the magazine of the student christian movement I issue 1,12 | autumn 2OO2
)
3
__r
movement
issue 112 | autumn 2OO2
Cs\
Stqcert
Cbrirtiaa
n
lfev€rr€rtt
MOVEMENI is the termly maglazine of
the Student Christian Movement,
distributd free of chatf,e to memberc
and ddicated to an open-minded
ery t o rati o n of Ch ri sti a n ity.
Editor: David Anderson
e: movementmagazine@hotmail.com
Designer: Liam Purcell
Nert copy date:, 22 November
Editorial board: David Anderson, Liam Purcell,
Elinor Mensingh, Marie Pattison, Kate Powell
SCM staff: Co-ordinator Elinor Mensingh; [,nks
Worker Marie Pattison
SCM office: University of Birmingham, Weoley
Park Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham 829 6LL.
t: (O121) 471,2404
f: (O121) 4L4 2969 mark faxes 'FAO SCM'
e: scm@movement.org.uk
Website: www.movement.org.uk
Printed by: Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester
lndividual membership of SCM (includes
Movement) costs f,15 per year (t1O if unwaged).
Subscription to Movement only costs E7 per year.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in Movement
are those of the particular author and should not
be taken to be the policy of the Student Christian
Movement.
tssN 0306-980x
Charity No. 241896
@ 2002 scM
Dft '-J '-J
It.-itplatform
Robert Cook 3
newsfile 4
diary 6
worldview: globalising resistance David Lasso 7
disarmin$ actions Helen Steven 8
frustration, humiliation, courage David Anderson 9
celebrity theolo$ian Rachel Muers 70
small ritual Steve Collins 7!
movement what is globalisation? C/FOD !2
feature:
gtobatisation globalisation for the $ood of all
Noreena Hertz 74
globalisation and the $ospel
Andrew Bradstock !6
people not profit Katherine Anderson !8
see also... 20
ties and binds Jim Cotter 2!
ecumenism is like riding a bike... Tim Woodcock 22
first amon$ equals Claire Connor 24
the education of desire Kathryn Powell 25
movement the mysteries David Anderson 29
reviews
sacred century Liam Purcell 27
no ordinary child Ethan Black 28
attack of the ctones Kathryn Allan 26
writin{ in the dust David Anderson 30
the serpent 31
Wanted! Student Editor, no experience necessary
Movement is put together by an editorial panel including the designer and editor, SCM staff,
and student representatives. There is a vacancy at the moment for a third student representative
on the panel. lf you would like to be involved in deciding the content and themes of
Movement,' and could spare one afternoon a term for meetings, e-mail the editor at
movementmaEazine@hotmail.com
Wanted! Articles, teviews, artwork
We want Movement to be as open as possible. All your ideas are welcome. Have you got somethin$
to say? An issue you want explored? Ever fancied yourself as a writer?
Send your articles and ideas, or just your details if you'd like to write for us in the future, to the editor
at movementma{azine@hotmail.com. All submissions will be considered by our editorial board.
platform
anythin€ Soes
do we need creeds?
{
I'll lay my cards on the table. I am
actually a bit of a conformist. I have
grown to be intolerant of those choosing
to be different or radical merely for the
sake of that label: we should have well
thought-out reasons for being different. I
firmly believe that achieving Ghristian
unity is a duty we cannot afford to shirk.
We all need to come to our own conclusions
about the truth of the Christian
message, but we should seek the truth,
not just what we find appealing, and
when we believe we have found the truth,
be able to profess it with others.
My problem is this: all too often in our secular
culture we are encouraged to choose what we
individually want, to be consumers. From a
religious perspective this translates into
exploration of a lonely kind, perhaps selfseeking
and perhaps self-styling, but certainly
looking for what fits with our intellectual and
emotional whims, such as a desire simply to be
different. Satisfying our personal desires and
'doing' religion alone is not what Christianity is
about.
Perhaps the part of my faith most in conflict
with the rise of self-styled religion is the creed.
Creeds proclaim a complete truth, a full
statement of faith, which is inflexible and
potentially exclusive. Who better for me to turn
to then than Cyril of Jerusalem? Writing around
AD350, he said of the creed:
'This synthesis of faith was not made to be
agreeable to human opinions, but to present
the one teaching of the faith in its totality, in
which what is of greatest importance is
gathered together from all the scriptures'.
Harsh words maybe. However, on balance I
am inclined to agree with Cyril's sentiments
and feel I should set out why.
Christianity is at heart an outward-looking,
corporate faith: it believes in worshipping with
others, professing belief in front of others and
extending God's love out to others. There is a
vital role for private reflection and prayer, but
equally something is crucially missing without
the collective aspect to worship. lf you want a
biblical imperative for it, look no further than
'when two or three are gathered in my name'.
However, sitting around in a room with others
who wish to meditate on spirituality can never
amount to collective worship: it does not affirm
the 'we believe'. There is something magnificent
about all confessing the same truth: the total is
greater than the sum of the parts. This cannot be
accomplished by many private worshippers in one
place. Creeds are vital in enabling us to engage in
collective Christian worship. Most obviously, the
creed is never prayed individually: it is our most
important collective statement of unified belief.
More subtly, a creed provides a clear framework
around which we can grow in faith and
understanding.
the creed is never prayed individually:
it is our most important collective
statement of unified belief
I do not deny that formal doctrines such as
creeds have been used to carry out unacceptable
acts of persecution and may still be
unfairly used to exclude some people from
genuine religious searching. This is completely
wrong, but used properly, personal exploration
can be enabled rather than stifled by creeds.
Creeds act as a framework, creating a space
around which personal reflection can take
place. We need some sort of structure to
develop our faith around. Without a reference
point no-one would know where to start
exploring or where to focus discussion.
Religious dialogue would descend into anarchy
and collective worship would be doomed to fail.
It is only realistic to expect that people will have
differing opinions on matters of faith, yet if we
believe it is our duty to work towards Christian
unity, we need to look for and uphold some sort
of 'Christian denominator' which enables fruitful
discussion to take place, working towards
reconcili ng differences.
A creed not only provides a clear reference
point for debate, but since it is backed up by
threefold authority: the Bible; centuries of
theological debate; and the work of the Holy
Spirit, it provides the closest approximation we
can hope for to a common denominator that is
substantial enough to provide the framework we
need.
ln the necessary quest for a personal faith
there is a fine line between satisf,ing a requirement
that we have thought deeply about our
faith and developing a self-styled religion,
pandering to our own whims. Creeds act as a
vital counterbalance to this danger and enable
us to worship together meaningfully, as our
faith requires. I
Robert Gook
. Robert Cook 13 a student
at O)dord Unlversity and
Warwlck Chrbtlan Focu3.
movement l3
NEWS
T)
e
a
c)
vV J
I
ill
/rl
e
I
#" t"
i,,
a new face
Hi, I'm Rebecca, and I'm SCM's new office administrator. I started
work on 12 August. For now, here's a quick guide to me so far:
Full name: Rebecca Frances
Hawthorne
Date of birth: 2 January 1981- (mY Mum
swears blind she got me in
the January sales!)
Brutrers & sisters: none, unless you count the
cats!
Height: 5'10'
Eye colour: blue
Hair:
brown and (very) curly
Favourite colour: yellow
Favourite Teletubby: Laa - Laa
Likes: bare feet, Star Trek Voyagler, sleeping, Abba'
kids, Birmingham (call me weird), dinosaurs,
cats, lona music, trains
Dislikes: wearing shoes, fish, long car journeys, Jim Carrey
films (exceplThe Truman Show), clubbing
Education: Three Bridges First School, Dunottar School
(Reigate), Birmingham University (studied maths)
Religion:
Brought up Anglican. St Barnabas Church
(Crawley), Church of the Holy Family (Crawley),
Birmingham UniAngsoc
At university: Many things to Angsoc, including Chair. General
hanger-on and troublemaker to Methsoc. Cause
of confusion to several chaplains. Co-cause of
chaos last Freshers'!
! hope this helps give you an idea of who I am, and I look forward to
meeting some of you in Person!
editorial changies
This issue of Movement has been put together by Acting Editor David
Anderson, who has done a marvellous job of pulling together all the
material from a range of contributors before his deadlines.
From issue 113, the new editor of Movement will be Liam Purcell' Liam
has been the designer of Movement for three issues, which means that
he's been responsible for jobs such as fitting two thousand word articles
onto one and a half pages with pictures, and finding photos for the back
cover. He is an avid fan of Emma Bunton and his favourite television
program is Watercolour Challenge. To find out if some, all or any of this
is true, watch this sPace neK time.
Liam would like to hear from anyone interested in writing articles or
reviews tor Movement. See page 2 for contact details'
Quick Questions
What's your favourite Possession?
My jeans with a dinosaur and my name stuck on
What are you reading at the moment?
Just flnished The Most Arnazing Man Who Ever
Lived by Robert Rankin, and about to start
Suddenly he thinks he's a Sunbeam by Adey
Grummet
What is your favourite film?
Ghost
How do you relar€
Sleepl Or flnd the nearest person who'll give me a
hug
What's your favourite journeY?
A long train journey with a gfoup of ftiends -
Birmingham to lona was Pretty good
What do you like most about yourself?
Creativity
What do you dislike about Yourself?
My very bad sense of directionl
What's your fuvourite word?
I could tell you, but then everyone would be able
to access my e-mail!
lf you could be someone else who would it
be?
When I was little I always wanted to be a trapeze
artist, but now I think maybe someone who can
sing really well - Maddy Prtor perhaps
When did you last cry?
Tears of joy when SCM gave me a job!
What are you scared of?
Fish and snakes
What do you never miss on W?
Star Trek Voyager, although I have most of the
videos, so I don't really mind missing it too much!
What music do you listen to most?
At the moment it's folky stuff, Steeleye Span'
Wateson Carthy, Pentangle. Plus the odd musical
- Cats, Godspell, Joseph
What pet hates do you have?
Car drivers who don't respect cyclists
What would your motto for lMng be?
Never grow upl
4lmovement
Created in God's imaSe?
6-13 April, Amsterdam
ln an 'A€ree/Disagree With The
Statement' activity a Nonrve$an
participant rcvealed her sexuality.
She was lesbian, and some of tre
other participants were clearly
intrigued. lt was the WSCF
Eurcpean Gonfiercnce on 'Body and
Crende/ and alrcady on the opening
day itwas clear hordiverce opinion
in the eFoup was goin€lto be.
The group was of diverse nationality:
it consisted of people from Romania,
Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark,
Italy, Finland, Norway, Belarus,
Estonia, the UK, and Germany, and a
number from Amsterdam, the host
city of the conference. The conference
itself was a week-long
discussion of a variety of issues
relating to body and gender and
Christianity. There were also more
subtle elements to the conference
which reinforced the topic being
discussed: it was a period of fasting
for the Orthodox Christians so most of
the food was vegan, which added an
interesting element to the seminar on
the body and denial.
The day always started with worship,
which was on a different theme every
morning and every evening (from
Catholic to Queer, Women to
Lutheran). We then generally had
inputs or debates, coffee breaks,
lunch, small group meetings,
workshops, free time, dinner and then
worship again. The evening officially
concluded with a more informal
activity (such as a cultural evening,
Dutch evening or film evening).
Four people from very diverse
backgrounds spoke at the conference.
The first speaker was Trees Versteegen
- a Dutch'theolo$an who described
herself as Catholic and Lesbian. She
proposed an intricate understanding of
gender and body from a biblical
perspective. A large number of the
participants were studying theologr;
the response to the seminar varied
from celebratory to utter refusal to
accept what she had proposed.
The second speaker was an
Orthodox priest. He discussed the
topic of fasting and its relation to the
body. After finishing his talk the
priest was asked some awkward
questions regarding Orthodox denial
of the body, and even the concept of
trade justice somehow emerged.
The third speaker was Luca Negro;
an ltalian representing an
ecumenical movement. We looked at
the use of the body in worship in
various denominations: from gesticulations
to fasting, and from Holy
Communion to waving hands in the
air whilst worshipping.
The fourth and final input from
Katrin Rogge was entitled
'Transformed Bodies'. ln it we
investigated trans-gendering, and
the transformation of the body by
use of artificial implants. By far the
most eye-opening input, by all
meanings of the word.
Workshops were less controversial
and more creative. Perhaps the most
significant workshop was on AIDS in
Africa, led by an AIDS worker from
Uganda. AIDS awareness was central
to the week long conference, and we
were $ven the task of designing the
European part of a global banner which
was going to be displayed at the next
global WSCF conference, July 2003.
Evaluation at the end of the week
exposed a number of interesting
issues: participants, particularly from
NEWS
Eastern Europe, commented that the
liberal stance dominated the
discourse and they felt their more
conservative opinion was instantly
dismissed. The situation might have
been very different if the Orthodox
Christians hadn't been fasting. One
Romanian stated early on in the
conference that he was unhappy with
the opinions being expressed and
questioned their biblical groundings,
but that it was part of Orthodox
fasting to be at peace with those
around you. Even so, concluding
meetings suggested most people felt
they had learned a lot from the
conference, and those I got to know
well during the conference certainly
felt blessed by all the people there. I
know I was grateful for the opportunity
to go to the conference and I
met people from many different
backgrounds, who had some
wonderful understandings of
Christianity and love. So I would
strongly recommend that students
involved in SCM attend WSCF Europe
conferences in the future. British
participants, I was told, have been in
demand at the conferences; do think
about going to the next one. I won't
deny I had a strong feeling of
trepidation about attending, but it
was a wonderful experience - many
thanks again to the British SCM for
the opportunity.
Mark McDonald
SCM is affiliated to WSCF (World Student Christian Federation),
and has money set aside to help students towards the costs of attending WSCF events.
movementl5
NCWS
a hopeful protest
politicians
ftom all
parties had
announced
their support
for the lobby,
while failing
to notice
that the
prutesterc
werc against
unrcgulated
access to
developing
ma*ets by
multinational
companies
Trade Justice Movement mass lobby of
Parliament, Wednesday 19 June
You don't often find ecumenical services
turnin$ people away. But there was a
queue of people for the service at the
Emmanuel Gentre at L2.45 to mark the
mass lobby of parliament for Trade
Justice, and the stewards were havin$ to
do just that. Visitors were still allowed
inside the building to look at the stalls
staffed by various aid aelencies, and to
buy fairly traded coffee. The other option
was to travel down the road and wait
outside Methodist Gentral Hall for the
main meetin$.
Nine members of SCM attended, proMding a
small but earnest addition to the 12,000
lobblsts from all over the country. The Lobby
was protesting against the maintenance of
subsidies protecting goods fiom First World
countries, and against measures insisting on
unregulated access by First World companies to
markets in goods and seruices in poorer
countries. We did discover that Methodist
Central Hall still makes things slightly awkward
for wheelchair users; we had to trek round poorly
signposted conidors round the back only to find
that wheelchairc were not allowed in the main
hall due to fire regulations. This sliglttly soured
the occasion. Those of us who were in the main
hall, and not listening ftom the doorway, heard
that politicians ftom all main parties had loudly
announced their support for the lobby, while
failing to notice that the protesters were against
unregulated access to developing markets by
multinational companies.
After the speeches, the SCM party had to
split up as the lobbyists left the hall by region
of the country. Protesters lined the banks of
the Thames in a queue stretching round from
the Houses of Parliament, down Millbank,
over Lambeth Brid$e, and along the Embankment.
The queue was at times wide enough
to nearly block the path. Many MPs did travel
out to meet their constituents; others sent
parliamentary assistants.
Although most of the SCM party had to catch
trains back home, one or two stayed to listen
to the panels after the event, which discussed
ways forward for the reform movements. The
event was $ven a half-minute mention on the
BBC evening news, even though there were no
arrests and no violence.
I've experienced two kinds of protests: some
seem to be mostly a(ainst something (usually
the US), and some are for something (trade
reform, debt cancellation). The latter seem to
me far more hopeful - althouglr this may be an
effect of the free chocolate on offer. I
David Anderson
Actingi Editor ol Movement
I
N
21Se@nfier
Global Mo Dry
w.' nrvw. oeaceonedav.otq
18-20 Ocbber
GlP (drudr &ilon on Povottuf lhUod
Goniettnoe
Gaderry Tower, near Edinburgfi
Poverty and ProsperiU - includes rvodahops on
globalisation, sustainabiliB and paltterchip
For more info and online booking:
w,' rwrw' ch urch-oovertv.org. uk
210-.27 0c$ber
OneWorld Wedr
For morc info and to order a padc
w; nrYw.onewor{dweek.org
$t fO ilovember
scn rct
Details to be confirmed.
Gheck website for infonnation.
Tue 3 Deeenbcr
lDeDt m qrr lloolttep Ldon rnd lobby Itry
Westminster and Edinburglt
Speaking out against poverty in the UK.
w; wrnu.debt on-our-doorsteo.com
15 Dccenfier
LGGt Gdol Sonlce
St Botolph's, london
w; www.lgcm.org.uk
6lmovement
worldview
€Iobafibin€ reslbtance
the experience of the 'lnternational Gamp' in Ecuador
Murderers! Murderers! The guard had
shot one of the people taking part in
the lnternational Camp for Di€nity and
Social Justice for the People. The
person was writing graffiti - Abajo el
ALCA ('Down with the F[AA') - on one of
the luxurious walls of the World Trade
Gentre building in Quito. This march
was closing an event in which around
400 people took part, from twenty
countries in Europe, North America,
Latin America and Asia.
the struggle for a better world
must be globalised
The Camp worked from 14 to 20 March in
three Ecuadorian cities simultaneously -
Quito, Lago Agrio and Manta - with the
support of several organisations in Europe
and North America. lts goal: to articulate
forces coming from every corner of the
planet, in order to consolidate a platform to
resist and struggle against the Colombia
Plan, the FTM and any other manifestation of
neo-liberal globalisation. The intention is that
this Camp will not end with the physical
gathering of people in one place, but will
continue to exist as long as it is necessary -
it is, therefore, a permanent space.
From the diversity of thoughts it was stated
that: 'the struggle for a better world must be
globalised'. Young Colombians from the
universities in Bogota, in Valle and Neiva,
young people from Peru, farmers from
Bolivia, activists from ltaly and Germany,
United States artists, journalists from
Venezuela and hundreds of other people
shared their local experiences, their alternative
deyelopment proposals, their
perspectives on dialogue, confrontatlon and
resistance. A small Tower of Babel working in
confusion, and at the same time, recognising
themselves in their exclusion.
CEPAJ (the Ecuadorian Co-ordinator for
Youth Action), the Ecuadorian SCM, was one
of the organisers of the Camp. From outside
and within WSCF (the World Student Christian
Federation), as individuals, as Christians, as
young people, as human beings, we would
like to share with you these thoughts:
. We are concerned when we see how little
we know about the economic, social and
politicalstructures in Latin America. We ask
ourselves: how much do we know about
situations like the Water War in Bolivia, the
Dignity Plan or the Panama Puebla Plan?
. We feel motivated when we see that there
are people informed about the current Latin
American problems, when people organise
themselves and resist together and act
together beyond verbal solidarities.
. We see how complicated it is to build a
continent-wide platform to both resist and
make proposals, and to take the first step
to articulate these proposals in a single
project and a single force.
Most of all, we do not want to accept our
passivity as WSCF. We feel scared when we
see that these problems are not even being
debated, that these mega-projects are not
being taken into account when we make our
plans. We feel scared, but above all it
motivates us to go on working.
One of the results of the Camp was the
creation of the lndependent Media Centre
Ecuador - Indymedia - which will be launched
soon. Although support from the majority of
the population, as far as the protest against
the FTM is concerned, is minimal, the Camp
opened doors and brought us together. There
is still much work to be done with the people:
there is a distance between the protest and
proposals coming from the resistance
groups, and the everyday needs of the
people.
we feel scared when we see that these
problems are not eyen being debated,
but it motivates us to go on working
. Davld lasso ls
Co-ordinator of CEPA,
(SCM Ecuador)
Towards the end of this year, the Trade
Ministers of the Latin American countries
(with the exception of Cuba) are planning to
meet in Quito, Ecuador, to follow up the
negotiations to concretise the FTAA.
Garavans of diversity throughout the country,
meetings of young farmers and the Latin
American Farmers Organisations Coordination
(CLOC), Networks Continental meeting,
and a national mobilisation against the FTM
are expected to confront this megaproject.
And in your country, what's going on?
Davld lasso
movement | 7
disarming actions
disarming actions I
helen steven
ls nonviolence neutral?
Nonviolence
requires the
ability to
view the
opponent as
a human
being, and
to reach out
to that
person
. Helen Steven works at
the Scottish Centre fot
Non-Violence.
8lmovement
During the last ten days of June the Scottish
Centre for Nonviolence will have been
involved in providinE training for a group of
seventeen women who will be going to live
with Palestinian families as part of the
lnternational Women's Peace Service. Their
task is to be a nonviolent presence in the
midst of the desperate conflict between
tsrael and Palestine. As yet their remit is
undefined, but some of their tasks will
include accompanyingl people whose lives
are under threat, observing and
documenting human rights violations' simply
beingl alonElside people as their homes are
searched or destroYed as an act of
solidarity, and possibly participating in direct
action to prevent violence'
It is hard to know vvhere to begin the task of
training for such a challen$ng remit. Obviously a
basic understanding of the underlying principles
of nonviolence will be an integlal part of the
course, as will a thorou$h exploration of the
limits of nonviolence and what kind of actions
ftll within the definition of acceptable nonviolent
action. Time will be spent in role-play, acting out
a variety of possible scenarios, and exploring
issues around fear, trauma and stress.
One fundamental question that will have to
be addressed is that of partisanship. ls it the
role of the nonviolent interventionist to remain
strictly neutral at all times, or is the team
going to take up the cause of the oppressed
Palestinian people and take action alongside
and on their behaF.r Undoubtedly part of the
motivation for going to Palestine in the first
place is to show solidarity, to attempt to
understand their desperate pli$ht and to resist
any form of oppression. Nonviolence does
take sides, and is used as an effective tool for
redressing injustice. Palestinians have been
denied their human riShts ever since the
setting up of the State of lsrael: their land has
been occupied, they are subject to inhumane
conditions as second class citizens, their
people have been killed and exploited, and
their young people are indeed without hope.
Which is precisely the kind of talk that created
such an outcrywhen Chede Blairsaid thatyoung
Palestinians were lMng wtthout hope and that
this was what drove them to become suicide
bombers. So by going to stand alongside the
Palestinian people, is the team showing goss
insensitivity to the fears and suffering of the
lsraeli people, and can they be accused of
condoning the violence of tenorism?
ln the articles I have written to date for
Movement, I have repeatedly stressed that the
only way to deal wilh tenorism is to be$n to
understand why people become terrorists, and
what drives people to the desperation of suicide
bombing. This is not to condone violence or
agree with such ways of acting, but it is the
be$nning of an attempt to discover the root
causes of viotence in order to remove them. By
living alongside Palestinian families, the Peace
Team will experience at first hand the pain of
their situation, and may be able to convey some
understanding of this to the outside world.
But nonviolence demands more than this. lt
also requires the ability to view the opponent
as a unique human being, and to reach out to
that person in the belief that transformation is
not only possible, but through one's nonviolent
acts of witness, is already taking place. So
there is a challenge to reach out to the lsraeli
people as well, and to reach a deePer
understanding of their fears and hopes. Not
only does the world need to understand the
plight of the Palestinian people, there is a
deep need for the tra$c fears and insecurities
of the lsraeli people to be heard. They are
living in daily insecurity at the very heart of
their everyday lives, as terror does in truth
stalk the streets. Their right to live unmolested
in their own state is also being eroded, and
both sides feel themselves at the mercy of the
fickleness of the international powers.
Any peace team truly committed to nonviolence
will want to work towards an
understanding of both sides in the conflict.
Some of the bravest activists in the whole tra$c
conflict, who are daily risking their lives, are the
members of the lsraeli peace movement.
members of organisations like Gush Shalom'
who recently won the Swedish Right Livelihood
Award, and who confront the lsraeli government
by symbolic actions, such as painting a
demarcation line at the boundary of the
Occupied Territories; the thousands of young
soldiers who are retusing to figltt if they are
ordered into the West Bank; and many' many
more who form the increasin$y vociferous
peace movement within lsrael. These are the
people who can $ve hope to the young people'
not only of Palestine, but of lsrael as well. lt is
with these groups that the task of peacemaking
must be$n, and this is where the role of nonviolent
solidarity is so crucial.
Partisan, yes, fearlessly resisting oppression
in whatever form it takes; but acting out of a
deep love and respect for all sides of an issue'
and creating the bridge over which people may
cross to peace. I
ftustr atio\ humiliation, cour a$e
students express their solidarity with the oppressed in the occupied territories
On 27 March this year, a group of
students from Sussex University went
out to Palestine, also known as the
Occupied Territories. The day after they
arrived, the lsraeli army drove their
tanks in and placed the West Bank
under military curfew. David Anderson
talked to Dan Glazebrook, who was one
of the students. The interuiew took
place at the end of June.
Dan told me that the group spent ten days in
the West Bank town of Ramallah and then a
couple of days in East Jerusalem at the end of
the trip. The trip had been organised by
Grassroots lnternational, an umbrella organisation
including groups such as Trade Unions,
the Union of Palestinian Women, and the
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees,
that hosts international observers in the
Occupied Territories. They had originally
planned to see Palestinian towns, such as
Ramallah, and refugee camps, and to speak to
people in lsraeli peace organisations - such as
soldiers who were refusing to serue in the
occupied territories - but after the lsraeli
curfew this was impossible. Dan and two
others were staying in a flat owned by the
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
to house workers who lived in the country
around the town (travelling in every day would
take too long, even in peace time, because of
the road blocks), and were woken the first
morning by the 'nasty screeching sound' of a
military convoy going past, a tank, an APC, and
a bulldozer. For two days, they couldn't leave
the house but on the third day the curfew was
lifted, and the UPMRC ambulances were
returned, minus a driver. (Ihe driver was
released after another three days, having
spent the time stripped, handcuffed and
blindfolded.) The students then agreed to ride
in the ambulances to help distribute food and
first aid p'ackages, thinking that foreign
observers would discourage lsraeli soldiers
from possibly beating the drivers or throwing
the food and medicine onto the road. 'The
ambulances couldn't be used for picking up
the injured because no one was allowed to get
into those areas. One of the nastiest things
about the conflict was that, because they
weren't allowed in, most of the deaths were by
blood loss.' ln the ambulances, they were
stopped pretty much every hour; which meant
they had to get out and unload the ambulance,
they were
woken by
the 'nasty
screeching
sound' of
a military
convoy going
past
most
orgAnisations,
whether
linked to the
Palestinian
Authority or
not, were
targeted for
harassment
and attack
pa lestine
and the students had to show their passports
- this took about half an hour each time. Most
organisations, whether linked to the
Palestinian Authority or not, were targeted for
harassment and attack, Dan said. At one stage
during that week, the office of the Medical
Relief Committees that they were working from
was shelled by a tank: Dan told me that the
only reason no one was killed was that the guy
who was working in the office at the time was
in the toilet. 'lt was quite deliberate, because
it was in a block of flats and it was the only
floor that had been shelled'. ln addition, lsraeli
soldiers used to bring dead bodies to the office
and supply depot on the grounds that it was a
medical organisation.
On the final day, Dan and another Sussex
student, an lsraeli girl, were travelling
together when soldiers stopping them took
their passports, told them to follow them to
the central square where the lsraeli tanks
were parked, and then drove off with the
passports as the ambulance was told to park.
Eventually, after a long wait, during which the
ambulance left, they were told to get in a jeep
and were driven off to a nearby Jewish settlement.
They phoned the British Consulate on
their mobile, and discovered that the army
had told the Consulate that they'd been
arrested, but that they would be released.
After 24 hours, they were given back their
passports and driven to East Jerusalem by the
British Consulate. (They had been planning to
return to East Jerusalem that day anyway.)
They spent a couple of days in East
Jerusalem talking to UN agencies and lsraeli
peace groups. On the last day, Dan and the
lsraeli girl in the group went to West
Jerusalem to see her cousin and some of her
friends, who were about to join the army.
I asked Dan what he'd learned from the
Palestinians.
'The atmosphere at the checkpoints is
one of humiliation, and generally as well;
I don't know if I'd say despair, but frustration,
but also they're quite proud people,
quite courageous. They've no intention of
stopping demonstrations even though
they might be shot in the head. So the
three words that sum it up are frustration,
humiliation, and courage.
It was interesting talking to people about
suicide bombers. They don't call them
suicide bombers; one guy said to me that
suicide is associated with someone who )
movementl9
palestine
the more
people are
humiliated
and
oppressed
the more
they want to
strike back
in some way
. Davld Andorson is ActinGl
Edltor of ,ltovement.
Dan Glazebrook as a
Universlty Palestinian
Solldarlty Campalgn.
People
didn't want
or need to
believe in a
powerful
God who
would zap in
to sort
things out
r€search in theolofly at
Glrton Collegle,
Cambrldgle
has lost their will to live. lt's not to do with
depression or self-hatred; they want to live
freely. They callthem "marlyr attacks". They
have mixed feelings, but certainly when the
invasion took place most people supported
them because there's so little they can do
when tanks are coming into their houses.
Except for some highly Orthodox Jews, and
some lsraelis who refuse to join the army,
almost every lsraeli citizen has served in the
army, so for the Palestinians the distinction
between civilians and army is blurred. Men
in lsrael under the age of fofi can be called
up as reseryists, who are mainly used in the
occupied territories. But the more the
Palestinians are humiliated and oppressed
the more they want to strike back in some
way.
Obviously most Palestinians are not too
fond of Zionism, the idea that there
should be a state on their land that they
were kicked out of, which is always and
only for those of a particular reli$ious
group, which is not them. But most
Palestinians have made this historical
compromise to accept that. They want to
see a Palestinian state on the West Bank
and Gaza, and the checkpoints dismantled
and the settlers to be returned.
Celebrity
Theologian
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer
Oh yes, I've heard of him'
And you've probably seen the movie, read the novel,
noticed the statue outside Westminster Abbey?
Wow, a real celebrity! And I thought he was iust
another of those dead German'speaking men who
created modern theology.
Well, that too. Born 1905, did two doctorates by the time he
was 24, lecturer at the University of Berlin from 1931 to '1933'..
Bit of a whiz kid. So, an illustrious career ahead of
him?
He left his university post in 1933, shortly after his radio
broadcast on why Christians should be suspicious of the
concept of a Fuhrer was cut off midway through. Someone
didn't like what he was saying. They liked it even less when
he became a leader in the 'Confessing Church', resisting the
Nazi takeover of the Cerman Protestant churches and
particularly the exclusion of Jews from the churches.
Not a man to keep his theology and his politics
separate, then.
Bonhoeffer argued that the centrality of Jesus Christ for the
whole of human existence, nature and history meant it was
fundamentally wrong to think in terms of two spheres - the
sacred and the secular, the religious and the political. He
called the attempt to keep faith separate from questions
about how lives are lived 'cheap grace'. The question 'Who is
Jesus Christ for us today?' exemplifies his attitude - thinking
theologically in response to the present situation, and getting
an answer in terms of action and life rather than just theory.
There's a lot of frustration about the
international situation; the lsraeli government
tries fairly successfully to keep
them isolated, so they're very encouraged
to see people like us coming over.'
Dan had had a chance to talk to some
lsraelis at the parly, which he said was
interesting. 'One cousin said that Arafat was
a terrorist and should be kicked out; I said'
"isn't Sharon a terrorist?" and she said, "yes,
he should go too." lt's in a crisis, lsraeli
society, because the lsraeli government has
offered the best deal it's going to offer to
Palestine: a state unlike any other with no
control over the borders, no airspace, with
the settlements and roads between the
settlements remaining under lsraeli control.
The Palestinians feel that if that's the best
they're going to be offered, then they haven't
anything to lose now. The lsraelis feel, "come
on, that was a good offer, and if they're not
going to accept that what can we do?" The
main sticking point I think for many semiprogressive
lsraelis is the ri$ht of return for
refugees, because that would endanger the
Jewish identity of the state, and that's an
unfathomable idea even for many people who
oppose the occupation.' I
Davld Anderson
Sounds like SC/tlt's kind of guY.
Well, it's a bit more complicated than that; on various social
questions he was very conservative. Traditional family
structures, woman's place is in the home.
But isn't he the one all the radical 1960s theologians
quoted?
He wrote about the world 'come of age' - people didn't
need or want to believe in a powerful Cod who would zap
in to sort things out. And Bonhoeffer claimed that that
situation actually enabled people better to understand the
Cod revealed in Christ - who isn't powerful, who's weak
and hidden from the world. What Christianity meant, he
said, was learning to live responsibly without the powerful
God to back you up.
Ah, 'Death of God' and all that.
Yes, though again it's more complicated than that;
Bonhoeffer wasn't suggesting that we reduce theology to
politics or ethics. Unfortunately he never wrote at any
length about his more radical-sounding ideas - they're only
mentioned in the letters he wrote from prison to his friend
Eberhard Bethge.
From prison?
Having been a pacifist in the late 1930s he gradually
changed his position and became involved in a plot to
assassinate Hitler, which failed in )uly 1944.
Doesn't sound like a haPPY ending.
He was executed in a concentration camp in 1945'
But won undying glorY?
Hence the statue outside Westminster Abbey on the frieze
honouring 2Oth-century martyrs. Though note that unlike
many of the others on that frieze he wasn't killed for iust
saying he was a Christian; he was killed for doing what he
thought being a Christian required of him, which was
conspiring to assassinate a head of state.
Hmm, it is complicated' isn't it?
At least Bonhoeffer realised that. I
Rachel Muers
small ritual
small ritual I steve collins
Mountains of the Lord
ln Onboard snowboarding magazine a
couple of years back there was an
article called 'Lands of the Gods',
which ran through the place of
mountains in many of the world's
religions. Except, that is, for
Christianity. Which, given Mount Sinai
and Mount Zion, the Mount of the
Transfiguration and the many biblical
references to 'the mountain of the
Lord', seems strange.
Admittedly none of these sound much like
powder heaven. But Christianity has dropped
out of consideration; it is unknown tenitory
for most of today's spiritual seekers.
They seek a spirituality that will connect
them to the mountains they love and ride; a
sense of belonging, of awe and yet protection.
Perhaps even the assurance that
snowboarding can be an act of worship. How
did Christianity lose the ability to articulate
such things, in ways that make sense to our
culture?
We have a hunger for space. The spaces
in our culture are all closed off, boarded up,
privatised. Our ancestors looked across
empty landscapes, sailed across open seas
under huge skies. Such things seep into the
soul. They are the spaces for which we were
made, and all our attempts at control and
shelter have in the end shut us up in a box
of our own making, too small to breathe.
Such space as is allowed to exist is owned
and sold back to us with conditions
attached. lt has already been determined
how we shall behave.
We find our freedoms are illusory. Before
we even think it, play has become Playru,
with someone else's values built in. The toys
we shall buy are already waiting. The posters
on the walls offer fantasies of escape. But
they are consumerist. You will not escape,
because you will take everything wath you.
The very fact of you going there will
contribute to the destruction of the spaces
you crave. This is Escape*. The space is
already rented on your behalf, commodified
and sold back to you. Your experience has
already been designed.
Snowboarding is as compromised as the
rest. You can barely do it without expensive
branded equipment and clothing. lmages of
snowboarding are used to sell cars and soft
drinks, against the complaints of those who
actually do it. And ironically those ads then
sell snowboarding back to us, as part of the
lifestyle package.
But snowboarding illustrates both compromise
and transcendence. Few people think
about their branding while they're riding.
Piste poseurs miss the point. All that stuff is
just means to an end, mere background. The
promise of a good brand is that it will get you
a little closer to that end a little faster. lt will
get you adventure and fun by technical
specification; it will get you community by
displaying where your head is at.
Snowboarding shows how the physical and
spiritual are inescapably combined. lt tells
us a truth about ourselves that Christianity,
so long tempted by dualism, has often
denied. Bodily experience is a means to
taste God. ln heaven, worship and experience
of God will not be separate activities
from every and any activity of living. Even
now physical actions can both give and
receive of God, without words. The purpose
of words - of the words of God - is to lead
us to the brink where actions take over.
ln our unacknowledged hunger for God we
are drawn to places where we cast aside our
mastery for a moment, situations where we
cannot but be humble. We are small and the
mountain or ocean is vast. lt is beautiful,
but can crush us. For those without
conscious religion, this experience of beauty
and danger is the closest they get to
standing before God. And for those who do
have religion, it may still be the closest they
get in this life to standing before God.
lf all nature illustrates some aspect of its
creator's being, and if physical action
expresses spiritual intent, then riding a
board down a mountain is indeed an
enactment of worship, is indeed a touching
of God, even if the rider has no belief
system to make sense of that act in
conscious language. Prayers are written in
powder fields. The rider seeks to be one with
the world and its maker, not as master but
as lover, embracing and embraced, in
intricate involvement not aloof perspective.
The mountain of the Lord is not an ivory
tower but a place to throw yourself off. I
Snolboading
illustrates
both
GOmprcmise
and
hanscendence
. Steve Gollins is a writel
and web desiElnei in
London
movementlll
feature: global isation
Delegates at $r ,t, t/ s rtlllindow on the World' conference in March
explored the meaning of globalisation and Ghristian responses to it.
Here are some of their thoughts.,,
What
concerns you most
about globallsation?
Using the term globalisation makes
the issues seem like a huge evil monster
but many of the problems can be tackled
in bite sized pieces (like eating an elephant)
The issues of fairness related to trade,
'super-companies' taking over the world
Driven by and in the interests of powerful
states
The inequality between rich & poor &
the fact that it's increasing
What
do you understand
least about
globalisation?
How much is it a natural occunence
and how much it can be controlled and if
so who has power over it
Precisely what it is as it is mainly a buzword
used to describe a variety of
Why everyone rants about it without
understanding it...
This trade stuff - it seems to be
very complicated
What do you
understand by the term
'globallsatlon'?
The way the world is coming together in terms
of communication, travel, and so on; also the 'new
wap of trading, that is, free market economy
l Economics and Trade
2 Communication & Social & Political Affairs
3 A philosophy of interconnectedness - not only as we
interact with other people but also wtth the environment
- and this has always been so. There are spiritual
aspects to discuss - to do with Unity and it could be
thought of as being related to the Gaia philosophy
Closer economic interaction > more political
interaction > cultura/social interchange
The new economic & communications
systems that are 'shrinking the
world'
IYhat
would you like to
find out more about ln
relatlon to globalisation?
Ways to tackle the evil parts of
globalisation
wll it last? stabilise? continue
inexorably?
What are the arguments put fon'vard
by the World Bank & TNCs for what
they do?
Ways to change the current
systems, or alternative
systems
Do
you think there are
any beneflts flowln$ from
globalbatlon? lf so, whati?
Chocolate. Pineapples. Ability to share
knowledge around the world - and stories &
cultures
The coming together of the world; it allows a much
greater sense of $obal community
Yes. - Investment in developing countries is essential'
cultural interchange
A collapse in trade would devastate livelihoods
Means we get bananas and poor people in
Ban$adesh get access to (mobile) phones
Communications technoloA/ improvements
but of course these only benefit
those who are richer (at the
moment?)
12 lmovement
feature: global isation
P
,
CAFOD, Gatholic aid agency and prominent member of the Trade
lustice Movement, offer this exploration of globalisation, which is
reproduced from their website lrvlw.cafod.org.uk) by kind permission,
Globalisation describes the
process whereby individuals,
groups, companies and
countries become increasingly
interconnected. This interconnectedness
takes place in
several arenas:
Global logo inc
The inexorable rise of giant
transnational corporations (INCs) lies
at the heart of globalisation. Brand
names, from Nike to Coca-Cola, have
become some of the most widely
recognised images on the planet. Of
the world's top 100 economic
players, 49 are countries and 51 are
corporations. General Motors, Wal-
Mart, Exxon Mobil, and Daimler
Chrysler all have revenues greater
than the combined economic output
(GDP) of the 48 least developed
countries.
With economic power has come
political clout. World leaders scramble
for audiences with Bill Gates
(Microsoft) and John T Chambers
(Gisco). Corporate lobbyists are
enormously influential (though often
invisible) in drawing up the laws
governing global trade and investment.
Supporters of globalisation
argue that TNCs bring jobs and new
technologl to developing countries,
while critics worry that their growing
political migfit is undermining national
governments and allowing corporations
to run the global economy to suit
themselves and their shareholders.
The world in your supermarket
Rich and poor countries alike have
bought into the globalisation
message - that you can export your
way out of under-development. From
1980 to 1999, world trade in goods
(not seruices) tripled from 91 trillion
to over f,i! trillion. Poor countries
have concentrated on clothes,
footwear, electronics, and food - a
trip down the aisle of your local
supermarket has become a tour of
the Third World, with asparagus from
Peru, prawns from Bangladesh, and
mangetout from Zambia. China has
become the world's largest exporter
of clothing, toys, electronics, and
shoes. Trade can create jobs and
wealth in poor countries, but the
regular media expos6s of appalling
working conditions in Third World
farms and factories have led to
increasing concern over the social
and environmental conditions under
which the goods are produced.
IT has awakened fears
of a $rowin!,'ditital
divide' betvveen the
haves and have-nots
Globalfuture.com
The accelerating pace of innovation
in information technologr (lT) is driving
$obalisation. The cost of a threeminute
phone call from New York to
London fell from $245 in 1930, to $3
in 1990, to about 35 cents in 1999
(1990 prices). Using 24-hour e-mail,
companies can split up their assembly
lines between countries on different
sides of the globe, sending designs
and orders down the phone line and
shifting components from one country
to another to minimise costs. lT can
cut costs and create a $obal village,
but has awakened fears of a growing
'digital divide' between the haves and
have-nots. Thailand has more cellular
phones than the whole of Africa.
One Disney MacWorld
The doubling of tourism over the last
15 years, and increased international
migrataon, have meant greater cultural
contact between countries and
peoples. The spread of information
and corporate branding has generated
something akin to a single global
culture, especially among the
teenagers of the MW generation.
Those hyping globalisation believe this
will lead to greater international
understanding. Others fear that the
global cultural tapestry could be
replaced by bland corporate imagery
and the platitudes of 'Just do it'
branding. Priests in Latin America
have told CAFOD they have been
asked to baptise children from poor
families with names like Rangerover,
Thissideup and lloveny (think about it).
$2 trillion a day
Capital flows, increasingly disconnected
from any real trade or
investment, have grown enormously in
the last 15 years. They now run at
about $2 trillion a day (that's 12
zeroes), moving around in the Alice-in-
Wonderland world of derivatives,
futures, and currency trading. The
capital crossing the world's borders in
three days exceeds a whole year's
global trade. Globalisation's
supporters argue that capital flows
can provide much-needed investment,
for example via third world stock
markets, and can deter governments
from following unwise economic
policies which endanger 'market
confidence'. However, such massive
capital flows can easily overwhelm
even large economies (as Norman
Lamont found out in 1992), and in the
last three years capital surges have
caused severe social and economic
crises in Thailand, Korea, lndonesia,
Brazil, and Russia. The World Bank has
found that these crises tend to hit the
poor hardest, while subsequent
recoveries benefit the better off,
ratcheting up inequality. I
movementl13
feature: global isation
obalisation
for the Sood of aII
lournalist and author Noreena Hertz writes on embracing the new agenda
live increasingly in a world of haves and have-nots'
gated communities next to €lhettos, of extreme povefi and
ble riches. Some enjoy ri$hts that are com
to others. Vast numbers of people see almost no
benefits from the advances of the past century. Relative
inequalities are explodin$, and the world's poorest, despite
all the advances of globalisation, may even be getting poorer.
Trickle-down, the main rationale of neoliberal
$obalisation, has turned out to be an illusion.
Special interests have gained in power. Some
people have a voice, but many remain
voiceless. lt is a world of extremes, which can
be characterised most clearly in terms of
exclusion: political, economic and social.
in a world like this' few
can gain redress for
the iniustices inflicted upon them
globalisation:
Economic exclusion.
That is self explana-
tory - and can be
christian responses
ideas from scms"---
What do I mean by political exclusion? The
rights of citizens marginalised by the
interests of big business - whether this is
George W's environmental policy, clearly
formulated with the interests of the American
energy companies that bankrolled his
campaign in mind, or the infamous World
Trade Organisation, which puts trade
interests before the environment, labour
standards or human rights. Governments can
no longer be counted on to safeguard the
public interest or protect the public
realm'
'window on the worrd' conference
t""J,"*n"r"
'Christiane need t'o make lhemoelves
aware of globalisai"ion ioeuee, and explain
and inopire within i"he workplace, ohurch,
univeroity, Campaiqning muot be done on a loaal
level and a national level, Campaignlng muot, be
radical, difterent and therefore noticeablel
in growing
inequality and polarisation of wealth, in
countries in the South crippled by debt
repayments and growing income gaps both
within and between countries. ln almost every
developing country in the world, the number
of people living on less than a dollar a day
have increased not fallen over the past 20
years since the 'Washington consensus'
became mainstream.
And social exclusion? ln a world like this,
few can gain redress for the injustices
inflicted upon them. ln the South we often see
a race to the bottom: companies scouring the
globe for the cheapest and easiest place to
manufacture. Regulatory standards, health
and safety standards fall, while rights are
junked, communities displaced, unions
outlawed. Tobacco workers in Brazil are
poisoned by banned pesticides, but there is
no hope of compensation, let alone improvement
in working conditions. These are
Southern workers and Southern communities
excluded from the access to justice that we in
the First World take for granted.
What arises from these patterns of exclusion
is a deep and growing chasm between the
global economy and social justice. lf it is not
bridged, it will result not only in seething
conflicts, but, over time, in a growing
movement of people that will make even our
gated communities impossible to protect.
So for our sakes, as well as those of the
two million-plus children who die each year
from diarrhoea brought on by a lack of clean
water, the issue of exclusion must be
addressed head-on. This is not just a longterm
goal; it is something that has to be done
at once, a project that can and must be part
of a contemporary political process. We need
to realise that what has prevented the pursuit
of this objective has not been an absolute
scarcity of resources; it has been an absence
of moral imperative, responsibility, or will'
We must therefore embrace a new agenda
based on inclusiveness, a commitment to
reconnecting the social and the economic, a
relinking of the latter to a plausible redistributive
system and a determination to ensure
access to justice for all. All these things
are within our reach. >
In practical terms these should be the
immediate first steps:
First, an inclusive political process must be
set up to investigate and consider the impact
of economic globalisation. This should take the
form of an international independent commission,
transparent, open, and involving all major
stakeholders: representatives of the South as
well as the Nofth, members of communities
who are affected as well as those who are
beneficiaries, the poor as well as the rich.
And the issues to address? What is the
impact of trade liberalisation on the poorest
members of the global society? What is the
cost of economic growth to the environment?
What price are we paying for big business
influencing the rules of the game on the
quality of the air we breathe and food we eat?
What is the justification for allowing the North
to continue to protect key industries such as
agriculture and textiles while the South is told
to open up all its markets?
This is not a matter of simply looking at
economic costs. We have to examine the
impact of economic globalisation on human
development, on social capital, and in particular
on the poor. What are the implications
for society of rural communities collapsing
overnight, or for farmers when their indigenous
plants are patented by corporations?
We do not as yet know the answers to all
these questions. Much of the research on
impact is confined to aggregate economic
data which tells us little if anything at all
about impact on particular groups. And there
is at present no forum within which to
rigorously address and examine these issues.
But now more than ever there is a real need
to confront the beliefs of the market
fundamentalists away from the streets and in
a public forum. A real imperative to investigate
the costs of economic globalisation
framed around the issue of exclusion.
Next we must commit to putting in motion
the necessary steps to create a World Social
Organisation, which will seek to reframe market
mechanisms in rules and regulations that
ensure that the costs of externalities such as
pollution and human rights abuses are factored
into all aspects of economic activity. An organisation
which'will provide a real counterweight
to the dominance of the WTO - with as sharp
teeth and powers of enforcement as real.
For if the status quo in which trade
interests have been given primacy is
maintained, if the economic is allowed to
dominate, and if we never reconnect the
social with the economic, we will exacerbate
divides and perpetuate a system in which the
rules of the game all too often serve the
interests of big business before people, and
profit before social or environmentaljustice.
globalisation: christian responses
ideas from scm's
'window on the world' conference
'tMe as Chrisilane need to aome lo a aommon underetandinT of
globallealion ao an umbrella term lo desaribe lhe proceeees lhat
exist in our world today. The churahes need to identify, underetand
and eetablish reeponaee to lhese individual proceoaeo by reaseeseing
tradilional Chrielian teaching in lhe light of an
incrc a eingly gl ob alio e d e o ciet y.
Ae Chrlstians we sland united lhrough lheolo1iaal refleatlon
and lhrough aatrion. The aation enables us lo
ao-o?eraie wilh and affirm ghe aalion of olher non-
Chrielian or1aniealione, Theologiaal reflealion
providee bolh a baeis lor our own action and
helpe ue deliver a Chrietian messa1e aarose
lhe world in a way that,ie appropriate in
various conte*el
Of course
we must be
careful that the North should not use this new
organisation as a form of protectionism.
Assistance must be provided by the developed
world to help its developing partners be able to
bear the costs associated with better global
regulation, and different responsibilities
should be attached to nations of the South in
the short term at least. The South should not
be penalised for joining this organisation from
a singularly disadvantaged starting point.
new resources have to be created
to empower people to gain access
to better lives
But relinking the social to the economic,
though necessary, is not sufficient. There still
remains the problem of seeking to alleviate
the positions of those who are most excluded
and marginalised. At the minimum this means
the cancellation of debt, reversing the outflows
of capital from the South to the North.
Overseas aid, which to the least developed
countries has fallen by 45o/o since 1990, must
be significantly increased, while the ways in
which it is delivered need to be rethought.
It will simply be impossible for countries to
reach the goals agreed upon at the Millennium
Summit if these steps are not taken.
We shall not be able to halve the proportion
of people living in extreme poverty by 2015,
nor halve the proportion of people suffering
from hunger, without an end to the financial
drain and a real financial boost.
But more than this, new resources have to
be created to empower people to gain access
to better lives. And these new forms of
resources can only be raised by new forms of
taxation, global indirect forms of taxation,
that are then redistributed. At the same )
movement | 15
feature: global isation
. Noleena Hertz is the
author of Trre Sirent
Takeover: Globat
Capttatram and the Dealh
of Democfacy (A'lowl
s7.99).
time these taxes must be used to protect our
environment and our resources, so they
would be taxes on the use of enerry and
resources, and on Pollution.
Finally mechanisms must be put into place
to help people fi$ht injustice as part of a
wider political rebuilding of institutions. All
people, wherever they are, must be extended
the rights we take for granted for ourselves.
Workers and communities everywhere must
be able to safe$uard basic rights to minimum
health and safety standards, to minimum
wages, to not be dispossessed without
adequate compensation.
ln the long term this is a matter of strengthening
both local and international regulation of
companies and making enforcement effective.
ln the short term, there are clear steps that
can be taken by governments of countries in
which multinationals are domiciled.
Several test cases are underway in which
companies are being sued in the North for
actions carried out by their subsidiaries in the
South. They include Unocal in the States in
connection with its activities in Burma, and
Shell in connection with its activities in Nigeria.
But this means of redress is usually blocked on
two fronts. First, it is very seldom possible to
lift the corporate veil and make parent
companies accountable for the actions of their
subsidiaries. Second, even when this is done,
there are usually no funds available for
workers or communities to take on multinationals
with relatively unlimited resources.
A world in which people have no access to
justice is a world in which discontent will
continue to fester. So my final recommendation
is to ensure that the perpetrators of
corporate crimes shall be taken to account,
wherever they are, and that their victims will
have redress whomever they are. This means
committing both to legislative reforms that
will ensure that the corporate veil can be
lifted and parent companies can be held
responsible for the actions of their
subsidiaries, and to the establishment of a
global legal aid fund so that workers and
communities everywhere can be allowed
access to justice.
A tall order, perhaps, my plan for the world
- but not inconceivable. For now more than
ever it is clear that this divided world of
injustice, inequity, and power asymmetries is
untenable. The events of September LL
2OOt, have shown us all too clearly that we
do not and cannot live in isolation. We are
inexorably linked, standing as global citizens
side by side. And we allow the exclusion of
groups of people amongst us at our peril. lt
cannot be that the only issues upon which we
as a world unite are terrorism and trade' We
must commit to a global coalition to deal with
the issue of exclusion too. I
Noreena Hertz
obatrbation
and the Cospel
How should we respond as Ghristians to the challenges and questions
posed by a globalised society?
When future historians look back at our era they are
unlikely to i$nore the process we call '$lobalisation'. While
it MAY prove just a 'buzzvord' and disappear as fast as it
emerged, the phenomena it encompasses - the globalising
of trade, investment, communications and so on - appear
to be so profoundly transforming our world it is hard to
believe we are not at a new, definin$, moment in history.
But how do we view $lobalisation as people of faith? Do we
see it as positive or harmful, or have we nothing to say
either way? Gan we bring anything, as Ghristians, to the
debate it has generated?
First I suggest we need some reserue'
realism and humour. Because the expansion in
the mobility of capital we've witnessed in
recent years seems not to have improved the
lot of people living in abject poverly, and if
anything to have widened the gulf between the
richest and poorest nations, we can easily
dismiss globalisation as antithetical to
Christian values. And clearly many aspects of it
should be viewed critically. But we need also to
remember that many aspects of it have greatly
improved our lives, not least the advances in
information technologt: that we know as
much as we do about globalisation's effects ;'
16lmovement
is largely because of what it has given us. The
irony of this has not been lost on protesters
with a sense of humour - witness the
'Globalised Movements Against Globalisation'
banners seen at Seattle, for example - and it
should help us to keep things in a proper
perspective.
We should also be wary about simply being
negative and denunciatory. lt's true that the
TINA ('There ls No Alternative') approach
adopted by many defenders of liberal
capitalism needs taking apart, both for its
lack of openness to the future and for its
feeble understanding of history; but critique
on its own, without pointers to alternatives, is
no better. The frustration of businesspeople
at those critics of capitalism who issue calls
for a 'just and sustainable alternative',
without saying what that alternative might
look like, is easy to understand.
I shall consider'alternatives' in a moment,
but let us first return to our original questions
- and here I suggest we find ourselves in a
genuine tension. On the one hand there are
sound theological reasons why the neoliberal
agenda should worry us as Christians.
lf we believe the gospel calls us to love and
care for one another, especially the weakest
and most marginalised, and to build
community, we may not immediately warm to
a system predicated upon competition and
we Gan become a powerful force for
good in our globalising world
individualism. lf we believe that capitalism, of
its own internal logic, must put profits before
people and the environment, then, again, it
will not be immediately obvious to us how it
fits with Christian values. Yet globalisation is
the only context we have to work in at the
moment, the only arena in which to try to live
out the gospel narrative; and therefore the
choice seems to be, either to try to make it
reflect gospel values, to work in the interests
of poor people, or to ask the poor to wait
while we dismantle it and build a better
alternative (assuming that to be possible).
My preference will be clear from the way I
have phras"ed the alternatives. While it will
hardly be straightforward to achieve, I believe
we have to put our efforts into making the
present system operate more justly, Let us
not forget, before we get too ovenvhelmed,
that it is not an unalterable, divinely-ordained
system, but a humanly-created one, and that
it is not therefore fanciful to envisage how it
might work in ways that are more
transparent, more sensitive to the planet,
more people-centred. Our own government
believes this to be possible, and has signed
feature: global isation
up to the Millennium Development Goals with
their target of halving by 2015 the number of
people living in abject poverty. The Chancellor
has spoken publicly of a role for churches
and faith groups in the struggle to achieve
these goals, and it seems entirely consistent
with our calling to 'seek first the kingdom of
God'to engage in such a project.
we must hold fast to the vision of
God's people as community
Yet our commitment to God's reign cannot
but lead us also to remain open to radically
new ways of being society - and here is the
possible tension. We may have to work within
the present situation as we find it, and even
try to redeem it, but we also anticipate the
coming of that 'kingdom' which radically
transforms us as individuals and communities.
Christian eschatology means that we
cannot buy into the 'end of history' thesis, the
suggestion that the system we find ourselves
in, post the Cold War, represents the logical
'omega point' to which history was inexorably
leading. We cannot believe that what we have
now is as good as it gets, that no other way of
organising ourselves is possible. Rather we
must hold fast to the vision of God's people as
community, indeed, as the 'one body' we
anticipate whenever we break bread together.
It may not be easy to hold that in tension with
a commitment to 'make globalisation work for
the poor', but the two are not inconsistent.
The vision inspires us to work all the harder to
make the commitment work.
Underpinning our whole approach to globalisation,
then, must be our understanding of
God - God as a God of life, the creator and
sustainer of life and the one who, in Jesus,
comes that we might
have life
'more )
globalisation:
christian responses
ideas from scm's
'window on the world' conference
'The Chrislian aommunity ehould
reo?ond with pnyer and action.
Prayen oupporting lhoee who take acliont for
unde?atanding of the issuesl for wisdom about
how to aat,
Aationz to learn morei to aampaigni to educate
olheroi to alert poliliaiano; to be more aware of our
voaationi to have liturgy that reflecls our concern for
lhese issuesito givefrnancial and ?rayer oupporti
globalisation: christian responses
ideas from scm's
'window on the world' conference
'Chrielians ehould ..,
make oureelvee aware of t'hebibllcal groundingwehavefor
hope and aa|,ion| take whalever aclione we aan in our
own lives (for example, Turahase
loaally grown food),
while reaognising i';hat everyone ls aompromieedt
eduaate ahildren aboul lhe world they live in,
eopealally aboul t'he relali.lonship belween the
Northern and goulhern Worldo aaL within
and wit'hout corToratione to subvert
and reeisllheir harmful etfectel
abundantlY'.
lf we understand that to
mean that nothing should be valued more
highly than life, that everything should serve
life, then we have a framework for both
critique and action. We shall not demonise
markets, companies, international finance
institutions, even globalisation per se' but we
want to see them seruing life rather than vice
versa. We shall argue for work as an activity
that gives meaning and value to life rather
than one likely to jeopardise or debase it. We
shall argue for trade and investment to be
means to an end - improving the quality of
life for all - rather than simply ends in
themselves. We shall affirm, as forcefully and
passionately as we can, our planet as a Godgiven
source of life for all, even in the face of
its exploitation and rape in the relentless
pursuit of groMh and profit. And when, in
. Dr Andrew Bradstock is
Secletary for Church and
Soclety at the United
Reformed Church. He ia
author of several books
on falth and polltics' and
has recently edlted (with
Christopher Rowland)
Radlcat Christian
Wrllings: A Reader,
publlshed by Blackwell.
making these affirmations, we find ourselves
sharing ground with people of a different
faith, we must do all that we can to break
down the barriers between us, barriers which,
when founded on mistrust and misinformation,
can have such devastating
consequences.
So we can offer an alternative to the
prevailing system - its reorientation to reflect
and incarnate the values of the reign of God'
to serue the interests of people, life and
planet. And we have already begun to work
towards realising this. Jubilee 2000 proved
that church people, in solidarity with others of
like mind, can be highly effective in securing
significant reforms to the global economic
system; the Trade Justice Movement, drawing
on the support of many relief agencies'
churches and other bodies, seems likely to
make this point just as powerfully. The
Fairtrade Movement, too, alerts us to ways in
which producers in the developing world are
exploited and challenges us to act justly as
consumers. As Christians make connections
between povertY and debt, trade, aid,
education and other factors' so we can
become a powerful force for good in our
globalising world. And as the movements we
have mentioned remind us, throughout the
scriptures God calls on communities to
practise justice and jubilee in preference to
charity and alms, to organise so that povefty
is eliminated rather than simply 'treated'. This
is a callwhich should spur us allto committed
and prayerful action, for that really is what it's
all about in the end. As Max didn't quite say'
the point is not just to interpret our globalised
world but to change it' I
Andrew Bradstock
t-.i uAraFltq.c
Ie not profit
Fairtr e
Globalised iniustice can be opposed by globalised resistance..'
rhis Piece is about empowerment'
I anout the understanding that
I Eloo"li"ation is a process that we
all are part of, and that we all can
influence. The 'we' that I am referring to
is literally everyone who feels unable to
affect, but feels affected by, the trends
of international business and politics'
According to Christian Aid, the three richest
people in the world control more wealth than
all 600 million people living in the poorest
countries. Their share of world trade is just
:: bittBr d+.1
lEr Th;'d \'/(rl,l
Frl.ldu 3uf g
0.4 per cent. But this doesn't mean that
ordinary people have no power. On 4 May this
yeart over 30OO rural craftswomen in
southern lndia marched proudly through the
streets to celebrate the first ever World Fair
Trade Day, proclaiming their achievements as
artisans and expressing their solidarity with
others around the world, who they see as
their trading partners. On the same day,
supporters in Austria were climbing into mansized
banana suits to spread the word to
other shoppers in the Vienna high streets. >
18 lmovement
feature: global isation
'My first experience of international trading was at a trade
show in Europe. Quite out of my normal comfort zone, I
found the experience daunting, unnerving and at times
quite intimidating. Prices, naturally, were uppermost in
people's minds and I had great difficulty reconcilin$ the
atmosphere of the trade show with the environment in
which the products were produced. There was no way in
this great hall that I could share the stories about the
women who made the products and in no way were their
needs and aspirations taken into account. I am not naiVe
enough to believe that at the end of the day, trade is not
about prices and profits, but somehow there needed to be
another way.'
Karin le Roux from Mud Hut Trading!, a Fair Trading or{,anisation
in Namibia which links rural craftsmen and women
We must develop the confidence to face, and
not accept, the global trading system as it is.
We have the power, if only we will use it.
The Trade Justice Movement is a growing
group of organisations in the UK who are all
concerned about the negative impact of
international trade rules on the world's
poorest people, on the environment, and on
We have the power,
if only we will use it
democracy. Their shared vision is that trade
can be made to work for all - if there is
change to the rules and institutions that
govern it. This can be achieved if ordinary
people are inspired to take action and make
their governments listen to their concerns.
On 19 June the mass lobby for Trade Justice
proved its power as 12,000 campaigners
from every corner of the UK converged on
Westminster to deliver their message to their
parliamentary representatives and from there
to the top echelons of government.
We find that we have power and influence in
the various areas of our lives. The Fair Trade
movement is a growing sector of international
business that brings the Trade Justice vision to
life through practical, everyday trading with
communities who have been shunted to the
mar$ns by $obalisation. Those communities are
now selling their products on the same
(botlom left)
rhousands or
plotesters
lobbred thef.
MPS ln
person ro
;:,?::t
;lij:
mass lobby of Parliament this summel
supermarket shelves as the largest multinationals.
When customers in the UK choose Fair
Trade products, they are contributing economically
and politically to an alternative way of doing
business. The growth of Fair Trade sales in the
UK has spearheaded a momentum of initiatives
across the corporate sector that go far beyond
PR and represent genuine efforts to measure
social impacts as part of the bottom line.
That empowerment is mirrored at the other
end of the trading chain, in the lives of our
trading partners in developing countries.
According to Brigitte Kyerematen-Darko from
the organisation
Aid to >
globalisation:
christian responses
ideas from scm's
'window on the world' conference
'?ray lo bring God into the situation, and
live the ?rayen
Listen to the stories and be aware ol the
situation, while epreading awareneol to other
people (that io, beln6 the "aonsaienae of the
people".)
View Nhe planet aa on loan from our grandahildren
and God, and eee all people ao equal.
5ee the Flble as a double-edged eword, read bolh as
o??reeeor and the oppreesed,
Have faith lo aat, knowing lhat God ie wibh usi
feature: global isation
Artisans Ghana, woodcaryers may know that
they are not getting a fair price from intermediary
traders, but need the confidence to
Small communities are now selling their
products on the same supermarket
shelves as the largest multinationals
. Kathorlns Anderson Is
Co-ordinator fol
lnformation and
AdvoGacy for the
lnternatlonal Federatlon
of Alternative frade
negotiate. 'Fair Trade gives them the
confidence.' Aid may provide much needed
assistance - but it doesn't give any of the power
back.
So what can we do to engage positively
with the challenge of globalisation?
we can use our power as voters to engage
with the parliamentary process. We can use
our power as customers to create a demand
for fairly traded goods. Let businesses know
that we have ethical concerns when we buy
their products - send a postcard to the store
manager. lf we have money to invest, think
about where we invest it. The main thing is to
be vocal. We have friends, families'
colleagues, and through those networks of
relationships we can influence many others.
When we realise the interconnections
following globalisation, we realise that
nobody is so easy to i€nore. I
Katherine Anderson
IITEffiIIET#ffiTIET
see also,,,
O The Trade Justice Movement
campaigns for fundamental
change to the unjust rules and
institutions governing international
trade, so that trade is made
to work for all. lt is a fastexpanding
group of organisations
that include ActionAid, CAFOD.
Christian Aid, The Fairtrade
Foundation, Friends of the Earth,
Methodist Relief & DeveloPment
Fund, National Federation of
Women's lnstitutes, National
Union of Students, Oxfam, Peace
Child lnternational, PeoPle &
Planet, Save the Children, SCIAF,
SPEAK, Tearfund, Traidcraft, VSO,
War on Want, WOMANKIND,
Women's Environmental Network
and the World DeveloPment
Movement.
Contact details:
Trade Justice Movement
c/o The Fairtrade Foundation
Suite 204
16 Baldwin's Gardens
London
EC1N 7RJ
t: 020 7404 0530
e: tim@fairtrade.orE.uk
w: www.tradeiusticemovement.org.uk
O The Fairtrade Foundation was set
up by major UK develoPment
agencies to promote Fair Trade
and to award the Fairtrade Mark.
The Fairtrade Mark is an indePendent
consumer label which
guarantees a better deal for
workers and producers from Poor
countries. Set uP bY major
development agencies, the
Fairtrade Foundation checks that
products meet its standards
before awarding the stamP of
approval. The Fairtrade Foundation
is a point of contact for all UK
individuals interested in
supporting Fair Trade.
Contact details:
The Fairtrade Foundation
Suite 204
16 Baldwin's Gardens
London
EC1N 7RJ
t: O2O 74OS 5942
e: mail@fairtrade.org.uk
w: www.fairtrade.org.uk
O labour Behind the Label is a UK
coalition camPaigning for
improvements in working
conditions in the international
garment industry. lt is Part of
broader international coalition,
the Clean Clothes CamPaign.
Through Labour Behind the Label
you can find out how to influence
UK high street retailers to improve
conditions for their workers.
Contact details:
Labour Behind the Label
38 Exchange Street
Norwich
NR2 1AX
t: 01603 610993
e: lbl@gn.apc.org
20 lmovement
ties and binds
ties and binds I jim cotter
this lookout, this planet earth
Untilfairly recently the calendar of the
Western world was firmly attached,
without controversy, to the approximate
year of the birth of Jesus. We
still refer to years as, for example,
581ec or Before Ghrist, and lo 581, or
Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord
581. (By the way, the ec comes after
the date, the no before it, because you
say it aloud like that when you use the
phrases in full - sorry to point it out,
pedantic I'm sure...) To many people
this division now feels parochial, or at
best regional, not least since the
'millennium' was greeted by every time
zone round the planet, and even Ghina
uses the year 2OO2.
Since more people, of different cultures and
faiths, now use the formerly more exclusive
Christian reckoning of the years, some writers
have altered ac to BCE, Before the Common
Era, and no to CE, Common Era. But there is a
problem here. lf you don't think the birth of
Christ significant your dating system hangs
loose from any event. lt doesn't really work for
a secular world. Of course Christians may think
they hold a trump card. After all, the language
of 'common' and 'universal' has been claimed
totally for Christ. But the change to CE is more
a matter of international convenience and an
accident of history in a world of computers and
travel agents.
Well, I might want to argue that one of the
best titles for Jesus is The Human Being, the
archetype of humanity who lived a decisive
(perhaps I push that word into 'definitive'?)
clue to the character of God, incarnating it,
which I would sum up as Love, expressed as
Justice in public life and Intimacy in private
life. That is the vision I have glimpsed and the
programme I recognise as fitfully enacted.
But I am aware that at least two-thirds of the
world doesft think like that, and in general
human awareness it seems to me that indeed
something new has occurred over the last
generation. We have crossed a threshold,
intimations of which have been gathering pace
ever since the first circumnavigation of the
globe, and which irrevocably changed our
consciousness when human eyes - was it in
1968? - first contemplated our home planet
from far off in space. I would make a tentative
claim that that was the most siginificant event
of the twentieth century.
This suggests to me that the 'Common Era'
or 'Global Era' began in, give or take a few
years, 1968, and that we are now living in,
shall we say, 34 GE - though I am under no
illusion that the United Nations is going to
endorse this prophetic moment. I simply share
the idea for what it's worth, which may be
nothing.
These ruminations could lead into a discussion
of globalisation, the World Cup, climate
change, the internet, international law, or a
host of other issues. But I want to stay with
that picture of the planet, the blue and white
sphere against such a deep black background.
Much poetry and prayer uses the imagery of
sunrise and sunset, and the human eye
delights in the illusion as well as in the natural
beauty. The sun sets, sinks, falls, and so on.
and so on. Body clocks and emotional moods
are often intimately connected with the
changes of daylight and darkness, and the
seasons of the year.
But the new awareness gives us a different
perspective, one not yet woven into poetry and
prayer, not least because we neither feel nor
see (at least with the naked eye) the
movement of the planet in space. One meditation,
derived from information in Edward Hays'
Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim (Forest of
Peace Publishing lnc., 1989, 1995), gives us a
hint of how we might add a 'morning' 'ptayet'
to our repertoire that honours the new
universe story - though whether it leads to
thoughts of glory or of insignificance remains
an open question:
From this lookout, this planet earth,
remote outpost of the universe,
contemplating the stars at night,
racing with our brother planets
forty thousand miles an hour through
space...
On the surface of our earth,
warmed to life by mother sun,
orbiting around her six hundred million
miles a year,
wakened by our day star that seems so
close...
At morning turn-around of earth,
spinning on her axis at a thousand miles
an hour,
fullness of day beyond the eastern
horizon,
thick night way out beyond the west...
we breathe in quiet exhilaration,
we move into this new day in trust... I
one of the
best titles
for lesus is
The Human
Being, the
archetype of
humanity
. Jim Cotter runs Cailns
Publishing, an
independent Christian
imprint
movementl2l
ecumenrsm
ecumenlbm tb like
ridins, a bike...
what can SGM learn from cycling activists?
solidari$f No, really - put the
away,
history books aside - in your experience what is it?
have you felt, 'l belong. This truly matters'?
Examining my own life, I realise solidarity is
much rarer than I first thought. An evening
spent with close friends in a pub discussing
grand ideas? Once the mist of alcohol or
sentimentality has gone away, I'll admit this is
only camaraderie. Then there are certain stories
I have covered as a journalist for local newspapers
- stories with political bite that have voiced
community concerns and effected change. This
doesn't even take strong editorialising, just
straight reporting of a legitimate issue. Yet, if I'm
honest, the reason editors love such stories is
that they sell papers. lt is not because they
conform to some noble charter of ideals.
I'll try again. The best example of solidarity I
can offer is riding my bike with a bunch of
strangers. By that I mean a Gritical Mass bike
ride, a monthly'happenin$' in numerous cities
worldwide, in which cyclists assert their ri$ht to
be on the roads by riding together, usually at
rush hour on a Friday evening. ln this case I'm
talking about St Louis but the atmosphere, and
the ethos, is more or less the same anywhere.
Gritical Masses are not protests'
not athletic bike rides, but rather
torganised coincidencest
I came to St Louis, Missouri last summer with
my wife. We'd been married for a week at that
point and Katy hadn't lived in St Louis for ten
years, so we were both pretty clueless about
what to expect. We were short of cash'
. unenthused by the idea of runnin$ a car and
determined to see how we'd fare with a travel
pass and a bike. We soon discovered that in the
Midwest, relying on public transport means
something different than in Europe. Put simply,
only pensioners and poor people ride the bus.
Or at least that is the perception. lt's not
uncommon to be standing at a bus stop and
have a passing motorist yell, 'Get a car!' When
people give you directions they'll tell you where
to find a parking spot, even before asking how
you're travelling. Using Metrolink - a light
railway system installed ten years ago - is not
quite so deviant, but it doesn't get you
everywhere.
As for cycling, recreational biking is deemed
acceptable, but anything more purposeful is
just plain eccentric. I have heard a story about
someone who had just taken a job with a
corporation and was told he would not be
allowed to ride his bike to work. Given that
context, it's understandable why biking with a
group of fifty other riders is so affirming. We're
all freaks together.
Critical Masses are not protests, not athletic
bike rides, but rather, as the lingo goes,
'organised coincidences'. There is a route
sketched out, usually about ten miles, and if
someone feels like taking a detour the whole
group follows. One feels safe taking the inside
lane on major roads, something I would be
unlikely to do if travelling on my lonesome.
The idea comes from Beijing, where at
junctions, cyclists gather until they achieve
'critical mass' and then plough into the road
making the other traffic stop for them all.
Similarly, a Critical Mass travels as one unit and
can keep going through traffic lights when they
turn red, in the same manner as a funeral
cortege.
Dan Kliman, a transplant from Chicago where
masses attract up to 500 people, started the St
Louis ride two years ago. He told me: 'l'm a bi$
road rider and every time I ride Critical Mass it
gives that energ/ to get through another month
of being a bike commuter.' lnitiating the ride
was a matter of putting flyers on every parked
bike he saw and getting the news out via
supportive online discussion groups. The first
mass was siginificant for the disparate cycling
community because 'people had the sense that
they could take over the road. We weren't goin$
to be terrorised by cars.'
Numbers fluctuate depending on the weather,
the final destination and, of course, group
chemistry. Participants vary from hardcore
cyclists (professional couriers, competitive
cyclists and daily commuters) to wusses like
myself (far happier on a cycle path than a main
road and with a major aversion to riding at
night) and people who haven't been on a bike in
ten years. I couldn't even begin to identify all
the different kinds of bikes - suffice to say
that the visual effect of a mass (especially the)
22 lmovement
fancy dress one at Halloween) would be enough
in itself to stop traffic. How often do you see a
tandem followed by a rickshaw?
So why have I jimmied these transportorientated
musings into SCM's magazine?
Because, I feel, there is a latent spirituality in
the Critical Mass phenomenon - an appreciation
of what rituals, evangelism (in its best
sense) and community are all about.
RITUAL: after twenty minutes or so of chatting
while people congregate in Keiner Plaza,
downtown St Louis, everyone hops on their bike
and circles round a fountain in the centre of the
plaza several times until someone decides to
embark on the route. lt's street theatre and a
great demonstration of unity-through-diversity
without resorting to shrill slogans. Another
tradition that has evolved with the St Louis mass
(and perhaps other cities, I don't honestly know)
is that at least once per ride at a major intersection
everyone gets off their bikes and defiantly
raises them above their heads. Some drivers are
amused, others are irked and some - believe it
or not - have tried to drive through the mass.
Once the honking of horns becomes too much, or
arms start to sag, we move on.
EVANGELISM: some riders hand out flyers to
puzzled pedestrians and motorists. There is a
fanatical urge to spread the good news about
biking. The leaflets say: 'Once people see how
much fun cycling can be, and how much safer
and more pleasant it makes their streets, the
thinking behind our car-oriented transport
policies will be challenged.' To my tastes the
flyers are rather gushy, but to people who have
never considered a bicycle as a serious form of
transport, it's maybe not a bad idea to be
emphatic. Although it's not 'my thing' (l never
made a good evangelical Christian either), others
will continue to ride-n-proselytise and I
wholeheartedly support them.
COMMUNITY: Critical Mass creates a tangible
sense of community, even if the community exists
in that form for one night only. Some riders are
rabidly anti-car, others drive daily, but there is no
interrogation about how committed anyone is to
alternative forms of transportation. There is no
qualification to being a Critical Mass-er, other than
being there with a bike.
Those empowering evenings remind me of my
time involved with SCM in Glasgow: there's the
grand idea - an intelligent and inclusive vision
of Christianity - which no-one really talked
about because you were so busy doing it;
there's the discovery that I am not alone, there
are other freaks (people who also feel both
sceptical and excited by faith); and we stuck at
it, meeting once a week, with the numbers
fluctuating wildly.
Rather than worrying that SCM has lost its
political edge or its theological rigour - or
whatever the complainl du jour is - perhaps we'd
do well to imagine SCM as an advocacy group
along the lines of Critical Mass. The primary aim
is to allow free thinking about our faith, when,
broadly speaking, churches discourage this.
Meeting together without a leader is a form of
direct action and if we succeed in making a 'safe
space', theological insights and political stances
will come out of that. That was my experience
during six years with Glasgow SCM. We would
draw up termly programs with an obligatory
session on 'Homosexuality and the Bible', as if
the SCM group had to spell out its line to
newcomers, but then it morphed into an attitude
of 'There's so many gay Christians in this group
that's if anyone is uncomfortable with the idea
they will have left by the end of term anyhow.'
Rituals were similarly loose and organic. A
ten-minute slot, jokingly called the 'holy
moment', was prepared by a different person
each week, who of course brought their tastes
and religious heritage to it. But liberal
Christians rarely take Mass together, to use the
Catholic term, because it draws lines and
excludes people. Church history and teaching
has turned the breaking of bread - essentially a
sign of unity between believers - into a highly
divisive issue.
I'm not going to suggest on the basis of a
weak pun on the word 'mass', that a bike ride
offers anything that will heal 2,000 years of
internecine fighting. But there is something very
appealing about Critical Mass's way of making a
community from essentially isolated people who
come together and share a journey, then leave
energised and emboldened for their daily
journeys. Critical Masses are carnivals that
celebrate diversity and unleash pent-up ener6/.
But they are also 'carnivalesque' in the sense
that academics use the term. lt's like the
Roman festival of Saturnalia in which slaves and
masters exchanged places for a day: subversive
thoughts are played out, temporarily
turning the world upside-down, and that vision
sustains us when things return to normal. Bikes
could dominate the streets, not cars.
Likewise a spiritual community energises us
for our daily journeys; and SCM is a carnival
where bright young things imagline what the
church should be.
Let the dreary old
codgers honk their
horns. I
Tim Woodcock
ecumentsm
subversive
thoughts are
played out,
temporarily
turning the
world upsidedown,
and
that vision
sustains us
when things
return to
normal
. Tim Woodcock is a
former editor of
Movement
first among equals
.l
first among equals I claire connor
Meet Lucy Symons, co-ordinator of a university SCM group' and her
faithful committee. lt's the beginning of the year, and Freshers' Week
is looming large. Lucy's diary tells all...
The whole
day was a
hideous
pantomime,
with large,
fixed grins
directed at
the crowd
of freshers
stumbling
past with
arms full of
freebies and
eyes too big
for their
faces
. Claire Connor is Catholic
lay Chaplain at GKT
medical schools, King's
College London
September 15th
4pm Well, back to earth with a bang - second
year here I come! Just finished moving into our
new house. lt passed the Parent lnspection,
thank Boodness. Mum stuck her head out of
the car as they drove off and yelled, 'Don't
forget to plan your food shopping, darling! And
change the freshener in the loooooo.." The
neighbours must think they've left an eightyear-old
behind, not a grown adult. Hmph'
Surrounded by all my worldly goods here, so
better shove it all in the bedroom and unpack
later. The SCM committee are due round in
half an hour for the pre-freshers meeting. I'm
the first back, can't believe it. Damn, no fresh
milk! Oh well...
9.3opm Come on!! Meeting went amazingly
well. Am fantastically fantastic co-ordinator (we
decided not to use the term president, too
hierarchical and not very pc, we felt), with v.
committed team. Nearly everyone was there,
Bemadette (social sec), Jane (publicity), Sister
Margaret (Chaplains' rep) Kevin (secretary) - we
were missing my assistant co-ordinator Jeremy,
but he's still on holiday. Pretty much
everything's in place for the fresher's fair on
Wednesday and the opening social on Friday at
Tom's house (HUGE vicarage and his wife's a
great cook).
Slight problem with Kevin, or Krazily Keen
Kevin as I think of him, in that he wanted to
minute the entire meeting word for word. Tried
to say he just needed to put down the main
points but there was no stopping him. A bit
tedious having to repeat things and his pencil
was practically smoking by the time we were
finished, but it's great that he's so conscientious.
Always look for the positive, Dad says.
There were some great ideas for the annual
retreat - Kevin wants to cycle to Santiago di
Compostella but most people seemed to put
Taiz6 as the top option. Have to see what
people think. Just back from the pub with
Bernie and my bed's covered in boxes.
Unrngh, what's positive about that?
September 18th
8.3oam This is inhumane! lt's practically the
middle of the night. Thank goodness Freshers'
Fair is only once a year. Oh Lord, I'm going to
miss the bus. Here goes!
7pm Too - tired -to write. Quite successful -in
spiteof -iz@z..
September 19th
71am I have in front of me a sheet of paper
with 26 freshers'e-mail addresses on it. Yep,
26. ln view of yesterday's performance, this is
miraculous. Jeremy, my mainstay team
member, has had what I can only describe as
an unholy conversion experience over the
summer. New Orleans has clearly weakened
his mind. I don't know what I'm going to do
with him - or at this rate, to him. Grrrrr'
Arrived to find Jane and Robert (Free Church
Chaplain) setting up the stall next to the
Groovers society, who were cheerfully
thumping out music to make your ears bleed
on a mammoth sound system. 'Couldn't get
anywhere else!' screamed Robert - at least, I
think that's what he said. Whole day quickly
became like hideous pantomime, complete
with exaggerated sign-here gestures and
large, fixed grins directed at the crowd of
freshers stumbling past with arms full of
freebies and eyes too big for their faces. Only
Kevin remained undaunted, bouncing around
in an 'l belong to Jesus' t-shirt and matching
WWJD baseball cap, cheerfully bellowing at all
comers and handing out term cards.
Thankfully, there were enough people for us to
do half hour shifts with hearing recuperation
breaks in between, and we were actually doing
okay - untilJeremy made his entrance.
He strolled up at 2pm (four hours late), Mr
strait-laced Marks and Spencer 2002 dressed
in top to toe black, shirt half-unbuttoned to
reveal a large gold chain, wearing a ridiculously
large pair of shades and a cigarette (a
cigarette!) dangling nonchalantly from the
comer of his mouth. There was a collective gasp
from the stall - well, everyone had their mouths
open at any rate. 'Jeremy, what happened?!
You look like something out of the flipping Blues
Brothers!' I shouted. 'lI's Jaz, if you don't
mind,' he replied coolly, 'and that's the whole
point - dotl.'Well, it was damage limitation ftom
there on in. Even Kevin began to lose his
bounce after an hour ofJeremy haranguingthe
Groovers (soulless philistines, apparently)' and
lurching up to fteshers with what was clearly
supposed to be a cool swagger, shouting,
'We're on a mission from God!' and spraying
cigarette ash all over the place. We were luclcy
not to get thrown out, franklY.
Amazin$y, not everyone was scared off and a
good number seemed keen to come to the
social. Wonder if I can dissuade Jeremy/Jan
from coming - no, that's horrible. Maybe he'll
get normal again after the holiday effect wears
off. ln the meantime, it's official - America is
bad for my health. I
1
24 | movement
eviews: books
I
J
fgVJ 9
'V
c)
J
celebratin{, the senses
a new book challenges some accepted orthodoxies about the body
The Education of Desire
T J Gorringe I scm press I f,13.95
I confess I judged this book by its
oover. The colour photograph of a
half-clad Dexter Fletcher posing as
Bacchus in Derek Jarman's film
Canva{gio wastoo much to resist.
As is often the case, it is had to
find justification for the choice of
picture in the contents of the book,
thouglr Gorringe does refer brieffy
to Caravaggio's depictions of
Bacchus in his third chapter, 'Sins
of the Flesh?'. Still, the Dionysiac
and delectable Dexter is what
made me pick the book up and
perhaps what made you read this
review, so here goes.
The first four chapters of lhe
Education of Desire are based on
lectures given at the University of
Victoria, British Columbia in 2000 and
argue for a revised attitude towards
our bodies and senses in our thinking
about God. The final chapter is taken
from a lecture given to the Catholic
Peace and Justice Conference and is
a re-interpretation of the Eucharist as
both a celebration of the body and as
a ritual with.far-reaching implications
for living as bodies in the body of a
global economy.
The problem with turning a series
of lectures into a book is that the
chapters risk appearing disjointed
and may not come together convincingly
enough to form a coherent
overall argument. But Gorringe
overcomes this problem almost
wholly successfully by setting up a
bold case for the centrality in
theology of a celebration of the
senses in the first chapter:
'ln and through bodies, and
through the exercise of our
senses, God moves towards the
creation of a new world, a world
of the celebration and affirmation
of bodies, and therefore of
the creator, as the consummate
sign of the grace of God's
essential nature.'
and then dealing with anticipated
objections to his own argument in the
chapters that follow. What about
when the senses are used for evil as
well as for good? Doesn't a celebration
of the senses affirm our hedonist,
consumerist societlp What about the
tradition of asceticism? And, to my
mind most importantly, if we put so
much weight on the senses, what
about those who are sensually
deprived - blind, deaf or quadriplegic?
Gorringe is refreshing and illuminating
on all these points, but his
treatment of this last one is the most
memorable because it is the most
controversial. He challenges deepseated
ideas on a sensitive subject,
rejecting the definition of disability
as that which is contrary to what is
'normal', but also rejecting the view
held by some of those who are
disabled themselves, that physical or
mental impairment is somehow Godgiven.
What is particularly impressive
about this chapter is its range of
reference. Gorringe never simply
gives his own scholarly view - rather
he illustrates his points with firsthand
accounts of people personally
affected by disability.
lndeed, the whole book is filled with
an incredible array of references. He
refers to Karl Barth and to Britney
Spears, to Augustine's Confessions
and to When Harry Met Sally. This is
engaging and entertaining, though
occasionally he does risk losing his
reader by getting bogged down in
constant allusion to other sources.
Gorringe is at his best when
overturning accepted orthodoxies
and challenging our prejudices and
hang-ups. His points on the real
origin, purpose and reach of the
Eucharist in the final chapter are
certainly food for thought. What,
finally, does he mean by 'the
education of desire'? Nothing to do
with Dexter, I'm afraid, but that
doesn't mean it's not provocative. I
recommend you go between the
covers to find out. I
M enber . r.,"i;j gill,:,"ff:l
movementl25
.l
reviews: theatre
teachin€ God to dance
a modern interpretation of medieval religious drama
Mysteres
London, spring 2002
A South African theatre
company put on a PlaY based on
the Ghester Gycle of MYstery
plays in London during the
spring. The Mysteries were a
series of medieval PlaYs telling
sacred history from the Fall of
Lucifer to DoomsdaY Put on bY
craft guilds in cities across
Europe: each town had its own
set of plays. TheY were a
populist form: the stories were
enlivened by humour from
assorted shepherds, devils,
soldiers, and Noah's wife (who
didn't like the idea of sPending
forty days cooPed uP with a
bunch of smelly animals and
would rather go and visit her
friends), and the anti-authoritarian
potential of the Passion
narratives was PlaYed uP.
planvrights cheerf ullY
imagined the events in
medieval terms,
unencumbered by historical
awareness or any sense of
classical grandeur
The writers of the Plays found that
the biblical narratives are often
somewhat spare and confine
themselves to essentials. To modern
sensibilities, this is part of their
literary power, but medieval sensibilities
were different, and theY found
that the biblical narratives allowed
for, and indeed required, elaboration
to explain and motivate the behaviour
of the characters. Thus, the
playwrights cheerfully imagined the
events in medieval terms, unencumbered
by historical awareness or any
sense of classical grandeur. Medieval
sensibilities enjoyed diversity, digression
and occasional irreverence, and
they found that the grand narrative of
the Old and New Testament allowed
them to fit a lot of this in. The good
characters are surprised at being
caught up in the events of sacred
history, reasonablY Pious, $ven the
number of miracles going on around
them, but not exactlY holy, while the
evil characters are cheerfullY
irreverent or madly tyrannical' Herod
was notorious for allowing the actor
to go over the top - Shakespeare has
Hamlet make reference to him. The
primary sense is of a bustling
humanity who have lives of their own
in the background, who haPPen to be
called up into the Biblical story. As
noted, the villainy of the evil characters
in the New Testament, is
depicted very much in terms of
medieval power structures - wicked
priests and rulers are bY no means
left safely in a distant Past. The
narratives before the lncarnation
show God at his most'Old Testament'
(although the narrative starts with the
Fall of Lucifer, which is a much later
invention). The play cycle traditionally
included Judgement DaY, which is
pretty 'Old Testament' as well,
although in the South African production
it was omitted in favour of a
thoroughly universalist ending: the
cast all did an African dance led bY
Jesus, with Lucifer in the middle of
the company playing the percussion
accompaniment.
wicked priests and rulers
are by no means left
safely in a distant Past
The company in the London Performance
was mixed race, mostlY
black, performing in traditional
African dress for the Old Testament'
and in jeans and shirt for the New
Testament. TheY sPoke in at least
four languages - Afrikaans, English,
Xhosa, and Zulu - with a few extra
Latin chants. Some of the costumes
were pointed: Pontius Pilate was
costumed as a British Admiral' not
wanting to convict a man he thought
innocent, but eventually washin$ his
hands of the native's affairs.
I'm not sure to what extent the
mixed-race casting was used deliberately.
The first white character on
stage was Cain. Other white characters
were Abraham, Mary, sister of
Martha, Pilate (as PreviouslY
mentioned), and Thomas (who didn't
get to express doubt over the
resurrection, but did seem to be
telling Jesus that he couldn't be
expected to learn to dance just like
that). Certainly the casting raised
questions of racial Privilege and
God couldn't dance until
he'd taken off his robes and
jewellery and stripped to a
pair of old ieans
power, and was preferable to the all
too frequent inclusion of a black
actor as a minor villain on the
London stage.
Lucifer always steals the show and
the actor playing Lucifer in this
production was esPeciallY good.
Although he could and did adoPt an
expression of gleeful mischief when
required, he was at his best
wandering through the stage with a
shell-shocked expression as various
humans did awful things to each
other without his prompting. Another
particularly effective scene was the
massacre of the innocents. Herod's
soldiers, in modern uniforms,
swaggered onto the stage and cooed
over the babies before killing them.
Both the mothers and the soldiers
knew that the soldiers had no
benevolent interest in children, but
you could see them both thinking
that the mothers were in no position
to protest.
The most memorable scene: Mary
teaching God[esus how to dance at
the incarnation. God couldn't
manage it until he'd taken off his
robes and jewellery and stripped to a
pair of old jeans. I
David Anderson
ActlnEl Edltor ol Movement
26lmovement
eviews: art
ll
but tb it arJ?
an exhibition of 20th century art raises a few questions
Sacred Century: Reti$ion in 2oth Century British Art
Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, until 8 June 2OO2
Walking into the room with this
small exhibition felt, at first, like
walking into a modern church.
The dominant centrepiece, taking
up an entire wall, was a tapestry
design produced in the sixties by
John Piper for Ghichester
Cathedral. You'll have seen the
kind of tapestry in many
churches vibrant colours,
abstract symbols of the Spirit,
ioytul flowing patterns. Pretty -
but it didn't excite me or make
me think. This initial impression
was challenged by an exploration
of the other pieces, but it started
me thinkingl about the relationship,
or lack thereof, between
religion and effective art.
'Sacred Century'tried to map out a
progression in religious influences on
art over the last 100 years, with
varying success. I started by looking
at work from the early years of the
century - jingoistic images from the
'Arts and Crafts' movement, of Saint
George and other patriotic subjects.
The horrors of the First World War
only seem to have exaggerated
these conservative tendencies.
Reacting against the chaos they had
suffered through - the artist Stanley
Spencer said that it felt like 'the
divine sequence was gone' - the
Christian artists of the twenties and
thirties sought to reassert notions of
order and tradition, through idyllic
pastoral imagery and styles
influenced by medieval iconography.
World War ll shook artists out of this
unexciting tendency. The pieces from
the forties onwards be$n to use
powerful combinations of traditional
reli$ous imagery with contemporary
elements. Feibusch's 1943 'Pieta'
places a man in modem dress beside
Mary and Christ's body, evoking the
tenible scenes taking place in Europe at
the time. Graham Suthedand's Thom
Cross' contains contorted human
figures and sinister machinery of war.
The overriding impression that
'Sacred Century' gave of the late
twentieth century, thougih, was one of
fragmentation and pluralism. The
earlier works were nearly all intended
for use in Christian publications or
churches; the later pieces ranged from
the tapestry mentioned above to
secular works such as lee Wagstaffs
'Shroud', a modem-day Turin Shroud
imprinted in the artist's own blood. The
tone was one of exploration and
challenge, with artists taking and using
diverse images and references to make
their indMdual statements. Wagstaffs
'Shroud'features the artist's tattoos of
reli$ous symbols, reflecting an interest
in the repetition of patterns and beliefs
across cultures. 'Perils of Faith' by Ana
Maria Pacheco pictures sinister
masked figures digging in the dark, a
far cry ftom the noble Saint George.
And artists have drawn on reli$ous
imagery to create striking and controversial
images which challenge the
comfortable notions of conventional
reli$on and politics. Helen Ghadwick's
'One Flesh' pictures a modern
Madonna, sunounded by the paraphernalia
of modern motherhood and
pointing questionin$y at her female
baby. The artist aimed to reclaim
patriarchal images of women, seeing
the Virgin Mary as 'an extraordinary and
fertile site of the feminine'. Similarly,
Rose Garrard was inspired by a 2,000
year old Gnostic text to depict an
evocative trinity of female figures.
Closing the exhibition was a
special display of Adrian
Wiszniewski's stark Stations of the
Cross. Their simplicity and timeless
design was powerful, but as with the
tapestry, I had to wonder whether
they really had as much to say to us
in a new millennium as their more
'secular' counterparts.
For me, the more imaginative and
challen$ng pieces in this exhibition
were nearly all works from a secular
perspective, which drew on the
powerful imagery of religion and )
movement 127
eviews: books
myth (Christian or otherwise) to inspire
debate or explore the human
condition. Leaving the gallery, I
passed dozens of exquisite medieval
church ornaments, impressing on me
the power of a tradition that reigned
over all the people of Europe for
centuries. But that shared worldview is
now gone, shattered in part by events
in the last century. Art produced in and
for the church now is always at risk of
becoming insular, limited, or merely
self-congratulatory. One really
challenging work is worth any number
of colourful banners proclaiming
'hope', in my book. But at its best, art
can act to make religion's imagery and
messages more relevant to the culture
around it, helping religion to engage
more fully with the world.
Some of the work in 'Sacred
Century' did achieve this, and I know
of other exciting and challenging
work being done by artists within the
church, such as the female
crucifixion piece 'Christa'. But art
commissioned for churches should
not be afraid to confront the same
issues which secular artists tackle.
The language, stories and symbols of
religion will alwaYs have a unique
power to define and exPlore the
things which matter to us most as
people and as communities. I
Liam Purcell
seekin!, outcasts
meditations on homosexuality and the church
Ordinary Child
ueline Ley I Wild Goose
Resource Group | 98.99
No Ordinary Child is a book of
meditations written by a mother
grieving the loss of her one-time
hopes for her son.
When Jacqueline Ley's son told her
that he was gay, she had to undergo
a spiritual journey not unlike the
grieving process, coming to terms
with that inescapable feeling that
God's plans for you are not alwaYs
what you may have had in mind. This
is the key in understanding the
book's universality - it is ultimately
not a book about homosexuality,
rather it uses homosexuality as a
guide, a map of woe.
Although Ley never stoops to look
for sympathy through a sensationalistic
style, there is something deeply
moving in her raw sufferinel. She is
up front and honest with the
questions she asks God, describing
succinctly yet powerfully her
feelings:
'The fact that I am a Christian,
that lmy son] James too is a
committed Christian, only served
to compound my anguish.'
(pa$e 75)
We learn through Jacqueline's
experiences some of the meditations
she has used to surrender her
problem to God, to rely on his love
and, perhaps even more difficult in
times of spiritual crisis, to trust in the
decisions he makes for all of us. Her
N-E
duotrilrEE
g
Change language