br />

subtle elements to the conference<br />

which reinforced the topic being<br />

discussed: it was a period of fasting<br />

for the Orthodox Christians so most of<br />

the food was vegan, which added an<br />

interesting element to the seminar on<br />

the body and denial.<br />

The day always started with worship,<br />

which was on a different theme every<br />

morning and every evening (from<br />

Catholic to Queer, Women to<br />

Lutheran). We then generally had<br />

inputs or debates, coffee breaks,<br />

lunch, small group meetings,<br />

workshops, free time, dinner and then<br />

worship again. The evening officially<br />

concluded with a more informal<br />

activity (such as a cultural evening,<br />

Dutch evening or film evening).<br />

Four people from very diverse<br />

backgrounds spoke at the conference.<br />

The first speaker was Trees Versteegen<br />

- a Dutch'theolo$an who described<br />

herself as Catholic and Lesbian. She<br />

proposed an intricate understanding of<br />

gender and body from a biblical<br />

perspective. A large number of the<br />

participants were studying theologr;<br />

the response to the seminar varied<br />

from celebratory to utter refusal to<br />

accept what she had proposed.<br />

The second speaker was an<br />

Orthodox priest. He discussed the<br />

topic of fasting and its relation to the<br />

body. After finishing his talk the<br />

priest was asked some awkward<br />

questions regarding Orthodox denial<br />

of the body, and even the concept of<br />

trade justice somehow emerged.<br />

The third speaker was Luca Negro;<br />

an ltalian representing an<br />

ecumenical movement. We looked at<br />

the use of the body in worship in<br />

various denominations: from gesticulations<br />

to fasting, and from Holy<br />

Communion to waving hands in the<br />

air whilst worshipping.<br />

The fourth and final input from<br />

Katrin Rogge was entitled<br />

'Transformed Bodies'. ln it we<br />

investigated trans-gendering, and<br />

the transformation of the body by<br />

use of artificial implants. By far the<br />

most eye-opening input, by all<br />

meanings of the word.<br />

Workshops were less controversial<br />

and more creative. Perhaps the most<br />

significant workshop was on AIDS in<br />

Africa, led by an AIDS worker from<br />

Uganda. AIDS awareness was central<br />

to the week long conference, and we<br />

were $ven the task of designing the<br />

European part of a global banner which<br />

was going to be displayed at the next<br />

global WSCF conference, July 2003.<br />

Evaluation at the end of the week<br />

exposed a number of interesting<br />

issues: participants, particularly from<br />

NEWS<br />

Eastern Europe, commented that the<br />

liberal stance dominated the<br />

discourse and they felt their more<br />

conservative opinion was instantly<br />

dismissed. The situation might have<br />

been very different if the Orthodox<br />

Christians hadn't been fasting. One<br />

Romanian stated early on in the<br />

conference that he was unhappy with<br />

the opinions being expressed and<br />

questioned their biblical groundings,<br />

but that it was part of Orthodox<br />

fasting to be at peace with those<br />

around you. Even so, concluding<br />

meetings suggested most people felt<br />

they had learned a lot from the<br />

conference, and those I got to know<br />

well during the conference certainly<br />

felt blessed by all the people there. I<br />

know I was grateful for the opportunity<br />

to go to the conference and I<br />

met people from many different<br />

backgrounds, who had some<br />

wonderful understandings of<br />

Christianity and love. So I would<br />

strongly recommend that students<br />

involved in SCM attend WSCF Europe<br />

conferences in the future. British<br />

participants, I was told, have been in<br />

demand at the conferences; do think<br />

about going to the next one. I won't<br />

deny I had a strong feeling of<br />

trepidation about attending, but it<br />

was a wonderful experience - many<br />

thanks again to the British SCM for<br />

the opportunity.<br />

Mark McDonald<br />

SCM is affiliated to WSCF (World Student Christian Federation),<br />

and has money set aside to help students towards the costs of attending WSCF events.<br />

movementl5


NCWS<br />

a hopeful protest<br />

politicians<br />

ftom all<br />

parties had<br />

announced<br />

their support<br />

for the lobby,<br />

while failing<br />

to notice<br />

that the<br />

prutesterc<br />

werc against<br />

unrcgulated<br />

access to<br />

developing<br />

ma*ets by<br />

multinational<br />

companies<br />

Trade Justice <strong>Movement</strong> mass lobby of<br />

Parliament, Wednesday 19 June<br />

You don't often find ecumenical services<br />

turnin$ people away. But there was a<br />

queue of people for the service at the<br />

Emmanuel Gentre at L2.45 to mark the<br />

mass lobby of parliament for Trade<br />

Justice, and the stewards were havin$ to<br />

do just that. Visitors were still allowed<br />

inside the building to look at the stalls<br />

staffed by various aid aelencies, and to<br />

buy fairly traded coffee. The other option<br />

was to travel down the road and wait<br />

outside Methodist Gentral Hall for the<br />

main meetin$.<br />

Nine members of SCM attended, proMding a<br />

small but earnest addition to the 12,000<br />

lobblsts from all over the country. The Lobby<br />

was protesting against the maintenance of<br />

subsidies protecting goods fiom First World<br />

countries, and against measures insisting on<br />

unregulated access by First World companies to<br />

markets in goods and seruices in poorer<br />

countries. We did discover that Methodist<br />

Central Hall still makes things slightly awkward<br />

for wheelchair users; we had to trek round poorly<br />

signposted conidors round the back only to find<br />

that wheelchairc were not allowed in the main<br />

hall due to fire regulations. This sliglttly soured<br />

the occasion. Those of us who were in the main<br />

hall, and not listening ftom the doorway, heard<br />

that politicians ftom all main parties had loudly<br />

announced their support for the lobby, while<br />

failing to notice that the protesters were against<br />

unregulated access to developing markets by<br />

multinational companies.<br />

After the speeches, the SCM party had to<br />

split up as the lobbyists left the hall by region<br />

of the country. Protesters lined the banks of<br />

the Thames in a queue stretching round from<br />

the Houses of Parliament, down Millbank,<br />

over Lambeth Brid$e, and along the Embankment.<br />

The queue was at times wide enough<br />

to nearly block the path. Many MPs did travel<br />

out to meet their constituents; others sent<br />

parliamentary assistants.<br />

Although most of the SCM party had to catch<br />

trains back home, one or two stayed to listen<br />

to the panels after the event, which discussed<br />

ways forward for the reform movements. The<br />

event was $ven a half-minute mention on the<br />

BBC evening news, even though there were no<br />

arrests and no violence.<br />

I've experienced two kinds of protests: some<br />

seem to be mostly a(ainst something (usually<br />

the US), and some are for something (trade<br />

reform, debt cancellation). The latter seem to<br />

me far more hopeful - althouglr this may be an<br />

effect of the free chocolate on offer. I<br />

David Anderson<br />

Actingi Editor ol <strong>Movement</strong><br />

I<br />

N<br />

21Se@nfier<br />

Global Mo Dry<br />

w.' nrvw. oeaceonedav.otq<br />

18-20 Ocbber<br />

GlP (drudr &ilon on Povottuf lhUod<br />

Goniettnoe<br />

Gaderry Tower, near Edinburgfi<br />

Poverty and ProsperiU - includes rvodahops on<br />

globalisation, sustainabiliB and paltterchip<br />

For more info and online booking:<br />

w,' rwrw' ch urch-oovertv.org. uk<br />

210-.27 0c$ber<br />

OneWorld Wedr<br />

For morc info and to order a padc<br />

w; nrYw.onewor{dweek.org<br />

$t fO ilovember<br />

scn rct<br />

Details to be confirmed.<br />

Gheck website for infonnation.<br />

Tue 3 Deeenbcr<br />

lDeDt m qrr lloolttep Ldon rnd lobby Itry<br />

Westminster and Edinburglt<br />

Speaking out against poverty in the UK.<br />

w; wrnu.debt on-our-doorsteo.com<br />

15 Dccenfier<br />

LGGt Gdol Sonlce<br />

St Botolph's, london<br />

w; www.lgcm.org.uk<br />

6lmovement


worldview<br />

€Iobafibin€ reslbtance<br />

the experience of the 'lnternational Gamp' in Ecuador<br />

Murderers! Murderers! The guard had<br />

shot one of the people taking part in<br />

the lnternational Camp for Di€nity and<br />

Social Justice for the People. The<br />

person was writing graffiti - Abajo el<br />

ALCA ('Down with the F[AA') - on one of<br />

the luxurious walls of the World Trade<br />

Gentre building in Quito. This march<br />

was closing an event in which around<br />

400 people took part, from twenty<br />

countries in Europe, North America,<br />

Latin America and Asia.<br />

the struggle for a better world<br />

must be globalised<br />

The Camp worked from 14 to 20 March in<br />

three Ecuadorian cities simultaneously -<br />

Quito, Lago Agrio and Manta - with the<br />

support of several organisations in Europe<br />

and North America. lts goal: to articulate<br />

forces coming from every corner of the<br />

planet, in order to consolidate a platform to<br />

resist and struggle against the Colombia<br />

Plan, the FTM and any other manifestation of<br />

neo-liberal globalisation. The intention is that<br />

this Camp will not end with the physical<br />

gathering of people in one place, but will<br />

continue to exist as long as it is necessary -<br />

it is, therefore, a permanent space.<br />

From the diversity of thoughts it was stated<br />

that: 'the struggle for a better world must be<br />

globalised'. Young Colombians from the<br />

universities in Bogota, in Valle and Neiva,<br />

young people from Peru, farmers from<br />

Bolivia, activists from ltaly and Germany,<br />

United States artists, journalists from<br />

Venezuela and hundreds of other people<br />

shared their local experiences, their alternative<br />

deyelopment proposals, their<br />

perspectives on dialogue, confrontatlon and<br />

resistance. A small Tower of Babel working in<br />

confusion, and at the same time, recognising<br />

themselves in their exclusion.<br />

CEPAJ (the Ecuadorian Co-ordinator for<br />

Youth Action), the Ecuadorian SCM, was one<br />

of the organisers of the Camp. From outside<br />

and within WSCF (the World Student Christian<br />

Federation), as individuals, as Christians, as<br />

young people, as human beings, we would<br />

like to share with you these thoughts:<br />

. We are concerned when we see how little<br />

we know about the economic, social and<br />

politicalstructures in Latin America. We ask<br />

ourselves: how much do we know about<br />

situations like the Water War in Bolivia, the<br />

Dignity Plan or the Panama Puebla Plan?<br />

. We feel motivated when we see that there<br />

are people informed about the current Latin<br />

American problems, when people organise<br />

themselves and resist together and act<br />

together beyond verbal solidarities.<br />

. We see how complicated it is to build a<br />

continent-wide platform to both resist and<br />

make proposals, and to take the first step<br />

to articulate these proposals in a single<br />

project and a single force.<br />

Most of all, we do not want to accept our<br />

passivity as WSCF. We feel scared when we<br />

see that these problems are not even being<br />

debated, that these mega-projects are not<br />

being taken into account when we make our<br />

plans. We feel scared, but above all it<br />

motivates us to go on working.<br />

One of the results of the Camp was the<br />

creation of the lndependent Media Centre<br />

Ecuador - Indymedia - which will be launched<br />

soon. Although support from the majority of<br />

the population, as far as the protest against<br />

the FTM is concerned, is minimal, the Camp<br />

opened doors and brought us together. There<br />

is still much work to be done with the people:<br />

there is a distance between the protest and<br />

proposals coming from the resistance<br />

groups, and the everyday needs of the<br />

people.<br />

we feel scared when we see that these<br />

problems are not eyen being debated,<br />

but it motivates us to go on working<br />

. Davld lasso ls<br />

Co-ordinator of CEPA,<br />

(SCM Ecuador)<br />

Towards the end of this year, the Trade<br />

Ministers of the Latin American countries<br />

(with the exception of Cuba) are planning to<br />

meet in Quito, Ecuador, to follow up the<br />

negotiations to concretise the FTAA.<br />

Garavans of diversity throughout the country,<br />

meetings of young farmers and the Latin<br />

American Farmers Organisations Coordination<br />

(CLOC), Networks Continental meeting,<br />

and a national mobilisation against the FTM<br />

are expected to confront this megaproject.<br />

And in your country, what's going on?<br />

Davld lasso<br />

movement | 7


disarming actions<br />

disarming actions I<br />

helen steven<br />

ls nonviolence neutral?<br />

Nonviolence<br />

requires the<br />

ability to<br />

view the<br />

opponent as<br />

a human<br />

being, and<br />

to reach out<br />

to that<br />

person<br />

. Helen Steven works at<br />

the Scottish Centre fot<br />

Non-Violence.<br />

8lmovement<br />

During the last ten days of June the Scottish<br />

Centre for Nonviolence will have been<br />

involved in providinE training for a group of<br />

seventeen women who will be going to live<br />

with Palestinian families as part of the<br />

lnternational Women's Peace Service. Their<br />

task is to be a nonviolent presence in the<br />

midst of the desperate conflict between<br />

tsrael and Palestine. As yet their remit is<br />

undefined, but some of their tasks will<br />

include accompanyingl people whose lives<br />

are under threat, observing and<br />

documenting human rights violations' simply<br />

beingl alonElside people as their homes are<br />

searched or destroYed as an act of<br />

solidarity, and possibly participating in direct<br />

action to prevent violence'<br />

It is hard to know vvhere to begin the task of<br />

training for such a challen$ng remit. Obviously a<br />

basic understanding of the underlying principles<br />

of nonviolence will be an integlal part of the<br />

course, as will a thorou$h exploration of the<br />

limits of nonviolence and what kind of actions<br />

ftll within the definition of acceptable nonviolent<br />

action. Time will be spent in role-play, acting out<br />

a variety of possible scenarios, and exploring<br />

issues around fear, trauma and stress.<br />

One fundamental question that will have to<br />

be addressed is that of partisanship. ls it the<br />

role of the nonviolent interventionist to remain<br />

strictly neutral at all times, or is the team<br />

going to take up the cause of the oppressed<br />

Palestinian people and take action alongside<br />

and on their behaF.r Undoubtedly part of the<br />

motivation for going to Palestine in the first<br />

place is to show solidarity, to attempt to<br />

understand their desperate pli$ht and to resist<br />

any form of oppression. Nonviolence does<br />

take sides, and is used as an effective tool for<br />

redressing injustice. Palestinians have been<br />

denied their human riShts ever since the<br />

setting up of the State of lsrael: their land has<br />

been occupied, they are subject to inhumane<br />

conditions as second class citizens, their<br />

people have been killed and exploited, and<br />

their young people are indeed without hope.<br />

Which is precisely the kind of talk that created<br />

such an outcrywhen Chede Blairsaid thatyoung<br />

Palestinians were lMng wtthout hope and that<br />

this was what drove them to become suicide<br />

bombers. So by going to stand alongside the<br />

Palestinian people, is the team showing goss<br />

insensitivity to the fears and suffering of the<br />

lsraeli people, and can they be accused of<br />

condoning the violence of tenorism?<br />

ln the articles I have written to date for<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>, I have repeatedly stressed that the<br />

only way to deal wilh tenorism is to be$n to<br />

understand why people become terrorists, and<br />

what drives people to the desperation of suicide<br />

bombing. This is not to condone violence or<br />

agree with such ways of acting, but it is the<br />

be$nning of an attempt to discover the root<br />

causes of viotence in order to remove them. By<br />

living alongside Palestinian families, the Peace<br />

Team will experience at first hand the pain of<br />

their situation, and may be able to convey some<br />

understanding of this to the outside world.<br />

But nonviolence demands more than this. lt<br />

also requires the ability to view the opponent<br />

as a unique human being, and to reach out to<br />

that person in the belief that transformation is<br />

not only possible, but through one's nonviolent<br />

acts of witness, is already taking place. So<br />

there is a challenge to reach out to the lsraeli<br />

people as well, and to reach a deePer<br />

understanding of their fears and hopes. Not<br />

only does the world need to understand the<br />

plight of the Palestinian people, there is a<br />

deep need for the tra$c fears and insecurities<br />

of the lsraeli people to be heard. They are<br />

living in daily insecurity at the very heart of<br />

their everyday lives, as terror does in truth<br />

stalk the streets. Their right to live unmolested<br />

in their own state is also being eroded, and<br />

both sides feel themselves at the mercy of the<br />

fickleness of the international powers.<br />

Any peace team truly committed to nonviolence<br />

will want to work towards an<br />

understanding of both sides in the conflict.<br />

Some of the bravest activists in the whole tra$c<br />

conflict, who are daily risking their lives, are the<br />

members of the lsraeli peace movement.<br />

members of organisations like Gush Shalom'<br />

who recently won the Swedish Right Livelihood<br />

Award, and who confront the lsraeli government<br />

by symbolic actions, such as painting a<br />

demarcation line at the boundary of the<br />

Occupied Territories; the thousands of young<br />

soldiers who are retusing to figltt if they are<br />

ordered into the West Bank; and many' many<br />

more who form the increasin$y vociferous<br />

peace movement within lsrael. These are the<br />

people who can $ve hope to the young people'<br />

not only of Palestine, but of lsrael as well. lt is<br />

with these groups that the task of peacemaking<br />

must be$n, and this is where the role of nonviolent<br />

solidarity is so crucial.<br />

Partisan, yes, fearlessly resisting oppression<br />

in whatever form it takes; but acting out of a<br />

deep love and respect for all sides of an issue'<br />

and creating the bridge over which people may<br />

cross to peace. I


ftustr atio\ humiliation, cour a$e<br />

students express their solidarity with the oppressed in the occupied territories<br />

On 27 March this year, a group of<br />

students from Sussex University went<br />

out to Palestine, also known as the<br />

Occupied Territories. The day after they<br />

arrived, the lsraeli army drove their<br />

tanks in and placed the West Bank<br />

under military curfew. David Anderson<br />

talked to Dan Glazebrook, who was one<br />

of the students. The interuiew took<br />

place at the end of June.<br />

Dan told me that the group spent ten days in<br />

the West Bank town of Ramallah and then a<br />

couple of days in East Jerusalem at the end of<br />

the trip. The trip had been organised by<br />

Grassroots lnternational, an umbrella organisation<br />

including groups such as Trade Unions,<br />

the Union of Palestinian Women, and the<br />

Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees,<br />

that hosts international observers in the<br />

Occupied Territories. They had originally<br />

planned to see Palestinian towns, such as<br />

Ramallah, and refugee camps, and to speak to<br />

people in lsraeli peace organisations - such as<br />

soldiers who were refusing to serue in the<br />

occupied territories - but after the lsraeli<br />

curfew this was impossible. Dan and two<br />

others were staying in a flat owned by the<br />

Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees<br />

to house workers who lived in the country<br />

around the town (travelling in every day would<br />

take too long, even in peace time, because of<br />

the road blocks), and were woken the first<br />

morning by the 'nasty screeching sound' of a<br />

military convoy going past, a tank, an APC, and<br />

a bulldozer. For two days, they couldn't leave<br />

the house but on the third day the curfew was<br />

lifted, and the UPMRC ambulances were<br />

returned, minus a driver. (Ihe driver was<br />

released after another three days, having<br />

spent the time stripped, handcuffed and<br />

blindfolded.) The students then agreed to ride<br />

in the ambulances to help distribute food and<br />

first aid p'ackages, thinking that foreign<br />

observers would discourage lsraeli soldiers<br />

from possibly beating the drivers or throwing<br />

the food and medicine onto the road. 'The<br />

ambulances couldn't be used for picking up<br />

the injured because no one was allowed to get<br />

into those areas. One of the nastiest things<br />

about the conflict was that, because they<br />

weren't allowed in, most of the deaths were by<br />

blood loss.' ln the ambulances, they were<br />

stopped pretty much every hour; which meant<br />

they had to get out and unload the ambulance,<br />

they were<br />

woken by<br />

the 'nasty<br />

screeching<br />

sound' of<br />

a military<br />

convoy going<br />

past<br />

most<br />

orgAnisations,<br />

whether<br />

linked to the<br />

Palestinian<br />

Authority or<br />

not, were<br />

targeted for<br />

harassment<br />

and attack<br />

pa lestine<br />

and the students had to show their passports<br />

- this took about half an hour each time. Most<br />

organisations, whether linked to the<br />

Palestinian Authority or not, were targeted for<br />

harassment and attack, Dan said. At one stage<br />

during that week, the office of the Medical<br />

Relief Committees that they were working from<br />

was shelled by a tank: Dan told me that the<br />

only reason no one was killed was that the guy<br />

who was working in the office at the time was<br />

in the toilet. 'lt was quite deliberate, because<br />

it was in a block of flats and it was the only<br />

floor that had been shelled'. ln addition, lsraeli<br />

soldiers used to bring dead bodies to the office<br />

and supply depot on the grounds that it was a<br />

medical organisation.<br />

On the final day, Dan and another Sussex<br />

student, an lsraeli girl, were travelling<br />

together when soldiers stopping them took<br />

their passports, told them to follow them to<br />

the central square where the lsraeli tanks<br />

were parked, and then drove off with the<br />

passports as the ambulance was told to park.<br />

Eventually, after a long wait, during which the<br />

ambulance left, they were told to get in a jeep<br />

and were driven off to a nearby Jewish settlement.<br />

They phoned the British Consulate on<br />

their mobile, and discovered that the army<br />

had told the Consulate that they'd been<br />

arrested, but that they would be released.<br />

After 24 hours, they were given back their<br />

passports and driven to East Jerusalem by the<br />

British Consulate. (They had been planning to<br />

return to East Jerusalem that day anyway.)<br />

They spent a couple of days in East<br />

Jerusalem talking to UN agencies and lsraeli<br />

peace groups. On the last day, Dan and the<br />

lsraeli girl in the group went to West<br />

Jerusalem to see her cousin and some of her<br />

friends, who were about to join the army.<br />

I asked Dan what he'd learned from the<br />

Palestinians.<br />

'The atmosphere at the checkpoints is<br />

one of humiliation, and generally as well;<br />

I don't know if I'd say despair, but frustration,<br />

but also they're quite proud people,<br />

quite courageous. They've no intention of<br />

stopping demonstrations even though<br />

they might be shot in the head. So the<br />

three words that sum it up are frustration,<br />

humiliation, and courage.<br />

It was interesting talking to people about<br />

suicide bombers. They don't call them<br />

suicide bombers; one guy said to me that<br />

suicide is associated with someone who )<br />

movementl9


palestine<br />

the more<br />

people are<br />

humiliated<br />

and<br />

oppressed<br />

the more<br />

they want to<br />

strike back<br />

in some way<br />

. Davld Andorson is ActinGl<br />

Edltor of ,ltovement.<br />

Dan Glazebrook as a<br />

Universlty Palestinian<br />

Solldarlty Campalgn.<br />

People<br />

didn't want<br />

or need to<br />

believe in a<br />

powerful<br />

God who<br />

would zap in<br />

to sort<br />

things out<br />

r€search in theolofly at<br />

Glrton Collegle,<br />

Cambrldgle<br />

has lost their will to live. lt's not to do with<br />

depression or self-hatred; they want to live<br />

freely. They callthem "marlyr attacks". They<br />

have mixed feelings, but certainly when the<br />

invasion took place most people supported<br />

them because there's so little they can do<br />

when tanks are coming into their houses.<br />

Except for some highly Orthodox Jews, and<br />

some lsraelis who refuse to join the army,<br />

almost every lsraeli citizen has served in the<br />

army, so for the Palestinians the distinction<br />

between civilians and army is blurred. Men<br />

in lsrael under the age of fofi can be called<br />

up as reseryists, who are mainly used in the<br />

occupied territories. But the more the<br />

Palestinians are humiliated and oppressed<br />

the more they want to strike back in some<br />

way.<br />

Obviously most Palestinians are not too<br />

fond of Zionism, the idea that there<br />

should be a state on their land that they<br />

were kicked out of, which is always and<br />

only for those of a particular reli$ious<br />

group, which is not them. But most<br />

Palestinians have made this historical<br />

compromise to accept that. They want to<br />

see a Palestinian state on the West Bank<br />

and Gaza, and the checkpoints dismantled<br />

and the settlers to be returned.<br />

Celebrity<br />

Theologian<br />

Dietrich<br />

Bonhoeffer<br />

Oh yes, I've heard of him'<br />

And you've probably seen the movie, read the novel,<br />

noticed the statue outside Westminster Abbey?<br />

Wow, a real celebrity! And I thought he was iust<br />

another of those dead German'speaking men who<br />

created modern theology.<br />

Well, that too. Born 1905, did two doctorates by the time he<br />

was 24, lecturer at the University of Berlin from 1931 to '1933'..<br />

Bit of a whiz kid. So, an illustrious career ahead of<br />

him?<br />

He left his university post in 1933, shortly after his radio<br />

broadcast on why Christians should be suspicious of the<br />

concept of a Fuhrer was cut off midway through. Someone<br />

didn't like what he was saying. They liked it even less when<br />

he became a leader in the 'Confessing Church', resisting the<br />

Nazi takeover of the Cerman Protestant churches and<br />

particularly the exclusion of Jews from the churches.<br />

Not a man to keep his theology and his politics<br />

separate, then.<br />

Bonhoeffer argued that the centrality of Jesus Christ for the<br />

whole of human existence, nature and history meant it was<br />

fundamentally wrong to think in terms of two spheres - the<br />

sacred and the secular, the religious and the political. He<br />

called the attempt to keep faith separate from questions<br />

about how lives are lived 'cheap grace'. The question 'Who is<br />

Jesus Christ for us today?' exemplifies his attitude - thinking<br />

theologically in response to the present situation, and getting<br />

an answer in terms of action and life rather than just theory.<br />

There's a lot of frustration about the<br />

international situation; the lsraeli government<br />

tries fairly successfully to keep<br />

them isolated, so they're very encouraged<br />

to see people like us coming over.'<br />

Dan had had a chance to talk to some<br />

lsraelis at the parly, which he said was<br />

interesting. 'One cousin said that Arafat was<br />

a terrorist and should be kicked out; I said'<br />

"isn't Sharon a terrorist?" and she said, "yes,<br />

he should go too." lt's in a crisis, lsraeli<br />

society, because the lsraeli government has<br />

offered the best deal it's going to offer to<br />

Palestine: a state unlike any other with no<br />

control over the borders, no airspace, with<br />

the settlements and roads between the<br />

settlements remaining under lsraeli control.<br />

The Palestinians feel that if that's the best<br />

they're going to be offered, then they haven't<br />

anything to lose now. The lsraelis feel, "come<br />

on, that was a good offer, and if they're not<br />

going to accept that what can we do?" The<br />

main sticking point I think for many semiprogressive<br />

lsraelis is the ri$ht of return for<br />

refugees, because that would endanger the<br />

Jewish identity of the state, and that's an<br />

unfathomable idea even for many people who<br />

oppose the occupation.' I<br />

Davld Anderson<br />

Sounds like SC/tlt's kind of guY.<br />

Well, it's a bit more complicated than that; on various social<br />

questions he was very conservative. Traditional family<br />

structures, woman's place is in the home.<br />

But isn't he the one all the radical 1960s theologians<br />

quoted?<br />

He wrote about the world 'come of age' - people didn't<br />

need or want to believe in a powerful Cod who would zap<br />

in to sort things out. And Bonhoeffer claimed that that<br />

situation actually enabled people better to understand the<br />

Cod revealed in Christ - who isn't powerful, who's weak<br />

and hidden from the world. What Christianity meant, he<br />

said, was learning to live responsibly without the powerful<br />

God to back you up.<br />

Ah, 'Death of God' and all that.<br />

Yes, though again it's more complicated than that;<br />

Bonhoeffer wasn't suggesting that we reduce theology to<br />

politics or ethics. Unfortunately he never wrote at any<br />

length about his more radical-sounding ideas - they're only<br />

mentioned in the letters he wrote from prison to his friend<br />

Eberhard Bethge.<br />

From prison?<br />

Having been a pacifist in the late 1930s he gradually<br />

changed his position and became involved in a plot to<br />

assassinate Hitler, which failed in )uly 1944.<br />

Doesn't sound like a haPPY ending.<br />

He was executed in a concentration camp in 1945'<br />

But won undying glorY?<br />

Hence the statue outside Westminster Abbey on the frieze<br />

honouring 2Oth-century martyrs. Though note that unlike<br />

many of the others on that frieze he wasn't killed for iust<br />

saying he was a Christian; he was killed for doing what he<br />

thought being a Christian required of him, which was<br />

conspiring to assassinate a head of state.<br />

Hmm, it is complicated' isn't it?<br />

At least Bonhoeffer realised that. I<br />

Rachel Muers


small ritual<br />

small ritual I steve collins<br />

Mountains of the Lord<br />

ln Onboard snowboarding magazine a<br />

couple of years back there was an<br />

article called 'Lands of the Gods',<br />

which ran through the place of<br />

mountains in many of the world's<br />

religions. Except, that is, for<br />

Christianity. Which, given Mount Sinai<br />

and Mount Zion, the Mount of the<br />

Transfiguration and the many biblical<br />

references to 'the mountain of the<br />

Lord', seems strange.<br />

Admittedly none of these sound much like<br />

powder heaven. But Christianity has dropped<br />

out of consideration; it is unknown tenitory<br />

for most of today's spiritual seekers.<br />

They seek a spirituality that will connect<br />

them to the mountains they love and ride; a<br />

sense of belonging, of awe and yet protection.<br />

Perhaps even the assurance that<br />

snowboarding can be an act of worship. How<br />

did Christianity lose the ability to articulate<br />

such things, in ways that make sense to our<br />

culture?<br />

We have a hunger for space. The spaces<br />

in our culture are all closed off, boarded up,<br />

privatised. Our ancestors looked across<br />

empty landscapes, sailed across open seas<br />

under huge skies. Such things seep into the<br />

soul. They are the spaces for which we were<br />

made, and all our attempts at control and<br />

shelter have in the end shut us up in a box<br />

of our own making, too small to breathe.<br />

Such space as is allowed to exist is owned<br />

and sold back to us with conditions<br />

attached. lt has already been determined<br />

how we shall behave.<br />

We find our freedoms are illusory. Before<br />

we even think it, play has become Playru,<br />

with someone else's values built in. The toys<br />

we shall buy are already waiting. The posters<br />

on the walls offer fantasies of escape. But<br />

they are consumerist. You will not escape,<br />

because you will take everything wath you.<br />

The very fact of you going there will<br />

contribute to the destruction of the spaces<br />

you crave. This is Escape*. The space is<br />

already rented on your behalf, commodified<br />

and sold back to you. Your experience has<br />

already been designed.<br />

Snowboarding is as compromised as the<br />

rest. You can barely do it without expensive<br />

branded equipment and clothing. lmages of<br />

snowboarding are used to sell cars and soft<br />

drinks, against the complaints of those who<br />

actually do it. And ironically those ads then<br />

sell snowboarding back to us, as part of the<br />

lifestyle package.<br />

But snowboarding illustrates both compromise<br />

and transcendence. Few people think<br />

about their branding while they're riding.<br />

Piste poseurs miss the point. All that stuff is<br />

just means to an end, mere background. The<br />

promise of a good brand is that it will get you<br />

a little closer to that end a little faster. lt will<br />

get you adventure and fun by technical<br />

specification; it will get you community by<br />

displaying where your head is at.<br />

Snowboarding shows how the physical and<br />

spiritual are inescapably combined. lt tells<br />

us a truth about ourselves that Christianity,<br />

so long tempted by dualism, has often<br />

denied. Bodily experience is a means to<br />

taste God. ln heaven, worship and experience<br />

of God will not be separate activities<br />

from every and any activity of living. Even<br />

now physical actions can both give and<br />

receive of God, without words. The purpose<br />

of words - of the words of God - is to lead<br />

us to the brink where actions take over.<br />

ln our unacknowledged hunger for God we<br />

are drawn to places where we cast aside our<br />

mastery for a moment, situations where we<br />

cannot but be humble. We are small and the<br />

mountain or ocean is vast. lt is beautiful,<br />

but can crush us. For those without<br />

conscious religion, this experience of beauty<br />

and danger is the closest they get to<br />

standing before God. And for those who do<br />

have religion, it may still be the closest they<br />

get in this life to standing before God.<br />

lf all nature illustrates some aspect of its<br />

creator's being, and if physical action<br />

expresses spiritual intent, then riding a<br />

board down a mountain is indeed an<br />

enactment of worship, is indeed a touching<br />

of God, even if the rider has no belief<br />

system to make sense of that act in<br />

conscious language. Prayers are written in<br />

powder fields. The rider seeks to be one with<br />

the world and its maker, not as master but<br />

as lover, embracing and embraced, in<br />

intricate involvement not aloof perspective.<br />

The mountain of the Lord is not an ivory<br />

tower but a place to throw yourself off. I<br />

Snolboading<br />

illustrates<br />

both<br />

GOmprcmise<br />

and<br />

hanscendence<br />

. Steve Gollins is a writel<br />

and web desiElnei in<br />

London<br />

movementlll


feature: global isation<br />

Delegates at $r ,t, t/ s rtlllindow on the World' conference in March<br />

explored the meaning of globalisation and Ghristian responses to it.<br />

Here are some of their thoughts.,,<br />

What<br />

concerns you most<br />

about globallsation?<br />

Using the term globalisation makes<br />

the issues seem like a huge evil monster<br />

but many of the problems can be tackled<br />

in bite sized pieces (like eating an elephant)<br />

The issues of fairness related to trade,<br />

'super-companies' taking over the world<br />

Driven by and in the interests of powerful<br />

states<br />

The inequality between rich & poor &<br />

the fact that it's increasing<br />

What<br />

do you understand<br />

least about<br />

globalisation?<br />

How much is it a natural occunence<br />

and how much it can be controlled and if<br />

so who has power over it<br />

Precisely what it is as it is mainly a buzword<br />

used to describe a variety of<br />

Why everyone rants about it without<br />

understanding it...<br />

This trade stuff - it seems to be<br />

very complicated<br />

What do you<br />

understand by the term<br />

'globallsatlon'?<br />

The way the world is coming together in terms<br />

of communication, travel, and so on; also the 'new<br />

wap of trading, that is, free market economy<br />

l Economics and Trade<br />

2 Communication & Social & Political Affairs<br />

3 A philosophy of interconnectedness - not only as we<br />

interact with other people but also wtth the environment<br />

- and this has always been so. There are spiritual<br />

aspects to discuss - to do with Unity and it could be<br />

thought of as being related to the Gaia philosophy<br />

Closer economic interaction > more political<br />

interaction > cultura/social interchange<br />

The new economic & communications<br />

systems that are 'shrinking the<br />

world'<br />

IYhat<br />

would you like to<br />

find out more about ln<br />

relatlon to globalisation?<br />

Ways to tackle the evil parts of<br />

globalisation<br />

wll it last? stabilise? continue<br />

inexorably?<br />

What are the arguments put fon'vard<br />

by the World Bank & TNCs for what<br />

they do?<br />

Ways to change the current<br />

systems, or alternative<br />

systems<br />

Do<br />

you think there are<br />

any beneflts flowln$ from<br />

globalbatlon? lf so, whati?<br />

Chocolate. Pineapples. Ability to share<br />

knowledge around the world - and stories &<br />

cultures<br />

The coming together of the world; it allows a much<br />

greater sense of $obal community<br />

Yes. - Investment in developing countries is essential'<br />

cultural interchange<br />

A collapse in trade would devastate livelihoods<br />

Means we get bananas and poor people in<br />

Ban$adesh get access to (mobile) phones<br />

Communications technoloA/ improvements<br />

but of course these only benefit<br />

those who are richer (at the<br />

moment?)<br />

12 lmovement


feature: global isation<br />

P<br />

,<br />

CAFOD, Gatholic aid agency and prominent member of the Trade<br />

lustice <strong>Movement</strong>, offer this exploration of globalisation, which is<br />

reproduced from their website lrvlw.cafod.org.uk) by kind permission,<br />

Globalisation describes the<br />

process whereby individuals,<br />

groups, companies and<br />

countries become increasingly<br />

interconnected. This interconnectedness<br />

takes place in<br />

several arenas:<br />

Global logo inc<br />

The inexorable rise of giant<br />

transnational corporations (INCs) lies<br />

at the heart of globalisation. Brand<br />

names, from Nike to Coca-Cola, have<br />

become some of the most widely<br />

recognised images on the planet. Of<br />

the world's top 100 economic<br />

players, 49 are countries and 51 are<br />

corporations. General Motors, Wal-<br />

Mart, Exxon Mobil, and Daimler<br />

Chrysler all have revenues greater<br />

than the combined economic output<br />

(GDP) of the 48 least developed<br />

countries.<br />

With economic power has come<br />

political clout. World leaders scramble<br />

for audiences with Bill Gates<br />

(Microsoft) and John T Chambers<br />

(Gisco). Corporate lobbyists are<br />

enormously influential (though often<br />

invisible) in drawing up the laws<br />

governing global trade and investment.<br />

Supporters of globalisation<br />

argue that TNCs bring jobs and new<br />

technologl to developing countries,<br />

while critics worry that their growing<br />

political migfit is undermining national<br />

governments and allowing corporations<br />

to run the global economy to suit<br />

themselves and their shareholders.<br />

The world in your supermarket<br />

Rich and poor countries alike have<br />

bought into the globalisation<br />

message - that you can export your<br />

way out of under-development. From<br />

1980 to 1999, world trade in goods<br />

(not seruices) tripled from 91 trillion<br />

to over f,i! trillion. Poor countries<br />

have concentrated on clothes,<br />

footwear, electronics, and food - a<br />

trip down the aisle of your local<br />

supermarket has become a tour of<br />

the Third World, with asparagus from<br />

Peru, prawns from Bangladesh, and<br />

mangetout from Zambia. China has<br />

become the world's largest exporter<br />

of clothing, toys, electronics, and<br />

shoes. Trade can create jobs and<br />

wealth in poor countries, but the<br />

regular media expos6s of appalling<br />

working conditions in Third World<br />

farms and factories have led to<br />

increasing concern over the social<br />

and environmental conditions under<br />

which the goods are produced.<br />

IT has awakened fears<br />

of a $rowin!,'ditital<br />

divide' betvveen the<br />

haves and have-nots<br />

Globalfuture.com<br />

The accelerating pace of innovation<br />

in information technologr (lT) is driving<br />

$obalisation. The cost of a threeminute<br />

phone call from New York to<br />

London fell from $245 in 1930, to $3<br />

in 1990, to about 35 cents in 1999<br />

(1990 prices). Using 24-hour e-mail,<br />

companies can split up their assembly<br />

lines between countries on different<br />

sides of the globe, sending designs<br />

and orders down the phone line and<br />

shifting components from one country<br />

to another to minimise costs. lT can<br />

cut costs and create a $obal village,<br />

but has awakened fears of a growing<br />

'digital divide' between the haves and<br />

have-nots. Thailand has more cellular<br />

phones than the whole of Africa.<br />

One Disney MacWorld<br />

The doubling of tourism over the last<br />

15 years, and increased international<br />

migrataon, have meant greater cultural<br />

contact between countries and<br />

peoples. The spread of information<br />

and corporate branding has generated<br />

something akin to a single global<br />

culture, especially among the<br />

teenagers of the MW generation.<br />

Those hyping globalisation believe this<br />

will lead to greater international<br />

understanding. Others fear that the<br />

global cultural tapestry could be<br />

replaced by bland corporate imagery<br />

and the platitudes of 'Just do it'<br />

branding. Priests in Latin America<br />

have told CAFOD they have been<br />

asked to baptise children from poor<br />

families with names like Rangerover,<br />

Thissideup and lloveny (think about it).<br />

$2 trillion a day<br />

Capital flows, increasingly disconnected<br />

from any real trade or<br />

investment, have grown enormously in<br />

the last 15 years. They now run at<br />

about $2 trillion a day (that's 12<br />

zeroes), moving around in the Alice-in-<br />

Wonderland world of derivatives,<br />

futures, and currency trading. The<br />

capital crossing the world's borders in<br />

three days exceeds a whole year's<br />

global trade. Globalisation's<br />

supporters argue that capital flows<br />

can provide much-needed investment,<br />

for example via third world stock<br />

markets, and can deter governments<br />

from following unwise economic<br />

policies which endanger 'market<br />

confidence'. However, such massive<br />

capital flows can easily overwhelm<br />

even large economies (as Norman<br />

Lamont found out in 1992), and in the<br />

last three years capital surges have<br />

caused severe social and economic<br />

crises in Thailand, Korea, lndonesia,<br />

Brazil, and Russia. The World Bank has<br />

found that these crises tend to hit the<br />

poor hardest, while subsequent<br />

recoveries benefit the better off,<br />

ratcheting up inequality. I<br />

movementl13


feature: global isation<br />

obalisation<br />

for the Sood of aII<br />

lournalist and author Noreena Hertz writes on embracing the new agenda<br />

live increasingly in a world of haves and have-nots'<br />

gated communities next to €lhettos, of extreme povefi and<br />

ble riches. Some enjoy ri$hts that are com<br />

to others. Vast numbers of people see almost no<br />

benefits from the advances of the past century. Relative<br />

inequalities are explodin$, and the world's poorest, despite<br />

all the advances of globalisation, may even be getting poorer.<br />

Trickle-down, the main rationale of neoliberal<br />

$obalisation, has turned out to be an illusion.<br />

Special interests have gained in power. Some<br />

people have a voice, but many remain<br />

voiceless. lt is a world of extremes, which can<br />

be characterised most clearly in terms of<br />

exclusion: political, economic and social.<br />

in a world like this' few<br />

can gain redress for<br />

the iniustices inflicted upon them<br />

globalisation:<br />

Economic exclusion.<br />

That is self explana-<br />

tory - and can be<br />

christian responses<br />

ideas from scms"---<br />

What do I mean by political exclusion? The<br />

rights of citizens marginalised by the<br />

interests of big business - whether this is<br />

George W's environmental policy, clearly<br />

formulated with the interests of the American<br />

energy companies that bankrolled his<br />

campaign in mind, or the infamous World<br />

Trade Organisation, which puts trade<br />

interests before the environment, labour<br />

standards or human rights. Governments can<br />

no longer be counted on to safeguard the<br />

public interest or protect the public<br />

realm'<br />

'window on the worrd' conference<br />

t""J,"*n"r"<br />

'Christiane need t'o make lhemoelves<br />

aware of globalisai"ion ioeuee, and explain<br />

and inopire within i"he workplace, ohurch,<br />

univeroity, Campaiqning muot be done on a loaal<br />

level and a national level, Campaignlng muot, be<br />

radical, difterent and therefore noticeablel<br />

in growing<br />

inequality and polarisation of wealth, in<br />

countries in the South crippled by debt<br />

repayments and growing income gaps both<br />

within and between countries. ln almost every<br />

developing country in the world, the number<br />

of people living on less than a dollar a day<br />

have increased not fallen over the past 20<br />

years since the 'Washington consensus'<br />

became mainstream.<br />

And social exclusion? ln a world like this,<br />

few can gain redress for the injustices<br />

inflicted upon them. ln the South we often see<br />

a race to the bottom: companies scouring the<br />

globe for the cheapest and easiest place to<br />

manufacture. Regulatory standards, health<br />

and safety standards fall, while rights are<br />

junked, communities displaced, unions<br />

outlawed. Tobacco workers in Brazil are<br />

poisoned by banned pesticides, but there is<br />

no hope of compensation, let alone improvement<br />

in working conditions. These are<br />

Southern workers and Southern communities<br />

excluded from the access to justice that we in<br />

the First World take for granted.<br />

What arises from these patterns of exclusion<br />

is a deep and growing chasm between the<br />

global economy and social justice. lf it is not<br />

bridged, it will result not only in seething<br />

conflicts, but, over time, in a growing<br />

movement of people that will make even our<br />

gated communities impossible to protect.<br />

So for our sakes, as well as those of the<br />

two million-plus children who die each year<br />

from diarrhoea brought on by a lack of clean<br />

water, the issue of exclusion must be<br />

addressed head-on. This is not just a longterm<br />

goal; it is something that has to be done<br />

at once, a project that can and must be part<br />

of a contemporary political process. We need<br />

to realise that what has prevented the pursuit<br />

of this objective has not been an absolute<br />

scarcity of resources; it has been an absence<br />

of moral imperative, responsibility, or will'<br />

We must therefore embrace a new agenda<br />

based on inclusiveness, a commitment to<br />

reconnecting the social and the economic, a<br />

relinking of the latter to a plausible redistributive<br />

system and a determination to ensure<br />

access to justice for all. All these things<br />

are within our reach. >


In practical terms these should be the<br />

immediate first steps:<br />

First, an inclusive political process must be<br />

set up to investigate and consider the impact<br />

of economic globalisation. This should take the<br />

form of an international independent commission,<br />

transparent, open, and involving all major<br />

stakeholders: representatives of the South as<br />

well as the Nofth, members of communities<br />

who are affected as well as those who are<br />

beneficiaries, the poor as well as the rich.<br />

And the issues to address? What is the<br />

impact of trade liberalisation on the poorest<br />

members of the global society? What is the<br />

cost of economic growth to the environment?<br />

What price are we paying for big business<br />

influencing the rules of the game on the<br />

quality of the air we breathe and food we eat?<br />

What is the justification for allowing the North<br />

to continue to protect key industries such as<br />

agriculture and textiles while the South is told<br />

to open up all its markets?<br />

This is not a matter of simply looking at<br />

economic costs. We have to examine the<br />

impact of economic globalisation on human<br />

development, on social capital, and in particular<br />

on the poor. What are the implications<br />

for society of rural communities collapsing<br />

overnight, or for farmers when their indigenous<br />

plants are patented by corporations?<br />

We do not as yet know the answers to all<br />

these questions. Much of the research on<br />

impact is confined to aggregate economic<br />

data which tells us little if anything at all<br />

about impact on particular groups. And there<br />

is at present no forum within which to<br />

rigorously address and examine these issues.<br />

But now more than ever there is a real need<br />

to confront the beliefs of the market<br />

fundamentalists away from the streets and in<br />

a public forum. A real imperative to investigate<br />

the costs of economic globalisation<br />

framed around the issue of exclusion.<br />

Next we must commit to putting in motion<br />

the necessary steps to create a World Social<br />

Organisation, which will seek to reframe market<br />

mechanisms in rules and regulations that<br />

ensure that the costs of externalities such as<br />

pollution and human rights abuses are factored<br />

into all aspects of economic activity. An organisation<br />

which'will provide a real counterweight<br />

to the dominance of the WTO - with as sharp<br />

teeth and powers of enforcement as real.<br />

For if the status quo in which trade<br />

interests have been given primacy is<br />

maintained, if the economic is allowed to<br />

dominate, and if we never reconnect the<br />

social with the economic, we will exacerbate<br />

divides and perpetuate a system in which the<br />

rules of the game all too often serve the<br />

interests of big business before people, and<br />

profit before social or environmentaljustice.<br />

globalisation: christian responses<br />

ideas from scm's<br />

'window on the world' conference<br />

'tMe as Chrisilane need to aome lo a aommon underetandinT of<br />

globallealion ao an umbrella term lo desaribe lhe proceeees lhat<br />

exist in our world today. The churahes need to identify, underetand<br />

and eetablish reeponaee to lhese individual proceoaeo by reaseeseing<br />

tradilional Chrielian teaching in lhe light of an<br />

incrc a eingly gl ob alio e d e o ciet y.<br />

Ae Chrlstians we sland united lhrough lheolo1iaal refleatlon<br />

and lhrough aatrion. The aation enables us lo<br />

ao-o?eraie wilh and affirm ghe aalion of olher non-<br />

Chrielian or1aniealione, Theologiaal reflealion<br />

providee bolh a baeis lor our own action and<br />

helpe ue deliver a Chrietian messa1e aarose<br />

lhe world in a way that,ie appropriate in<br />

various conte*el<br />

Of course<br />

we must be<br />

careful that the North should not use this new<br />

organisation as a form of protectionism.<br />

Assistance must be provided by the developed<br />

world to help its developing partners be able to<br />

bear the costs associated with better global<br />

regulation, and different responsibilities<br />

should be attached to nations of the South in<br />

the short term at least. The South should not<br />

be penalised for joining this organisation from<br />

a singularly disadvantaged starting point.<br />

new resources have to be created<br />

to empower people to gain access<br />

to better lives<br />

But relinking the social to the economic,<br />

though necessary, is not sufficient. There still<br />

remains the problem of seeking to alleviate<br />

the positions of those who are most excluded<br />

and marginalised. At the minimum this means<br />

the cancellation of debt, reversing the outflows<br />

of capital from the South to the North.<br />

Overseas aid, which to the least developed<br />

countries has fallen by 45o/o since 1990, must<br />

be significantly increased, while the ways in<br />

which it is delivered need to be rethought.<br />

It will simply be impossible for countries to<br />

reach the goals agreed upon at the Millennium<br />

Summit if these steps are not taken.<br />

We shall not be able to halve the proportion<br />

of people living in extreme poverty by 2015,<br />

nor halve the proportion of people suffering<br />

from hunger, without an end to the financial<br />

drain and a real financial boost.<br />

But more than this, new resources have to<br />

be created to empower people to gain access<br />

to better lives. And these new forms of<br />

resources can only be raised by new forms of<br />

taxation, global indirect forms of taxation,<br />

that are then redistributed. At the same )<br />

movement | 15


feature: global isation<br />

. Noleena Hertz is the<br />

author of Trre Sirent<br />

Takeover: Globat<br />

Capttatram and the Dealh<br />

of Democfacy (A'lowl<br />

s7.99).<br />

time these taxes must be used to protect our<br />

environment and our resources, so they<br />

would be taxes on the use of enerry and<br />

resources, and on Pollution.<br />

Finally mechanisms must be put into place<br />

to help people fi$ht injustice as part of a<br />

wider political rebuilding of institutions. All<br />

people, wherever they are, must be extended<br />

the rights we take for granted for ourselves.<br />

Workers and communities everywhere must<br />

be able to safe$uard basic rights to minimum<br />

health and safety standards, to minimum<br />

wages, to not be dispossessed without<br />

adequate compensation.<br />

ln the long term this is a matter of strengthening<br />

both local and international regulation of<br />

companies and making enforcement effective.<br />

ln the short term, there are clear steps that<br />

can be taken by governments of countries in<br />

which multinationals are domiciled.<br />

Several test cases are underway in which<br />

companies are being sued in the North for<br />

actions carried out by their subsidiaries in the<br />

South. They include Unocal in the States in<br />

connection with its activities in Burma, and<br />

Shell in connection with its activities in Nigeria.<br />

But this means of redress is usually blocked on<br />

two fronts. First, it is very seldom possible to<br />

lift the corporate veil and make parent<br />

companies accountable for the actions of their<br />

subsidiaries. Second, even when this is done,<br />

there are usually no funds available for<br />

workers or communities to take on multinationals<br />

with relatively unlimited resources.<br />

A world in which people have no access to<br />

justice is a world in which discontent will<br />

continue to fester. So my final recommendation<br />

is to ensure that the perpetrators of<br />

corporate crimes shall be taken to account,<br />

wherever they are, and that their victims will<br />

have redress whomever they are. This means<br />

committing both to legislative reforms that<br />

will ensure that the corporate veil can be<br />

lifted and parent companies can be held<br />

responsible for the actions of their<br />

subsidiaries, and to the establishment of a<br />

global legal aid fund so that workers and<br />

communities everywhere can be allowed<br />

access to justice.<br />

A tall order, perhaps, my plan for the world<br />

- but not inconceivable. For now more than<br />

ever it is clear that this divided world of<br />

injustice, inequity, and power asymmetries is<br />

untenable. The events of September LL<br />

2OOt, have shown us all too clearly that we<br />

do not and cannot live in isolation. We are<br />

inexorably linked, standing as global citizens<br />

side by side. And we allow the exclusion of<br />

groups of people amongst us at our peril. lt<br />

cannot be that the only issues upon which we<br />

as a world unite are terrorism and trade' We<br />

must commit to a global coalition to deal with<br />

the issue of exclusion too. I<br />

Noreena Hertz<br />

obatrbation<br />

and the Cospel<br />

How should we respond as Ghristians to the challenges and questions<br />

posed by a globalised society?<br />

When future historians look back at our era they are<br />

unlikely to i$nore the process we call '$lobalisation'. While<br />

it MAY prove just a 'buzzvord' and disappear as fast as it<br />

emerged, the phenomena it encompasses - the globalising<br />

of trade, investment, communications and so on - appear<br />

to be so profoundly transforming our world it is hard to<br />

believe we are not at a new, definin$, moment in history.<br />

But how do we view $lobalisation as people of faith? Do we<br />

see it as positive or harmful, or have we nothing to say<br />

either way? Gan we bring anything, as Ghristians, to the<br />

debate it has generated?<br />

First I suggest we need some reserue'<br />

realism and humour. Because the expansion in<br />

the mobility of capital we've witnessed in<br />

recent years seems not to have improved the<br />

lot of people living in abject poverly, and if<br />

anything to have widened the gulf between the<br />

richest and poorest nations, we can easily<br />

dismiss globalisation as antithetical to<br />

Christian values. And clearly many aspects of it<br />

should be viewed critically. But we need also to<br />

remember that many aspects of it have greatly<br />

improved our lives, not least the advances in<br />

information technologt: that we know as<br />

much as we do about globalisation's effects ;'<br />

16lmovement


is largely because of what it has given us. The<br />

irony of this has not been lost on protesters<br />

with a sense of humour - witness the<br />

'Globalised <strong>Movement</strong>s Against Globalisation'<br />

banners seen at Seattle, for example - and it<br />

should help us to keep things in a proper<br />

perspective.<br />

We should also be wary about simply being<br />

negative and denunciatory. lt's true that the<br />

TINA ('There ls No Alternative') approach<br />

adopted by many defenders of liberal<br />

capitalism needs taking apart, both for its<br />

lack of openness to the future and for its<br />

feeble understanding of history; but critique<br />

on its own, without pointers to alternatives, is<br />

no better. The frustration of businesspeople<br />

at those critics of capitalism who issue calls<br />

for a 'just and sustainable alternative',<br />

without saying what that alternative might<br />

look like, is easy to understand.<br />

I shall consider'alternatives' in a moment,<br />

but let us first return to our original questions<br />

- and here I suggest we find ourselves in a<br />

genuine tension. On the one hand there are<br />

sound theological reasons why the neoliberal<br />

agenda should worry us as Christians.<br />

lf we believe the gospel calls us to love and<br />

care for one another, especially the weakest<br />

and most marginalised, and to build<br />

community, we may not immediately warm to<br />

a system predicated upon competition and<br />

we Gan become a powerful force for<br />

good in our globalising world<br />

individualism. lf we believe that capitalism, of<br />

its own internal logic, must put profits before<br />

people and the environment, then, again, it<br />

will not be immediately obvious to us how it<br />

fits with Christian values. Yet globalisation is<br />

the only context we have to work in at the<br />

moment, the only arena in which to try to live<br />

out the gospel narrative; and therefore the<br />

choice seems to be, either to try to make it<br />

reflect gospel values, to work in the interests<br />

of poor people, or to ask the poor to wait<br />

while we dismantle it and build a better<br />

alternative (assuming that to be possible).<br />

My preference will be clear from the way I<br />

have phras"ed the alternatives. While it will<br />

hardly be straightforward to achieve, I believe<br />

we have to put our efforts into making the<br />

present system operate more justly, Let us<br />

not forget, before we get too ovenvhelmed,<br />

that it is not an unalterable, divinely-ordained<br />

system, but a humanly-created one, and that<br />

it is not therefore fanciful to envisage how it<br />

might work in ways that are more<br />

transparent, more sensitive to the planet,<br />

more people-centred. Our own government<br />

believes this to be possible, and has signed<br />

feature: global isation<br />

up to the Millennium Development Goals with<br />

their target of halving by 2015 the number of<br />

people living in abject poverty. The Chancellor<br />

has spoken publicly of a role for churches<br />

and faith groups in the struggle to achieve<br />

these goals, and it seems entirely consistent<br />

with our calling to 'seek first the kingdom of<br />

God'to engage in such a project.<br />

we must hold fast to the vision of<br />

God's people as community<br />

Yet our commitment to God's reign cannot<br />

but lead us also to remain open to radically<br />

new ways of being society - and here is the<br />

possible tension. We may have to work within<br />

the present situation as we find it, and even<br />

try to redeem it, but we also anticipate the<br />

coming of that 'kingdom' which radically<br />

transforms us as individuals and communities.<br />

Christian eschatology means that we<br />

cannot buy into the 'end of history' thesis, the<br />

suggestion that the system we find ourselves<br />

in, post the Cold War, represents the logical<br />

'omega point' to which history was inexorably<br />

leading. We cannot believe that what we have<br />

now is as good as it gets, that no other way of<br />

organising ourselves is possible. Rather we<br />

must hold fast to the vision of God's people as<br />

community, indeed, as the 'one body' we<br />

anticipate whenever we break bread together.<br />

It may not be easy to hold that in tension with<br />

a commitment to 'make globalisation work for<br />

the poor', but the two are not inconsistent.<br />

The vision inspires us to work all the harder to<br />

make the commitment work.<br />

Underpinning our whole approach to globalisation,<br />

then, must be our understanding of<br />

God - God as a God of life, the creator and<br />

sustainer of life and the one who, in Jesus,<br />

comes that we might<br />

have life<br />

'more )<br />

globalisation:<br />

christian responses<br />

ideas from scm's<br />

'window on the world' conference<br />

'The Chrislian aommunity ehould<br />

reo?ond with pnyer and action.<br />

Prayen oupporting lhoee who take acliont for<br />

unde?atanding of the issuesl for wisdom about<br />

how to aat,<br />

Aationz to learn morei to aampaigni to educate<br />

olheroi to alert poliliaiano; to be more aware of our<br />

voaationi to have liturgy that reflecls our concern for<br />

lhese issuesito givefrnancial and ?rayer oupporti


globalisation: christian responses<br />

ideas from scm's<br />

'window on the world' conference<br />

'Chrielians ehould ..,<br />

make oureelvee aware of t'hebibllcal groundingwehavefor<br />

hope and aa|,ion| take whalever aclione we aan in our<br />

own lives (for example, Turahase<br />

loaally grown food),<br />

while reaognising i';hat everyone ls aompromieedt<br />

eduaate ahildren aboul lhe world they live in,<br />

eopealally aboul t'he relali.lonship belween the<br />

Northern and goulhern Worldo aaL within<br />

and wit'hout corToratione to subvert<br />

and reeisllheir harmful etfectel<br />

abundantlY'.<br />

lf we understand that to<br />

mean that nothing should be valued more<br />

highly than life, that everything should serve<br />

life, then we have a framework for both<br />

critique and action. We shall not demonise<br />

markets, companies, international finance<br />

institutions, even globalisation per se' but we<br />

want to see them seruing life rather than vice<br />

versa. We shall argue for work as an activity<br />

that gives meaning and value to life rather<br />

than one likely to jeopardise or debase it. We<br />

shall argue for trade and investment to be<br />

means to an end - improving the quality of<br />

life for all - rather than simply ends in<br />

themselves. We shall affirm, as forcefully and<br />

passionately as we can, our planet as a Godgiven<br />

source of life for all, even in the face of<br />

its exploitation and rape in the relentless<br />

pursuit of groMh and profit. And when, in<br />

. Dr Andrew Bradstock is<br />

Secletary for Church and<br />

Soclety at the United<br />

Reformed Church. He ia<br />

author of several books<br />

on falth and polltics' and<br />

has recently edlted (with<br />

Christopher Rowland)<br />

Radlcat Christian<br />

Wrllings: A Reader,<br />

publlshed by Blackwell.<br />

making these affirmations, we find ourselves<br />

sharing ground with people of a different<br />

faith, we must do all that we can to break<br />

down the barriers between us, barriers which,<br />

when founded on mistrust and misinformation,<br />

can have such devastating<br />

consequences.<br />

So we can offer an alternative to the<br />

prevailing system - its reorientation to reflect<br />

and incarnate the values of the reign of God'<br />

to serue the interests of people, life and<br />

planet. And we have already begun to work<br />

towards realising this. Jubilee 2000 proved<br />

that church people, in solidarity with others of<br />

like mind, can be highly effective in securing<br />

significant reforms to the global economic<br />

system; the Trade Justice <strong>Movement</strong>, drawing<br />

on the support of many relief agencies'<br />

churches and other bodies, seems likely to<br />

make this point just as powerfully. The<br />

Fairtrade <strong>Movement</strong>, too, alerts us to ways in<br />

which producers in the developing world are<br />

exploited and challenges us to act justly as<br />

consumers. As Christians make connections<br />

between povertY and debt, trade, aid,<br />

education and other factors' so we can<br />

become a powerful force for good in our<br />

globalising world. And as the movements we<br />

have mentioned remind us, throughout the<br />

scriptures God calls on communities to<br />

practise justice and jubilee in preference to<br />

charity and alms, to organise so that povefty<br />

is eliminated rather than simply 'treated'. This<br />

is a callwhich should spur us allto committed<br />

and prayerful action, for that really is what it's<br />

all about in the end. As Max didn't quite say'<br />

the point is not just to interpret our globalised<br />

world but to change it' I<br />

Andrew Bradstock<br />

t-.i uAraFltq.c<br />

Ie not profit<br />

Fairtr e<br />

Globalised iniustice can be opposed by globalised resistance..'<br />

rhis Piece is about empowerment'<br />

I anout the understanding that<br />

I Eloo"li"ation is a process that we<br />

all are part of, and that we all can<br />

influence. The 'we' that I am referring to<br />

is literally everyone who feels unable to<br />

affect, but feels affected by, the trends<br />

of international business and politics'<br />

According to Christian Aid, the three richest<br />

people in the world control more wealth than<br />

all 600 million people living in the poorest<br />

countries. Their share of world trade is just<br />

:: bittBr d+.1<br />

lEr Th;'d \'/(rl,l<br />

Frl.ldu 3uf g<br />

0.4 per cent. But this doesn't mean that<br />

ordinary people have no power. On 4 May this<br />

yeart over 30OO rural craftswomen in<br />

southern lndia marched proudly through the<br />

streets to celebrate the first ever World Fair<br />

Trade Day, proclaiming their achievements as<br />

artisans and expressing their solidarity with<br />

others around the world, who they see as<br />

their trading partners. On the same day,<br />

supporters in Austria were climbing into mansized<br />

banana suits to spread the word to<br />

other shoppers in the Vienna high streets. ><br />

18 lmovement


feature: global isation<br />

'My first experience of international trading was at a trade<br />

show in Europe. Quite out of my normal comfort zone, I<br />

found the experience daunting, unnerving and at times<br />

quite intimidating. Prices, naturally, were uppermost in<br />

people's minds and I had great difficulty reconcilin$ the<br />

atmosphere of the trade show with the environment in<br />

which the products were produced. There was no way in<br />

this great hall that I could share the stories about the<br />

women who made the products and in no way were their<br />

needs and aspirations taken into account. I am not naiVe<br />

enough to believe that at the end of the day, trade is not<br />

about prices and profits, but somehow there needed to be<br />

another way.'<br />

Karin le Roux from Mud Hut Trading!, a Fair Trading or{,anisation<br />

in Namibia which links rural craftsmen and women<br />

We must develop the confidence to face, and<br />

not accept, the global trading system as it is.<br />

We have the power, if only we will use it.<br />

The Trade Justice <strong>Movement</strong> is a growing<br />

group of organisations in the UK who are all<br />

concerned about the negative impact of<br />

international trade rules on the world's<br />

poorest people, on the environment, and on<br />

We have the power,<br />

if only we will use it<br />

democracy. Their shared vision is that trade<br />

can be made to work for all - if there is<br />

change to the rules and institutions that<br />

govern it. This can be achieved if ordinary<br />

people are inspired to take action and make<br />

their governments listen to their concerns.<br />

On 19 June the mass lobby for Trade Justice<br />

proved its power as 12,000 campaigners<br />

from every corner of the UK converged on<br />

Westminster to deliver their message to their<br />

parliamentary representatives and from there<br />

to the top echelons of government.<br />

We find that we have power and influence in<br />

the various areas of our lives. The Fair Trade<br />

movement is a growing sector of international<br />

business that brings the Trade Justice vision to<br />

life through practical, everyday trading with<br />

communities who have been shunted to the<br />

mar$ns by $obalisation. Those communities are<br />

now selling their products on the same<br />

(botlom left)<br />

rhousands or<br />

plotesters<br />

lobbred thef.<br />

MPS ln<br />

person ro<br />

;:,?::t<br />

;lij:<br />

mass lobby of Parliament this summel<br />

supermarket shelves as the largest multinationals.<br />

When customers in the UK choose Fair<br />

Trade products, they are contributing economically<br />

and politically to an alternative way of doing<br />

business. The growth of Fair Trade sales in the<br />

UK has spearheaded a momentum of initiatives<br />

across the corporate sector that go far beyond<br />

PR and represent genuine efforts to measure<br />

social impacts as part of the bottom line.<br />

That empowerment is mirrored at the other<br />

end of the trading chain, in the lives of our<br />

trading partners in developing countries.<br />

According to Brigitte Kyerematen-Darko from<br />

the organisation<br />

Aid to ><br />

globalisation:<br />

christian responses<br />

ideas from scm's<br />

'window on the world' conference<br />

'?ray lo bring God into the situation, and<br />

live the ?rayen<br />

Listen to the stories and be aware ol the<br />

situation, while epreading awareneol to other<br />

people (that io, beln6 the "aonsaienae of the<br />

people".)<br />

View Nhe planet aa on loan from our grandahildren<br />

and God, and eee all people ao equal.<br />

5ee the Flble as a double-edged eword, read bolh as<br />

o??reeeor and the oppreesed,<br />

Have faith lo aat, knowing lhat God ie wibh usi


feature: global isation<br />

Artisans Ghana, woodcaryers may know that<br />

they are not getting a fair price from intermediary<br />

traders, but need the confidence to<br />

Small communities are now selling their<br />

products on the same supermarket<br />

shelves as the largest multinationals<br />

. Kathorlns Anderson Is<br />

Co-ordinator fol<br />

lnformation and<br />

AdvoGacy for the<br />

lnternatlonal Federatlon<br />

of Alternative frade<br />

negotiate. 'Fair Trade gives them the<br />

confidence.' Aid may provide much needed<br />

assistance - but it doesn't give any of the power<br />

back.<br />

So what can we do to engage positively<br />

with the challenge of globalisation?<br />

we can use our power as voters to engage<br />

with the parliamentary process. We can use<br />

our power as customers to create a demand<br />

for fairly traded goods. Let businesses know<br />

that we have ethical concerns when we buy<br />

their products - send a postcard to the store<br />

manager. lf we have money to invest, think<br />

about where we invest it. The main thing is to<br />

be vocal. We have friends, families'<br />

colleagues, and through those networks of<br />

relationships we can influence many others.<br />

When we realise the interconnections<br />

following globalisation, we realise that<br />

nobody is so easy to i€nore. I<br />

Katherine Anderson<br />

IITEffiIIET#ffiTIET<br />

see also,,,<br />

O The Trade Justice <strong>Movement</strong><br />

campaigns for fundamental<br />

change to the unjust rules and<br />

institutions governing international<br />

trade, so that trade is made<br />

to work for all. lt is a fastexpanding<br />

group of organisations<br />

that include ActionAid, CAFOD.<br />

Christian Aid, The Fairtrade<br />

Foundation, Friends of the Earth,<br />

Methodist Relief & DeveloPment<br />

Fund, National Federation of<br />

Women's lnstitutes, National<br />

Union of Students, Oxfam, Peace<br />

Child lnternational, PeoPle &<br />

Planet, Save the Children, SCIAF,<br />

SPEAK, Tearfund, Traidcraft, VSO,<br />

War on Want, WOMANKIND,<br />

Women's Environmental Network<br />

and the World DeveloPment<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>.<br />

Contact details:<br />

Trade Justice <strong>Movement</strong><br />

c/o The Fairtrade Foundation<br />

Suite 204<br />

16 Baldwin's Gardens<br />

London<br />

EC1N 7RJ<br />

t: 020 7404 0530<br />

e: tim@fairtrade.orE.uk<br />

w: www.tradeiusticemovement.org.uk<br />

O The Fairtrade Foundation was set<br />

up by major UK develoPment<br />

agencies to promote Fair Trade<br />

and to award the Fairtrade Mark.<br />

The Fairtrade Mark is an indePendent<br />

consumer label which<br />

guarantees a better deal for<br />

workers and producers from Poor<br />

countries. Set uP bY major<br />

development agencies, the<br />

Fairtrade Foundation checks that<br />

products meet its standards<br />

before awarding the stamP of<br />

approval. The Fairtrade Foundation<br />

is a point of contact for all UK<br />

individuals interested in<br />

supporting Fair Trade.<br />

Contact details:<br />

The Fairtrade Foundation<br />

Suite 204<br />

16 Baldwin's Gardens<br />

London<br />

EC1N 7RJ<br />

t: O2O 74OS 5942<br />

e: mail@fairtrade.org.uk<br />

w: www.fairtrade.org.uk<br />

O labour Behind the Label is a UK<br />

coalition camPaigning for<br />

improvements in working<br />

conditions in the international<br />

garment industry. lt is Part of<br />

broader international coalition,<br />

the Clean Clothes CamPaign.<br />

Through Labour Behind the Label<br />

you can find out how to influence<br />

UK high street retailers to improve<br />

conditions for their workers.<br />

Contact details:<br />

Labour Behind the Label<br />

38 Exchange Street<br />

Norwich<br />

NR2 1AX<br />

t: 01603 610993<br />

e: lbl@gn.apc.org<br />

20 lmovement


ties and binds<br />

ties and binds I jim cotter<br />

this lookout, this planet earth<br />

Untilfairly recently the calendar of the<br />

Western world was firmly attached,<br />

without controversy, to the approximate<br />

year of the birth of Jesus. We<br />

still refer to years as, for example,<br />

581ec or Before Ghrist, and lo 581, or<br />

Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord<br />

581. (By the way, the ec comes after<br />

the date, the no before it, because you<br />

say it aloud like that when you use the<br />

phrases in full - sorry to point it out,<br />

pedantic I'm sure...) To many people<br />

this division now feels parochial, or at<br />

best regional, not least since the<br />

'millennium' was greeted by every time<br />

zone round the planet, and even Ghina<br />

uses the year 2OO2.<br />

Since more people, of different cultures and<br />

faiths, now use the formerly more exclusive<br />

Christian reckoning of the years, some writers<br />

have altered ac to BCE, Before the Common<br />

Era, and no to CE, Common Era. But there is a<br />

problem here. lf you don't think the birth of<br />

Christ significant your dating system hangs<br />

loose from any event. lt doesn't really work for<br />

a secular world. Of course Christians may think<br />

they hold a trump card. After all, the language<br />

of 'common' and 'universal' has been claimed<br />

totally for Christ. But the change to CE is more<br />

a matter of international convenience and an<br />

accident of history in a world of computers and<br />

travel agents.<br />

Well, I might want to argue that one of the<br />

best titles for Jesus is The Human Being, the<br />

archetype of humanity who lived a decisive<br />

(perhaps I push that word into 'definitive'?)<br />

clue to the character of God, incarnating it,<br />

which I would sum up as Love, expressed as<br />

Justice in public life and Intimacy in private<br />

life. That is the vision I have glimpsed and the<br />

programme I recognise as fitfully enacted.<br />

But I am aware that at least two-thirds of the<br />

world doesft think like that, and in general<br />

human awareness it seems to me that indeed<br />

something new has occurred over the last<br />

generation. We have crossed a threshold,<br />

intimations of which have been gathering pace<br />

ever since the first circumnavigation of the<br />

globe, and which irrevocably changed our<br />

consciousness when human eyes - was it in<br />

1968? - first contemplated our home planet<br />

from far off in space. I would make a tentative<br />

claim that that was the most siginificant event<br />

of the twentieth century.<br />

This suggests to me that the 'Common Era'<br />

or 'Global Era' began in, give or take a few<br />

years, 1968, and that we are now living in,<br />

shall we say, 34 GE - though I am under no<br />

illusion that the United Nations is going to<br />

endorse this prophetic moment. I simply share<br />

the idea for what it's worth, which may be<br />

nothing.<br />

These ruminations could lead into a discussion<br />

of globalisation, the World Cup, climate<br />

change, the internet, international law, or a<br />

host of other issues. But I want to stay with<br />

that picture of the planet, the blue and white<br />

sphere against such a deep black background.<br />

Much poetry and prayer uses the imagery of<br />

sunrise and sunset, and the human eye<br />

delights in the illusion as well as in the natural<br />

beauty. The sun sets, sinks, falls, and so on.<br />

and so on. Body clocks and emotional moods<br />

are often intimately connected with the<br />

changes of daylight and darkness, and the<br />

seasons of the year.<br />

But the new awareness gives us a different<br />

perspective, one not yet woven into poetry and<br />

prayer, not least because we neither feel nor<br />

see (at least with the naked eye) the<br />

movement of the planet in space. One meditation,<br />

derived from information in Edward Hays'<br />

Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim (Forest of<br />

Peace Publishing lnc., 1989, 1995), gives us a<br />

hint of how we might add a 'morning' 'ptayet'<br />

to our repertoire that honours the new<br />

universe story - though whether it leads to<br />

thoughts of glory or of insignificance remains<br />

an open question:<br />

From this lookout, this planet earth,<br />

remote outpost of the universe,<br />

contemplating the stars at night,<br />

racing with our brother planets<br />

forty thousand miles an hour through<br />

space...<br />

On the surface of our earth,<br />

warmed to life by mother sun,<br />

orbiting around her six hundred million<br />

miles a year,<br />

wakened by our day star that seems so<br />

close...<br />

At morning turn-around of earth,<br />

spinning on her axis at a thousand miles<br />

an hour,<br />

fullness of day beyond the eastern<br />

horizon,<br />

thick night way out beyond the west...<br />

we breathe in quiet exhilaration,<br />

we move into this new day in trust... I<br />

one of the<br />

best titles<br />

for lesus is<br />

The Human<br />

Being, the<br />

archetype of<br />

humanity<br />

. Jim Cotter runs Cailns<br />

Publishing, an<br />

independent Christian<br />

imprint<br />

movementl2l


ecumenrsm<br />

ecumenlbm tb like<br />

ridins, a bike...<br />

what can SGM learn from cycling activists?<br />

solidari$f No, really - put the<br />

away,<br />

history books aside - in your experience what is it?<br />

have you felt, 'l belong. This truly matters'?<br />

Examining my own life, I realise solidarity is<br />

much rarer than I first thought. An evening<br />

spent with close friends in a pub discussing<br />

grand ideas? Once the mist of alcohol or<br />

sentimentality has gone away, I'll admit this is<br />

only camaraderie. Then there are certain stories<br />

I have covered as a journalist for local newspapers<br />

- stories with political bite that have voiced<br />

community concerns and effected change. This<br />

doesn't even take strong editorialising, just<br />

straight reporting of a legitimate issue. Yet, if I'm<br />

honest, the reason editors love such stories is<br />

that they sell papers. lt is not because they<br />

conform to some noble charter of ideals.<br />

I'll try again. The best example of solidarity I<br />

can offer is riding my bike with a bunch of<br />

strangers. By that I mean a Gritical Mass bike<br />

ride, a monthly'happenin$' in numerous cities<br />

worldwide, in which cyclists assert their ri$ht to<br />

be on the roads by riding together, usually at<br />

rush hour on a Friday evening. ln this case I'm<br />

talking about St Louis but the atmosphere, and<br />

the ethos, is more or less the same anywhere.<br />

Gritical Masses are not protests'<br />

not athletic bike rides, but rather<br />

torganised coincidencest<br />

I came to St Louis, Missouri last summer with<br />

my wife. We'd been married for a week at that<br />

point and Katy hadn't lived in St Louis for ten<br />

years, so we were both pretty clueless about<br />

what to expect. We were short of cash'<br />

. unenthused by the idea of runnin$ a car and<br />

determined to see how we'd fare with a travel<br />

pass and a bike. We soon discovered that in the<br />

Midwest, relying on public transport means<br />

something different than in Europe. Put simply,<br />

only pensioners and poor people ride the bus.<br />

Or at least that is the perception. lt's not<br />

uncommon to be standing at a bus stop and<br />

have a passing motorist yell, 'Get a car!' When<br />

people give you directions they'll tell you where<br />

to find a parking spot, even before asking how<br />

you're travelling. Using Metrolink - a light<br />

railway system installed ten years ago - is not<br />

quite so deviant, but it doesn't get you<br />

everywhere.<br />

As for cycling, recreational biking is deemed<br />

acceptable, but anything more purposeful is<br />

just plain eccentric. I have heard a story about<br />

someone who had just taken a job with a<br />

corporation and was told he would not be<br />

allowed to ride his bike to work. Given that<br />

context, it's understandable why biking with a<br />

group of fifty other riders is so affirming. We're<br />

all freaks together.<br />

Critical Masses are not protests, not athletic<br />

bike rides, but rather, as the lingo goes,<br />

'organised coincidences'. There is a route<br />

sketched out, usually about ten miles, and if<br />

someone feels like taking a detour the whole<br />

group follows. One feels safe taking the inside<br />

lane on major roads, something I would be<br />

unlikely to do if travelling on my lonesome.<br />

The idea comes from Beijing, where at<br />

junctions, cyclists gather until they achieve<br />

'critical mass' and then plough into the road<br />

making the other traffic stop for them all.<br />

Similarly, a Critical Mass travels as one unit and<br />

can keep going through traffic lights when they<br />

turn red, in the same manner as a funeral<br />

cortege.<br />

Dan Kliman, a transplant from Chicago where<br />

masses attract up to 500 people, started the St<br />

Louis ride two years ago. He told me: 'l'm a bi$<br />

road rider and every time I ride Critical Mass it<br />

gives that energ/ to get through another month<br />

of being a bike commuter.' lnitiating the ride<br />

was a matter of putting flyers on every parked<br />

bike he saw and getting the news out via<br />

supportive online discussion groups. The first<br />

mass was siginificant for the disparate cycling<br />

community because 'people had the sense that<br />

they could take over the road. We weren't goin$<br />

to be terrorised by cars.'<br />

Numbers fluctuate depending on the weather,<br />

the final destination and, of course, group<br />

chemistry. Participants vary from hardcore<br />

cyclists (professional couriers, competitive<br />

cyclists and daily commuters) to wusses like<br />

myself (far happier on a cycle path than a main<br />

road and with a major aversion to riding at<br />

night) and people who haven't been on a bike in<br />

ten years. I couldn't even begin to identify all<br />

the different kinds of bikes - suffice to say<br />

that the visual effect of a mass (especially the)<br />

22 lmovement


fancy dress one at Halloween) would be enough<br />

in itself to stop traffic. How often do you see a<br />

tandem followed by a rickshaw?<br />

So why have I jimmied these transportorientated<br />

musings into SCM's magazine?<br />

Because, I feel, there is a latent spirituality in<br />

the Critical Mass phenomenon - an appreciation<br />

of what rituals, evangelism (in its best<br />

sense) and community are all about.<br />

RITUAL: after twenty minutes or so of chatting<br />

while people congregate in Keiner Plaza,<br />

downtown St Louis, everyone hops on their bike<br />

and circles round a fountain in the centre of the<br />

plaza several times until someone decides to<br />

embark on the route. lt's street theatre and a<br />

great demonstration of unity-through-diversity<br />

without resorting to shrill slogans. Another<br />

tradition that has evolved with the St Louis mass<br />

(and perhaps other cities, I don't honestly know)<br />

is that at least once per ride at a major intersection<br />

everyone gets off their bikes and defiantly<br />

raises them above their heads. Some drivers are<br />

amused, others are irked and some - believe it<br />

or not - have tried to drive through the mass.<br />

Once the honking of horns becomes too much, or<br />

arms start to sag, we move on.<br />

EVANGELISM: some riders hand out flyers to<br />

puzzled pedestrians and motorists. There is a<br />

fanatical urge to spread the good news about<br />

biking. The leaflets say: 'Once people see how<br />

much fun cycling can be, and how much safer<br />

and more pleasant it makes their streets, the<br />

thinking behind our car-oriented transport<br />

policies will be challenged.' To my tastes the<br />

flyers are rather gushy, but to people who have<br />

never considered a bicycle as a serious form of<br />

transport, it's maybe not a bad idea to be<br />

emphatic. Although it's not 'my thing' (l never<br />

made a good evangelical Christian either), others<br />

will continue to ride-n-proselytise and I<br />

wholeheartedly support them.<br />

COMMUNITY: Critical Mass creates a tangible<br />

sense of community, even if the community exists<br />

in that form for one night only. Some riders are<br />

rabidly anti-car, others drive daily, but there is no<br />

interrogation about how committed anyone is to<br />

alternative forms of transportation. There is no<br />

qualification to being a Critical Mass-er, other than<br />

being there with a bike.<br />

Those empowering evenings remind me of my<br />

time involved with SCM in Glasgow: there's the<br />

grand idea - an intelligent and inclusive vision<br />

of Christianity - which no-one really talked<br />

about because you were so busy doing it;<br />

there's the discovery that I am not alone, there<br />

are other freaks (people who also feel both<br />

sceptical and excited by faith); and we stuck at<br />

it, meeting once a week, with the numbers<br />

fluctuating wildly.<br />

Rather than worrying that SCM has lost its<br />

political edge or its theological rigour - or<br />

whatever the complainl du jour is - perhaps we'd<br />

do well to imagine SCM as an advocacy group<br />

along the lines of Critical Mass. The primary aim<br />

is to allow free thinking about our faith, when,<br />

broadly speaking, churches discourage this.<br />

Meeting together without a leader is a form of<br />

direct action and if we succeed in making a 'safe<br />

space', theological insights and political stances<br />

will come out of that. That was my experience<br />

during six years with Glasgow SCM. We would<br />

draw up termly programs with an obligatory<br />

session on 'Homosexuality and the Bible', as if<br />

the SCM group had to spell out its line to<br />

newcomers, but then it morphed into an attitude<br />

of 'There's so many gay Christians in this group<br />

that's if anyone is uncomfortable with the idea<br />

they will have left by the end of term anyhow.'<br />

Rituals were similarly loose and organic. A<br />

ten-minute slot, jokingly called the 'holy<br />

moment', was prepared by a different person<br />

each week, who of course brought their tastes<br />

and religious heritage to it. But liberal<br />

Christians rarely take Mass together, to use the<br />

Catholic term, because it draws lines and<br />

excludes people. Church history and teaching<br />

has turned the breaking of bread - essentially a<br />

sign of unity between believers - into a highly<br />

divisive issue.<br />

I'm not going to suggest on the basis of a<br />

weak pun on the word 'mass', that a bike ride<br />

offers anything that will heal 2,000 years of<br />

internecine fighting. But there is something very<br />

appealing about Critical Mass's way of making a<br />

community from essentially isolated people who<br />

come together and share a journey, then leave<br />

energised and emboldened for their daily<br />

journeys. Critical Masses are carnivals that<br />

celebrate diversity and unleash pent-up ener6/.<br />

But they are also 'carnivalesque' in the sense<br />

that academics use the term. lt's like the<br />

Roman festival of Saturnalia in which slaves and<br />

masters exchanged places for a day: subversive<br />

thoughts are played out, temporarily<br />

turning the world upside-down, and that vision<br />

sustains us when things return to normal. Bikes<br />

could dominate the streets, not cars.<br />

Likewise a spiritual community energises us<br />

for our daily journeys; and SCM is a carnival<br />

where bright young things imagline what the<br />

church should be.<br />

Let the dreary old<br />

codgers honk their<br />

horns. I<br />

Tim Woodcock<br />

ecumentsm<br />

subversive<br />

thoughts are<br />

played out,<br />

temporarily<br />

turning the<br />

world upsidedown,<br />

and<br />

that vision<br />

sustains us<br />

when things<br />

return to<br />

normal<br />

. Tim Woodcock is a<br />

former editor of<br />

<strong>Movement</strong>


first among equals<br />

.l<br />

first among equals I claire connor<br />

Meet Lucy Symons, co-ordinator of a university SCM group' and her<br />

faithful committee. lt's the beginning of the year, and Freshers' Week<br />

is looming large. Lucy's diary tells all...<br />

The whole<br />

day was a<br />

hideous<br />

pantomime,<br />

with large,<br />

fixed grins<br />

directed at<br />

the crowd<br />

of freshers<br />

stumbling<br />

past with<br />

arms full of<br />

freebies and<br />

eyes too big<br />

for their<br />

faces<br />

. Claire Connor is Catholic<br />

lay Chaplain at GKT<br />

medical schools, King's<br />

College London<br />

September 15th<br />

4pm Well, back to earth with a bang - second<br />

year here I come! Just finished moving into our<br />

new house. lt passed the Parent lnspection,<br />

thank Boodness. Mum stuck her head out of<br />

the car as they drove off and yelled, 'Don't<br />

forget to plan your food shopping, darling! And<br />

change the freshener in the loooooo.." The<br />

neighbours must think they've left an eightyear-old<br />

behind, not a grown adult. Hmph'<br />

Surrounded by all my worldly goods here, so<br />

better shove it all in the bedroom and unpack<br />

later. The SCM committee are due round in<br />

half an hour for the pre-freshers meeting. I'm<br />

the first back, can't believe it. Damn, no fresh<br />

milk! Oh well...<br />

9.3opm Come on!! Meeting went amazingly<br />

well. Am fantastically fantastic co-ordinator (we<br />

decided not to use the term president, too<br />

hierarchical and not very pc, we felt), with v.<br />

committed team. Nearly everyone was there,<br />

Bemadette (social sec), Jane (publicity), Sister<br />

Margaret (Chaplains' rep) Kevin (secretary) - we<br />

were missing my assistant co-ordinator Jeremy,<br />

but he's still on holiday. Pretty much<br />

everything's in place for the fresher's fair on<br />

Wednesday and the opening social on Friday at<br />

Tom's house (HUGE vicarage and his wife's a<br />

great cook).<br />

Slight problem with Kevin, or Krazily Keen<br />

Kevin as I think of him, in that he wanted to<br />

minute the entire meeting word for word. Tried<br />

to say he just needed to put down the main<br />

points but there was no stopping him. A bit<br />

tedious having to repeat things and his pencil<br />

was practically smoking by the time we were<br />

finished, but it's great that he's so conscientious.<br />

Always look for the positive, Dad says.<br />

There were some great ideas for the annual<br />

retreat - Kevin wants to cycle to Santiago di<br />

Compostella but most people seemed to put<br />

Taiz6 as the top option. Have to see what<br />

people think. Just back from the pub with<br />

Bernie and my bed's covered in boxes.<br />

Unrngh, what's positive about that?<br />

September 18th<br />

8.3oam This is inhumane! lt's practically the<br />

middle of the night. Thank goodness Freshers'<br />

Fair is only once a year. Oh Lord, I'm going to<br />

miss the bus. Here goes!<br />

7pm Too - tired -to write. Quite successful -in<br />

spiteof -iz@z..<br />

September 19th<br />

71am I have in front of me a sheet of paper<br />

with 26 freshers'e-mail addresses on it. Yep,<br />

26. ln view of yesterday's performance, this is<br />

miraculous. Jeremy, my mainstay team<br />

member, has had what I can only describe as<br />

an unholy conversion experience over the<br />

summer. New Orleans has clearly weakened<br />

his mind. I don't know what I'm going to do<br />

with him - or at this rate, to him. Grrrrr'<br />

Arrived to find Jane and Robert (Free Church<br />

Chaplain) setting up the stall next to the<br />

Groovers society, who were cheerfully<br />

thumping out music to make your ears bleed<br />

on a mammoth sound system. 'Couldn't get<br />

anywhere else!' screamed Robert - at least, I<br />

think that's what he said. Whole day quickly<br />

became like hideous pantomime, complete<br />

with exaggerated sign-here gestures and<br />

large, fixed grins directed at the crowd of<br />

freshers stumbling past with arms full of<br />

freebies and eyes too big for their faces. Only<br />

Kevin remained undaunted, bouncing around<br />

in an 'l belong to Jesus' t-shirt and matching<br />

WWJD baseball cap, cheerfully bellowing at all<br />

comers and handing out term cards.<br />

Thankfully, there were enough people for us to<br />

do half hour shifts with hearing recuperation<br />

breaks in between, and we were actually doing<br />

okay - untilJeremy made his entrance.<br />

He strolled up at 2pm (four hours late), Mr<br />

strait-laced Marks and Spencer 2002 dressed<br />

in top to toe black, shirt half-unbuttoned to<br />

reveal a large gold chain, wearing a ridiculously<br />

large pair of shades and a cigarette (a<br />

cigarette!) dangling nonchalantly from the<br />

comer of his mouth. There was a collective gasp<br />

from the stall - well, everyone had their mouths<br />

open at any rate. 'Jeremy, what happened?!<br />

You look like something out of the flipping Blues<br />

Brothers!' I shouted. 'lI's Jaz, if you don't<br />

mind,' he replied coolly, 'and that's the whole<br />

point - dotl.'Well, it was damage limitation ftom<br />

there on in. Even Kevin began to lose his<br />

bounce after an hour ofJeremy haranguingthe<br />

Groovers (soulless philistines, apparently)' and<br />

lurching up to fteshers with what was clearly<br />

supposed to be a cool swagger, shouting,<br />

'We're on a mission from God!' and spraying<br />

cigarette ash all over the place. We were luclcy<br />

not to get thrown out, franklY.<br />

Amazin$y, not everyone was scared off and a<br />

good number seemed keen to come to the<br />

social. Wonder if I can dissuade Jeremy/Jan<br />

from coming - no, that's horrible. Maybe he'll<br />

get normal again after the holiday effect wears<br />

off. ln the meantime, it's official - America is<br />

bad for my health. I<br />

1<br />

24 | movement


eviews: books<br />

I<br />

J<br />

fgVJ 9<br />

'V<br />

c)<br />

J<br />

celebratin{, the senses<br />

a new book challenges some accepted orthodoxies about the body<br />

The Education of Desire<br />

T J Gorringe I scm press I f,13.95<br />

I confess I judged this book by its<br />

oover. The colour photograph of a<br />

half-clad Dexter Fletcher posing as<br />

Bacchus in Derek Jarman's film<br />

Canva{gio wastoo much to resist.<br />

As is often the case, it is had to<br />

find justification for the choice of<br />

picture in the contents of the book,<br />

thouglr Gorringe does refer brieffy<br />

to Caravaggio's depictions of<br />

Bacchus in his third chapter, 'Sins<br />

of the Flesh?'. Still, the Dionysiac<br />

and delectable Dexter is what<br />

made me pick the book up and<br />

perhaps what made you read this<br />

review, so here goes.<br />

The first four chapters of lhe<br />

Education of Desire are based on<br />

lectures given at the University of<br />

Victoria, British Columbia in 2000 and<br />

argue for a revised attitude towards<br />

our bodies and senses in our thinking<br />

about God. The final chapter is taken<br />

from a lecture given to the Catholic<br />

Peace and Justice Conference and is<br />

a re-interpretation of the Eucharist as<br />

both a celebration of the body and as<br />

a ritual with.far-reaching implications<br />

for living as bodies in the body of a<br />

global economy.<br />

The problem with turning a series<br />

of lectures into a book is that the<br />

chapters risk appearing disjointed<br />

and may not come together convincingly<br />

enough to form a coherent<br />

overall argument. But Gorringe<br />

overcomes this problem almost<br />

wholly successfully by setting up a<br />

bold case for the centrality in<br />

theology of a celebration of the<br />

senses in the first chapter:<br />

'ln and through bodies, and<br />

through the exercise of our<br />

senses, God moves towards the<br />

creation of a new world, a world<br />

of the celebration and affirmation<br />

of bodies, and therefore of<br />

the creator, as the consummate<br />

sign of the grace of God's<br />

essential nature.'<br />

and then dealing with anticipated<br />

objections to his own argument in the<br />

chapters that follow. What about<br />

when the senses are used for evil as<br />

well as for good? Doesn't a celebration<br />

of the senses affirm our hedonist,<br />

consumerist societlp What about the<br />

tradition of asceticism? And, to my<br />

mind most importantly, if we put so<br />

much weight on the senses, what<br />

about those who are sensually<br />

deprived - blind, deaf or quadriplegic?<br />

Gorringe is refreshing and illuminating<br />

on all these points, but his<br />

treatment of this last one is the most<br />

memorable because it is the most<br />

controversial. He challenges deepseated<br />

ideas on a sensitive subject,<br />

rejecting the definition of disability<br />

as that which is contrary to what is<br />

'normal', but also rejecting the view<br />

held by some of those who are<br />

disabled themselves, that physical or<br />

mental impairment is somehow Godgiven.<br />

What is particularly impressive<br />

about this chapter is its range of<br />

reference. Gorringe never simply<br />

gives his own scholarly view - rather<br />

he illustrates his points with firsthand<br />

accounts of people personally<br />

affected by disability.<br />

lndeed, the whole book is filled with<br />

an incredible array of references. He<br />

refers to Karl Barth and to Britney<br />

Spears, to Augustine's Confessions<br />

and to When Harry Met Sally. This is<br />

engaging and entertaining, though<br />

occasionally he does risk losing his<br />

reader by getting bogged down in<br />

constant allusion to other sources.<br />

Gorringe is at his best when<br />

overturning accepted orthodoxies<br />

and challenging our prejudices and<br />

hang-ups. His points on the real<br />

origin, purpose and reach of the<br />

Eucharist in the final chapter are<br />

certainly food for thought. What,<br />

finally, does he mean by 'the<br />

education of desire'? Nothing to do<br />

with Dexter, I'm afraid, but that<br />

doesn't mean it's not provocative. I<br />

recommend you go between the<br />

covers to find out. I<br />

M enber . r.,"i;j gill,:,"ff:l<br />

movementl25


.l<br />

reviews: theatre<br />

teachin€ God to dance<br />

a modern interpretation of medieval religious drama<br />

Mysteres<br />

London, spring 2002<br />

A South African theatre<br />

company put on a PlaY based on<br />

the Ghester Gycle of MYstery<br />

plays in London during the<br />

spring. The Mysteries were a<br />

series of medieval PlaYs telling<br />

sacred history from the Fall of<br />

Lucifer to DoomsdaY Put on bY<br />

craft guilds in cities across<br />

Europe: each town had its own<br />

set of plays. TheY were a<br />

populist form: the stories were<br />

enlivened by humour from<br />

assorted shepherds, devils,<br />

soldiers, and Noah's wife (who<br />

didn't like the idea of sPending<br />

forty days cooPed uP with a<br />

bunch of smelly animals and<br />

would rather go and visit her<br />

friends), and the anti-authoritarian<br />

potential of the Passion<br />

narratives was PlaYed uP.<br />

planvrights cheerf ullY<br />

imagined the events in<br />

medieval terms,<br />

unencumbered by historical<br />

awareness or any sense of<br />

classical grandeur<br />

The writers of the Plays found that<br />

the biblical narratives are often<br />

somewhat spare and confine<br />

themselves to essentials. To modern<br />

sensibilities, this is part of their<br />

literary power, but medieval sensibilities<br />

were different, and theY found<br />

that the biblical narratives allowed<br />

for, and indeed required, elaboration<br />

to explain and motivate the behaviour<br />

of the characters. Thus, the<br />

playwrights cheerfully imagined the<br />

events in medieval terms, unencumbered<br />

by historical awareness or any<br />

sense of classical grandeur. Medieval<br />

sensibilities enjoyed diversity, digression<br />

and occasional irreverence, and<br />

they found that the grand narrative of<br />

the Old and New Testament allowed<br />

them to fit a lot of this in. The good<br />

characters are surprised at being<br />

caught up in the events of sacred<br />

history, reasonablY Pious, $ven the<br />

number of miracles going on around<br />

them, but not exactlY holy, while the<br />

evil characters are cheerfullY<br />

irreverent or madly tyrannical' Herod<br />

was notorious for allowing the actor<br />

to go over the top - Shakespeare has<br />

Hamlet make reference to him. The<br />

primary sense is of a bustling<br />

humanity who have lives of their own<br />

in the background, who haPPen to be<br />

called up into the Biblical story. As<br />

noted, the villainy of the evil characters<br />

in the New Testament, is<br />

depicted very much in terms of<br />

medieval power structures - wicked<br />

priests and rulers are bY no means<br />

left safely in a distant Past. The<br />

narratives before the lncarnation<br />

show God at his most'Old Testament'<br />

(although the narrative starts with the<br />

Fall of Lucifer, which is a much later<br />

invention). The play cycle traditionally<br />

included Judgement DaY, which is<br />

pretty 'Old Testament' as well,<br />

although in the South African production<br />

it was omitted in favour of a<br />

thoroughly universalist ending: the<br />

cast all did an African dance led bY<br />

Jesus, with Lucifer in the middle of<br />

the company playing the percussion<br />

accompaniment.<br />

wicked priests and rulers<br />

are by no means left<br />

safely in a distant Past<br />

The company in the London Performance<br />

was mixed race, mostlY<br />

black, performing in traditional<br />

African dress for the Old Testament'<br />

and in jeans and shirt for the New<br />

Testament. TheY sPoke in at least<br />

four languages - Afrikaans, English,<br />

Xhosa, and Zulu - with a few extra<br />

Latin chants. Some of the costumes<br />

were pointed: Pontius Pilate was<br />

costumed as a British Admiral' not<br />

wanting to convict a man he thought<br />

innocent, but eventually washin$ his<br />

hands of the native's affairs.<br />

I'm not sure to what extent the<br />

mixed-race casting was used deliberately.<br />

The first white character on<br />

stage was Cain. Other white characters<br />

were Abraham, Mary, sister of<br />

Martha, Pilate (as PreviouslY<br />

mentioned), and Thomas (who didn't<br />

get to express doubt over the<br />

resurrection, but did seem to be<br />

telling Jesus that he couldn't be<br />

expected to learn to dance just like<br />

that). Certainly the casting raised<br />

questions of racial Privilege and<br />

God couldn't dance until<br />

he'd taken off his robes and<br />

jewellery and stripped to a<br />

pair of old ieans<br />

power, and was preferable to the all<br />

too frequent inclusion of a black<br />

actor as a minor villain on the<br />

London stage.<br />

Lucifer always steals the show and<br />

the actor playing Lucifer in this<br />

production was esPeciallY good.<br />

Although he could and did adoPt an<br />

expression of gleeful mischief when<br />

required, he was at his best<br />

wandering through the stage with a<br />

shell-shocked expression as various<br />

humans did awful things to each<br />

other without his prompting. Another<br />

particularly effective scene was the<br />

massacre of the innocents. Herod's<br />

soldiers, in modern uniforms,<br />

swaggered onto the stage and cooed<br />

over the babies before killing them.<br />

Both the mothers and the soldiers<br />

knew that the soldiers had no<br />

benevolent interest in children, but<br />

you could see them both thinking<br />

that the mothers were in no position<br />

to protest.<br />

The most memorable scene: Mary<br />

teaching God[esus how to dance at<br />

the incarnation. God couldn't<br />

manage it until he'd taken off his<br />

robes and jewellery and stripped to a<br />

pair of old jeans. I<br />

David Anderson<br />

ActlnEl Edltor ol <strong>Movement</strong><br />

26lmovement


eviews: art<br />

ll<br />

but tb it arJ?<br />

an exhibition of 20th century art raises a few questions<br />

Sacred Century: Reti$ion in 2oth Century British Art<br />

Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, until 8 June 2OO2<br />

Walking into the room with this<br />

small exhibition felt, at first, like<br />

walking into a modern church.<br />

The dominant centrepiece, taking<br />

up an entire wall, was a tapestry<br />

design produced in the sixties by<br />

John Piper for Ghichester<br />

Cathedral. You'll have seen the<br />

kind of tapestry in many<br />

churches vibrant colours,<br />

abstract symbols of the Spirit,<br />

ioytul flowing patterns. Pretty -<br />

but it didn't excite me or make<br />

me think. This initial impression<br />

was challenged by an exploration<br />

of the other pieces, but it started<br />

me thinkingl about the relationship,<br />

or lack thereof, between<br />

religion and effective art.<br />

'Sacred Century'tried to map out a<br />

progression in religious influences on<br />

art over the last 100 years, with<br />

varying success. I started by looking<br />

at work from the early years of the<br />

century - jingoistic images from the<br />

'Arts and Crafts' movement, of Saint<br />

George and other patriotic subjects.<br />

The horrors of the First World War<br />

only seem to have exaggerated<br />

these conservative tendencies.<br />

Reacting against the chaos they had<br />

suffered through - the artist Stanley<br />

Spencer said that it felt like 'the<br />

divine sequence was gone' - the<br />

Christian artists of the twenties and<br />

thirties sought to reassert notions of<br />

order and tradition, through idyllic<br />

pastoral imagery and styles<br />

influenced by medieval iconography.<br />

World War ll shook artists out of this<br />

unexciting tendency. The pieces from<br />

the forties onwards be$n to use<br />

powerful combinations of traditional<br />

reli$ous imagery with contemporary<br />

elements. Feibusch's 1943 'Pieta'<br />

places a man in modem dress beside<br />

Mary and Christ's body, evoking the<br />

tenible scenes taking place in Europe at<br />

the time. Graham Suthedand's Thom<br />

Cross' contains contorted human<br />

figures and sinister machinery of war.<br />

The overriding impression that<br />

'Sacred Century' gave of the late<br />

twentieth century, thougih, was one of<br />

fragmentation and pluralism. The<br />

earlier works were nearly all intended<br />

for use in Christian publications or<br />

churches; the later pieces ranged from<br />

the tapestry mentioned above to<br />

secular works such as lee Wagstaffs<br />

'Shroud', a modem-day Turin Shroud<br />

imprinted in the artist's own blood. The<br />

tone was one of exploration and<br />

challenge, with artists taking and using<br />

diverse images and references to make<br />

their indMdual statements. Wagstaffs<br />

'Shroud'features the artist's tattoos of<br />

reli$ous symbols, reflecting an interest<br />

in the repetition of patterns and beliefs<br />

across cultures. 'Perils of Faith' by Ana<br />

Maria Pacheco pictures sinister<br />

masked figures digging in the dark, a<br />

far cry ftom the noble Saint George.<br />

And artists have drawn on reli$ous<br />

imagery to create striking and controversial<br />

images which challenge the<br />

comfortable notions of conventional<br />

reli$on and politics. Helen Ghadwick's<br />

'One Flesh' pictures a modern<br />

Madonna, sunounded by the paraphernalia<br />

of modern motherhood and<br />

pointing questionin$y at her female<br />

baby. The artist aimed to reclaim<br />

patriarchal images of women, seeing<br />

the Virgin Mary as 'an extraordinary and<br />

fertile site of the feminine'. Similarly,<br />

Rose Garrard was inspired by a 2,000<br />

year old Gnostic text to depict an<br />

evocative trinity of female figures.<br />

Closing the exhibition was a<br />

special display of Adrian<br />

Wiszniewski's stark Stations of the<br />

Cross. Their simplicity and timeless<br />

design was powerful, but as with the<br />

tapestry, I had to wonder whether<br />

they really had as much to say to us<br />

in a new millennium as their more<br />

'secular' counterparts.<br />

For me, the more imaginative and<br />

challen$ng pieces in this exhibition<br />

were nearly all works from a secular<br />

perspective, which drew on the<br />

powerful imagery of religion and )<br />

movement 127


eviews: books<br />

myth (Christian or otherwise) to inspire<br />

debate or explore the human<br />

condition. Leaving the gallery, I<br />

passed dozens of exquisite medieval<br />

church ornaments, impressing on me<br />

the power of a tradition that reigned<br />

over all the people of Europe for<br />

centuries. But that shared worldview is<br />

now gone, shattered in part by events<br />

in the last century. Art produced in and<br />

for the church now is always at risk of<br />

becoming insular, limited, or merely<br />

self-congratulatory. One really<br />

challenging work is worth any number<br />

of colourful banners proclaiming<br />

'hope', in my book. But at its best, art<br />

can act to make religion's imagery and<br />

messages more relevant to the culture<br />

around it, helping religion to engage<br />

more fully with the world.<br />

Some of the work in 'Sacred<br />

Century' did achieve this, and I know<br />

of other exciting and challenging<br />

work being done by artists within the<br />

church, such as the female<br />

crucifixion piece 'Christa'. But art<br />

commissioned for churches should<br />

not be afraid to confront the same<br />

issues which secular artists tackle.<br />

The language, stories and symbols of<br />

religion will alwaYs have a unique<br />

power to define and exPlore the<br />

things which matter to us most as<br />

people and as communities. I<br />

Liam Purcell<br />

seekin!, outcasts<br />

meditations on homosexuality and the church<br />

Ordinary Child<br />

ueline Ley I Wild Goose<br />

Resource Group | 98.99<br />

No Ordinary Child is a book of<br />

meditations written by a mother<br />

grieving the loss of her one-time<br />

hopes for her son.<br />

When Jacqueline Ley's son told her<br />

that he was gay, she had to undergo<br />

a spiritual journey not unlike the<br />

grieving process, coming to terms<br />

with that inescapable feeling that<br />

God's plans for you are not alwaYs<br />

what you may have had in mind. This<br />

is the key in understanding the<br />

book's universality - it is ultimately<br />

not a book about homosexuality,<br />

rather it uses homosexuality as a<br />

guide, a map of woe.<br />

Although Ley never stoops to look<br />

for sympathy through a sensationalistic<br />

style, there is something deeply<br />

moving in her raw sufferinel. She is<br />

up front and honest with the<br />

questions she asks God, describing<br />

succinctly yet powerfully her<br />

feelings:<br />

'The fact that I am a Christian,<br />

that lmy son] James too is a<br />

committed Christian, only served<br />

to compound my anguish.'<br />

(pa$e 75)<br />

We learn through Jacqueline's<br />

experiences some of the meditations<br />

she has used to surrender her<br />

problem to God, to rely on his love<br />

and, perhaps even more difficult in<br />

times of spiritual crisis, to trust in the<br />

decisions he makes for all of us. Her<br />

N-E<br />

duotrilrEE<br />

g![!qt<br />

I \! .l .'r.. .14..<br />

' -- ' rr'r<br />

.'l hr. t.ir r'.-<br />

i.r rt-a. .r. I t t<br />

yet<br />

astute biblical referencing provides<br />

the reader with a very wide range of<br />

passages from the Old and New<br />

Testaments often overlooked in this<br />

field. She makes her points clearly,<br />

reassuring us and encouraging us to<br />

think about our position in the Church<br />

on similar issues with the same<br />

maternal care she shows her son:<br />

'God is in the business of seeking<br />

outcasts. Mercifully, his agenda is<br />

quite different from that element<br />

of the church that bears his name<br />

but continues to ostracise and<br />

demonise gay people'.<br />

(page 44)<br />

Ley thankfully avoids the issue of<br />

homosexual sex in her meditations,<br />

unlike most other literature on the<br />

subject. This absence is significant,<br />

and serves to reinforce the major<br />

point of the book - compassion for<br />

victims of the Church's oppression;<br />

suffering with them in our own way<br />

and not addressing specific issues<br />

that are best left to those victims<br />

themselves.<br />

One of the major failings of the<br />

book, however, is the lack of a<br />

further reading list - the endless<br />

debates and discussions within the<br />

church about homosexuality have<br />

been accompanied by a vast number<br />

of books on the subject, including<br />

the controversial recent worship<br />

anthology Courage To Love,<br />

compiled by Geoffrey Duncan, and<br />

Aliens in the Household of God,<br />

edited by Steve de Gruchy and Paul<br />

Germond. Organisations of relevance<br />

include the Lesbian and Gay<br />

Christian <strong>Movement</strong> (Oxford House,<br />

Derbyshire Street, LONDON E2 6HG<br />

- www.lgcm.orE.uk) and Called to Be<br />

One (for Catholic parents of lesbians<br />

and gay men - PO BOX 24632,<br />

LONDON E9 6XF, tel OL642<br />

465020).<br />

Ley's experiences of trying to<br />

surrender her worship of the graven<br />

image of 'normality' for her family<br />

will strike a chord with many, not just<br />

parents of a child with an alternative<br />

sexuality. She recognises that there<br />

are often no answers - much as she<br />

would like to reassure both herself<br />

and her son, the overwhelming<br />

feeling of the book is that we must<br />

trust in God and his decisions. This<br />

collection of meditations provides an<br />

excellent focus for all in similar<br />

situations. I<br />

Ethan Brack is an Arts<br />

"". .r"tjL:l*"jl:l<br />

28 | movement


eviews: films<br />

is the force strcnS, in thlb one?<br />

a long-awaited prequel - but can it live up to the hype this time?<br />

Star Wars Eprbode II: Attack of the<br />

Clones I dir. George Lucas<br />

Star Wars Episode ll has always<br />

been set to be a unique film. As<br />

viewers we know what has gone<br />

before and what is to come next;<br />

as well as measuring up to the<br />

most popular trilogr ever made<br />

(hopefully with more success<br />

than The Phantom Menace,<br />

almost universally panned by<br />

'reaf' fans), Attack of the Clones<br />

had to be a convincing jigsaw<br />

piece. lt has been billed as the<br />

'turning point' episode, the one<br />

in which Anakin Skywalker<br />

begins his gradual slide towards<br />

the Dark Side and audiences are<br />

given insight into his later<br />

character. The promotional blurb<br />

promises a focus on the tension<br />

between desire and duty, as he<br />

falls in love and wrestles with his<br />

Jedi responsibilities.<br />

The trouble is, in the middle of all<br />

the shoot-outs and lightsabre action,<br />

there's just no time to explore any<br />

themes properly. There has been<br />

some criticism that the performances<br />

are 'wooden', and that may<br />

be justified, but there's so little<br />

dialogue that there's not much<br />

chance for any of<br />

the characters to<br />

develop. lnstead,<br />

the script seems to<br />

rely on the quickest<br />

and most formulaic<br />

route to convey each<br />

message, a sort of<br />

emotion-by-numbers<br />

approach. lndividual<br />

scenes are very<br />

obviously intended<br />

to explain pafticular<br />

developments: for<br />

example, the death<br />

of Anakin's mother<br />

and his reaction<br />

marks the beginning<br />

of his disillusionment with his role as<br />

a Jedi, and his fight with Count<br />

Dooku leads towards his transition to<br />

part-man, part-machine. But these<br />

scenes are strung together with little<br />

obvious progression, and there is<br />

none of the subtle flavour of the<br />

original films (just how many times<br />

does Obi Wan call Anakin young?!).<br />

ln the first half of the film Anakin is<br />

constantly moaning about the way<br />

Obi Wan treats him, but in the<br />

second half this seems to be<br />

completely forgotten. Part of the<br />

problem is that the characters don't<br />

seem to carry their personalities into<br />

the fight scenes as Luke Skywalker<br />

and Han Solo did. Whilst this is<br />

probably a result of the possibilities<br />

of improved technologl - there's no<br />

longer any need to 'fill out' battles<br />

with close-ups and dialogue, since<br />

there are spectacular effects to be<br />

shown off - it means that the film<br />

has a different, less personal feel.<br />

The least subtle moments of all are<br />

the fove scenes. ln lhe Empire Stnkes<br />

Back, there's the brilliant scene<br />

where Han is being lowered into<br />

carbon to be frozen and Leia tells him<br />

she loves him. Apparently Han's reply,<br />

'l know', was improvised by Harrison<br />

Ford, because anything else sounded<br />

too cheesy. George Lucas doesn't<br />

seem to have worried about that this<br />

time, though. Put Anakin and Padm6<br />

on their own together, add a sunset or<br />

a panoramic view, and hey! lnstant<br />

attraction. Apart from a few pained<br />

expressions, there's little sign of any<br />

personal conflict on Anakin's part. He<br />

doesn't seem concerned at all about<br />

the Jedi code of conduct, and simply<br />

comes across as a hormonal<br />

teenager trying to get a girl into bed<br />

(and 'l'm an agony' isn't the most<br />

original chat-up line ever, I'm afraid).<br />

It's not even clear why Padm6's<br />

attracted to him in the first place;<br />

there seems to be little to<br />

recommend him by the time of their<br />

first kiss apart from his creepy-crawlychopping<br />

skills, and they hardly make<br />

up for his brattish behaviour and<br />

needlessly crap hair. Luke Skywalker<br />

may have been a bit wet, but at least<br />

he was nice to his friends; there is no<br />

sense that Anakin has genuine<br />

affection for anyone around him.<br />

Don't get me wrong. lt's an<br />

entertaining film, with impressive<br />

and exciting sequences, and I would<br />

recommend it if only to see Yoda<br />

kick ass. lt's just that it's not a<br />

classic. lt feels a bit like being<br />

invited to a friend's house for dinner<br />

and playing on their Playstation all<br />

night instead: fun, but ultimately<br />

unsatisfying. And I wouldn't want to<br />

do it every night. I<br />

Kathryn Allan<br />

Postgirad student at the Unlvelsity of GlasElow<br />

movementl29


eviews: books<br />

no easy ansrryers<br />

the new Archbishop of Ganterbury questions the 'war on terrorism'<br />

Writing in the Dust; Reflections on 77th September and its aftermath<br />

Williams I Hodder&Stoughton | 93.99<br />

Rowan Williams is the<br />

Archbishop of Wales, and has<br />

been named as a possible<br />

candidate for Archbishop of<br />

Canterbury. This is unlikely to<br />

happen, giiven that he is considered<br />

liberal on the issue of gay<br />

priests, is extremely intelligent,<br />

and has an alarming tendency<br />

to speak prophetically. (This<br />

review was wriften in February.<br />

Predictions are rash. Ed.)<br />

Writing in the Dust is a set of<br />

reflections on the attack on the<br />

World Trade Centre and on the<br />

subsequent attack on Afghanistan.<br />

Williams was a block away from the<br />

World Trade Centre when the attack<br />

occurred, discussing spirituality for a<br />

radio broadcast. The subsequent<br />

book is not an attempt to fit those<br />

events into a Christian theologl. The<br />

first chapter reminds us that trying to<br />

fit events and people into a religious<br />

agenda is perhaps the first step<br />

towards the mindset that acts with<br />

violence.<br />

'Perhaps it's when we try to<br />

make God useful in crises,<br />

though, that we take the first<br />

steps towards the great lie of<br />

religion: the god who fits our<br />

agenda. There is a breathing<br />

space: then just breathe for a<br />

moment. Perhaps the words of<br />

faith will rise again slowly in that<br />

space (perhaps not). But don't<br />

try to tie it up quickly.'<br />

Williams has' little time for the<br />

language of a war on terrorism,<br />

which obscures the issue of just<br />

what we are trying to achieve by<br />

droppings bombs on Af$hanistan:<br />

"'War" against terrorism is as<br />

much a metaphor as war against<br />

drug abuse (not that the<br />

metaphor isn't misleading there<br />

as well), or car theft. lt can mean<br />

only a sustained policy of making<br />

such behaviour less attractive or<br />

tolerable. As we've been<br />

reminded often, this is a long<br />

job; but there is a difference<br />

between saying this, which is<br />

unquestionably true, and<br />

suggesting that there is a case<br />

for an open-ended military<br />

campaign.'<br />

Still, Williams avoids taking sides<br />

in the debates in the newspapers<br />

about whether or not violence is<br />

wrong as such. There is no resort to<br />

any hard-and-fast theological rules.<br />

Rather he asks whether this bombing<br />

campaign is an adequate response<br />

to this atrocity. And he suggests that<br />

There is no resort to any<br />

hard-and-fast theological<br />

rules. Rather, Wlliams asks<br />

whether this bombing<br />

campaign is an adequate<br />

response to this atrocity<br />

it bypasses the difficult and painful<br />

attempt to try to understand what<br />

the causes of the atrocity were and<br />

are. He says this not as a complacent<br />

liberal exaltation of dialogue<br />

and understanding. Dialogue is apt<br />

to be painful:<br />

'Globalisation means that we are<br />

involved in dramas we never<br />

thought of, cast in roles we never<br />

chose. As we protest at how the<br />

West is hated, how we never<br />

meant to oppress or diminish<br />

other cultures, how we never<br />

meant to undermine lslamic<br />

integrity and so on, we must try<br />

not to avoid the pain of grasping<br />

that we are not believed.<br />

Once again: this is not about<br />

Western guilt and non-Western<br />

innocence, not a recommendation<br />

to accept all that we are<br />

accused of. lt is about acknowledging<br />

that it is hard to start any<br />

sort of conversation when your<br />

that your aim is to silence them.'<br />

There is no espousing of any parly<br />

line in this book: that makes it dense<br />

and hard to summarise. lnstead we<br />

have an attempt to avoid all easy<br />

answers and to plead for a chance to<br />

think. Still Williams does argue that<br />

Christian theology has some<br />

resources to offer us in doing so:<br />

'And Christian faith? Can we<br />

think about our own focal<br />

symbol, the cross of Jesus, and<br />

try to rescue it from its frequent<br />

fate as the banner of our own<br />

wounded righteousness? lf<br />

Jesus is indeed what God<br />

communicates to us, God's<br />

language for us, his cross is<br />

always both ours and not ours;<br />

not a magnified sign of our own<br />

suffering, but the mark of God's<br />

work in and through the deepest<br />

vulnerability; not a martyr's<br />

triumphant achievement, but<br />

something that is there for all<br />

human sufferers because it<br />

belongs to no human cause.'<br />

This is a disappointingly short<br />

book: less than 100 small pages of<br />

large type. There must be shelves full<br />

of religaous or political books with<br />

less good sense in them. I<br />

David Anderson<br />

Actlng Editor ol <strong>Movement</strong><br />

3O lmovement


ROYAL JUBILEE<br />

I hope all my readers<br />

enjoyed the recent<br />

celebration of fifty<br />

years of government<br />

based on divine right.<br />

The Queen's<br />

unflinching devotion to<br />

the onerous duty of<br />

opening supermarkets<br />

and waving at the<br />

public has meant that<br />

the United Kingdom<br />

has<br />

remained<br />

blessedly free of<br />

democratically<br />

elected leaders,<br />

like George W Bush.<br />

The cause of republicanism<br />

was struck a<br />

lethal blow when it<br />

became apparent that<br />

the entire nation was<br />

willing to bunk off work<br />

and go to a party<br />

instead. In his sermon<br />

in Westminster Abbey,<br />

Archbishop George<br />

Carey broke my record<br />

England's<br />

for greatest number of<br />

problem has<br />

platitudes uttered in been that all<br />

ten minutes, recent<br />

bettering the Archbishops have<br />

previous record been clean shaven<br />

held by himself. I was and that the next<br />

Archbishop needs to<br />

beard.<br />

particularly impressed<br />

by the way in which<br />

Carey said 'street<br />

parties', in a tone both<br />

amazed at the quaint<br />

customs of the<br />

common folk and<br />

complacent in its<br />

indulgent superiority.<br />

I haven't been so<br />

embarrassed on an<br />

Archbishop's behalf<br />

since I read Richard<br />

Holloway gamely<br />

writing about'shagging'<br />

in Godless Morality.<br />

MEN IN BEARDS<br />

Carey is retiring. By the<br />

time you read this,<br />

you'll know who's been<br />

picked to boldly lead<br />

the Church of England<br />

into further irrelevance.<br />

Hundreds of bishops<br />

have come out of the<br />

woodwork and been<br />

dismissed on the<br />

grounds that they were<br />

too boring even for the<br />

C of E. Commentators<br />

have been learnedly<br />

agreeing that the<br />

Church of<br />

I<br />

t<br />

have a<br />

Apparently this makes<br />

them look like a figure<br />

from the Bible and so<br />

holy, although we<br />

needn't expect any of<br />

them to do something<br />

really exciting like call<br />

down fire and<br />

on<br />

brimstone<br />

Methodist Central Hall.<br />

This emphasis on<br />

beards is blatantly<br />

discriminatory against<br />

snakes. We could be as<br />

holy as any middleclass<br />

.male if we<br />

wanted. At the time of<br />

Rowan<br />

writing,<br />

Williams' fine Welsh<br />

facial fungus has been<br />

tipped as the winner<br />

(correctly - Ed) but I,<br />

for one, regret that we<br />

won't be seeing more<br />

of Bishop Michael<br />

Nazir-Ali's outstanding<br />

sideburns.<br />

THE BRITISH<br />

JOURNALIST<br />

Speaking of calling<br />

down fire and<br />

brimstone, I read in the<br />

newspaper headlines<br />

that the world will be<br />

destroyed by an<br />

asteroid in 2019. Even<br />

jaded reptiles like<br />

myself might<br />

t<br />

be<br />

somewhat<br />

excited by this news.<br />

The prospects for<br />

Methodist Central Hall<br />

were not looking good.<br />

Then I read the article<br />

underneath, which said<br />

that the chance of this<br />

asteroid hitting us is 1<br />

in 60,000. lt seems<br />

Methodist Central Hall<br />

can breathe easy<br />

again.<br />

While on the subject of<br />

the British Press, I<br />

can't resist mentioning<br />

my favourite Private<br />

Eye cover of the<br />

summer: a picture of<br />

Osama Bin Laden, with<br />

the caption 'l'm going<br />

to<br />

become<br />

accountant.'<br />

THE AMERICAN WAY<br />

OF DEATH<br />

Evangelical vicars are<br />

in an awkward position<br />

at funerals. They have<br />

to console the grieving<br />

relatives without<br />

compromising the<br />

Good News that if their<br />

dear departed didn't<br />

have faith in Jesus, he<br />

or she is currently<br />

enjoying the great<br />

steam sauna down<br />

below. But I have now<br />

heard that a Revd<br />

Orlando Bethel in<br />

Alabama has had<br />

enough of these woolly<br />

liberal compromises.<br />

Having got up to sing at<br />

the funeral of his wife's<br />

uncle, he was moved<br />

by the Holy Spirit to<br />

inform the congregation<br />

that the dead man<br />

drunken<br />

was a<br />

fornicator burning in<br />

Hell. Prudently he had<br />

brought along a<br />

loudhailer to use when<br />

his microphone was<br />

cut off by diabolical<br />

agencies at<br />

the sound desk.<br />

The<br />

^-.<br />

Reverend is<br />

obviously a<br />

forgiving soul as he<br />

refrained from<br />

mentioning that the<br />

deceased uncle had<br />

been in a dispute<br />

over inheritance of<br />

land with him and his<br />

wife.<br />

SATAN BANISHED<br />

an<br />

News has come in from<br />

Florida, telling me that<br />

my old boss has been<br />

forbidden entry to the<br />

town of lnglis. A pastor<br />

at the Yankeetown<br />

the serpent<br />

Church of God has<br />

buried a hollow post at<br />

each entrance to the<br />

town, containing a<br />

prayer and a declaration<br />

by the city's Mayor<br />

announcing 'Be it<br />

known from this day<br />

forward that Satan,<br />

ruler of darkness, giver<br />

of evil, destroyer of<br />

what is good and just,<br />

is not now, nor ever<br />

again will be, a part of<br />

this town of lnglis.'<br />

When asked if she had<br />

actually seen Satan,<br />

Mayor Carolyn Risher<br />

said, 'Never. But I have<br />

felt his works. I can't<br />

see the wind blow,<br />

really, but I have felt its<br />

effects.' Spokespersons<br />

for Satan have<br />

said that he feels he is<br />

being made a<br />

scapegoat. I gather<br />

that the declaration is<br />

provoking a constitutional<br />

crisis: it was<br />

printed on official civic<br />

notepaper, and this<br />

may violate religious<br />

freedom under the<br />

constitution. (As<br />

opposed to teaching<br />

Creationism in schools,<br />

which doesn't.) But at<br />

least US citizens don't<br />

have to listen to<br />

George Carey<br />

preaching. lnstead,<br />

they have George W<br />

Bush telling the world<br />

that Evil is Bad, which<br />

is far more<br />

exciting. lf<br />

he thinks<br />

Methodist<br />

Central Hall is<br />

O harbouring Evil<br />

Trade Justice<br />

j Protestors out<br />

to unoermtne<br />

a the American<br />

O- Way of Life, he<br />

really can call down<br />

fire and brimstone from<br />

the sky.<br />

I'll be back next issue,<br />

assuming that there's<br />

any world left to come<br />

back to.


s (<br />

StsdeDt<br />

Name:<br />

q<br />

Cbristian<br />

/rl<br />

l|lovenent<br />

tr Please send me fufther information about joining the Student<br />

Christian <strong>Movement</strong>, and tell me where my local group is.<br />

tr I would like to subscribe to <strong>Movement</strong> magazine. I enclose a cheque,<br />

payable to SCM, to the value of f-7.OO for my first three issues.<br />

Address:<br />

Telephone number:<br />

E-mail address:<br />

University or college (if applicable):<br />

Postcode:<br />

Post to; Student Christian <strong>Movement</strong>, University of Birmingham,<br />

Weoley Park Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham 829 6LL<br />

t: OL21- 471- 2404 | e: scm@movement.org.uk I w.' vwwv.movement'org.uk

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