| Quarterly Newsletter n°1 | January - March 2005 |
PEKEA NEWSLETTER
IN THIS ISSUE (click on a heading to jump to that section) :
1 – Keeping up with our commitments: words from the President
2 – Sharing with our friends in need in Thailand
3 – Message from the Newsletter Chief Editor
4 – News from the International NGO Constitution
5 – PEKEA programme and commitments
6 – “Democracy and Economy” 1st Call, PEKEA conference in Rennes, 4-6 Nov. 2005
7 - Join our working team on “Access to basic services for all”
8 – News from a WT : “A New dynamics for city-countryside relationships”
9 – A partner conference on Moral Economy
1 – Keeping up with our commitments: words from the President
The year 2005 started traumatised by the catastrophe of the Indian Ocean. In addition to gestures of solidarity, it is a strong invitation to PEKEA members to prove their commitment to work together to build elements for alternative thinking on and practices in the social and economic life. Indeed, the death toll could have been lowered if there had existed a cadre of adequately trained personnel and existence of disaster management procedures, if investments had been respectful of the environment and the natural protections
We adhere to the idea that what is called development should be the construction of a better future for the people and that all the people should be involved in the design and implementation of adequate strategies and projects. We agreed to collect and analyze information on practices that illustrate this approach in order to build a knowledge that could be shared with our students and the public at large.
In Bangkok, we agreed that PEKEA has to be more than an annual meeting and a network of people sharing some broad common ideal. We were pleased to see that some of us took initiatives to organize debates. We identified themes on which to work and thanks to Juan Carlos Martinez Coll, we have a method for organizing virtual debates through Internet (See below). We decided to share information on our activities related to PEKEA’s goals and thanks to Wei Wang the first issue of our Newsletter has seen the light. Let’s use this instrument to share information on our research or work. Marc Humbert reminds us of our commitments in item 5; in item 7, as an illustration of how we can progress altogether, I am seeking your help for a work on access to basic services for all that I am doing in the UN framework.
Yves Berthelot
President of PEKEA
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2 – Sharing with our friends in need in Thailand
Thailand is one among many countries terribly devastated by the tsunami. We had a very fruitful conference there, where our friends from DPU and ESCAP welcome PEKEA members so kindly last November, giving us an opportunity to interact between researchers, activists and having contact with so nice people. Although, it is not in the missions of PEKEA to organise emergency operations or raising funds, our governing board found out a way to express our solidarity by a concrete action. As usual we place our commitment in the long run. We will make a first instalment in March, but the decision is to share at least half the membership fees collected for year 2005.
This will be send to DPU University to add to its effort towards population in need in Thailand. Pr Om wrote us the following : “I am thrilled by your concern and honor our participation in PEKEA conference as one of the reasons for your fundraising. DPU had organized such activities and PEKEA contribution would be the added value to our efforts. Thank you very much and Have a Happy New Year start”.
The amount to be sent is calculated as half of any membership fee under 100€ ; and for any membership fee more than 100€ , PEKEA will keep only 50€ and will send the rest to DPU.
For those who have not already made their payment :
You May either use a Bank Card on internet
(in English : Click here)
(en français : Click here)
(en castellano : Click here)
or send a cheque in Euros to PEKEA, Maison du Ronceray, 110 rue de la Poterie 35 200 Rennes France, or send a bank draft to BPO for PEKEA, Rennes, France, Bank Account n° 910 190 32182 (IBAN: FR76 1670 7000 2091 0190 3218 290 / SWIFT: CCBPFRPPREN).
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3 – Message from the Newsletter Chief Editor
We are pleased to send this Newsletter to more than 800 friends of the PEKEA Network in more than 60 countries throughout the world. We are not isolated in our attempt to build a relevant knowledge for our common future! We have three main purposes for this newsletter: first, to create an exchange forum for Pekea members; second, to circulate the latest Pekea information among members; and the last, to expand Pekea influence to the rest of the world as an NGO and for its idea. Send us anything you think interesting and relevant to include in the next issue. This newsletter will function well along with our web site.
Any comments are warmly welcome. Please keep in mind that the newsletter is from ourselves and for ourselves as well as for our consideration to any human being.
Wei WANG.
Chief Editor of PEKEA Newsletter
weiwei1208@yahoo.com (Click here)
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4 – News from the International NGO Constitution
PEKEA as a non profit organization may fill an application before 1st June 2005 to get a consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC. This will be done as the GA in Bangkok decided. The Governing council has 14 members from 11 countries ; they are mainly academics professionals (P) from 6 disciplines, but also as in our Network, it is composed of Experienced persons (E) who are active in CSO and Citizens (C) who are involved in Local Governments :
Members of the Bureau
President: Mr Yves Berthelot, (P),Statistics, Geneva, Switzerland.
Vice President : Mr Theotonio Dos Santos, (P), Political Economy, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Executive Secretary: Mr Marc Humbert, (P),Political Economy, Rennes, France.
Treasurer: Ms Daniele Bénézech, (P),Political Economy, Rennes, France.
Ordinary members (in alphabetical order)
Ms Marianela Denegri, (P), Psychology, Temuco, Chile
Mr Bob Jessop, (P), Sociology, Lancaster, United Kingdom
Mr Om Huvanandana, (P), Management, Bangkok, Thailand
Mr Gilles Maréchal, (E), Activist, Rennes, France
Mr Fidèle Pierre Nze Nguema, (P), Sociology, Libreville, Gabon
Mr Rajagopal Puthan Veetil, (E), Activist, Delhi, India
Mr Hirokuni Tabata, (P), Law, Tokyo, Japan
Mr Daniel Villavicencio, (P), Sociology, Mexico, Mexico
Mr Alain Yvergniaux, (C), Citizen, Rennes, France
Ms Wei Wang, (P), Political Economy, Beijing, China
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5 – PEKEA programme and commitments
PEKEA is involved in a programme aiming at bringing a strongly different analysis:
First, about the way economic activities have built the concrete world where we are now living, and the way they are changing it; Second, on how economic activities could be organised to move towards a world that looks better according to us.
Difference in analysis comes with the use of a methodology far away from that of mainstream economics:
We try to use a multidisciplinary approach where economic activities are not reduced to the sole “movement of things” but are taken as relationships between people, and we are committed to the idea that these relationships must be respectful of the public interest.
- Multidisciplinary means that academics of more than 15 disciplines, mainly in the social sciences, are working altogether, building a post-disciplinary knowledge.
- Relationships between people means that there are permanent interactions betweens powers to observe, to analyse and to monitor and it is in this sense that we have to build a Political knowledge.
- Public interest must be democratically defined and we assume that democrats are searching to live in a “good society” and for that we must know what is “good” (market only says what can be sold), thus we have to build an Ethical knowledge.
In Santiago (2002), we agreed to go in this direction with a set of founding principles (they are detailed on the website English Click here - Français Click here – Español Click here ) and that the target could be reached only if academics would go along with (i) activists of the CSO’s and (ii) citizens from local communities , Local Governments.
The formal constitution of PEKEA led to plan the construction of four building blocks (one world conference is devoted to each).
1. The societal value (In search of a brotherly economy- Rennes 2003)
2. Democracy facing Ecocracy ( Democracy and Economy - Rennes 2005)
3. Individual and collective behaviours (Africa 2006, Place and Title pending)
4. Our common feasible future (What feasible common future?- Bangkok 2004)
In Bangkok (2004) we decided to promote local and international working groups. Local groups already exist in some places as Rennes, Mexico, Tokyo, Santiago …and other are in the making; we will give from time to time news from them: please send us a note!… International thematic groups are working by e-mails and exchange of files and will meet in regional or world conferences. A few workshops (See a list- item 6 in this issue- for the Rennes 2005 conference) are in place and some are in the making: As an example for a new one read the call by Yves Berthelot: “Access to basic services for all” (item 7 in this issue). For a WT in operation read a short presentation (item 8 in this issue) by Hiroko Amemiya : “A new dynamics for city-countryside relationships”.
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6 – “Democracy and Economy” 1st Call, PEKEA conference in Rennes, 4-6 Nov. 2005
Our next World Conference on the theme : “Democracy and Economy” and our General Assembly will take place from 4th to 6th November 2005 in Rennes, Brittany, France.
Anyone backing PEKEA project may send a proposal before the 1st of May.
Acceptation will be confirmed before end of July.
Funds are always scarce, thus we are asking to everyone to try to fund her or his travel and lodging expenses: we can send you a personal letter of invitation whether it can help you to get funds, please ask to receiving one. We would like to be the more people possible to have a broad discussion altogether, but we will be able to cover travel and other expenses only for a limited number. Priority is given to four categories, a few key speakers, contributions noted as essential by the referees, colleagues from remote or/and poor countries, coverage of a large panel of disciplines and countries.
Our PEKEA project is supported by Region Bretagne (Brittany Region – Local Authority) and the Conference will be hosted by the University of Rennes 2. Organization is helped by MAUSS, (Mouvement anti-utilitariste en sciences sociales- Antiutilitarian movement in social sciences : presentation in English by D. Graeber at http://www.freewords.org/graeber.html) , a group of academics from various disciplines located in Paris, (see http://www.revuedumauss.com.fr/Pages/APROP.html ) and by CRIDEV, a Non-profit organisation in Rennes, ( Centre Rennais d’information sur le développement et la solidarité entre les peuples – Information on Development and Solidarity between people Rennes Centre- See http://www.ritimo.org/cridev.html ) linked with the main CSOs in France.
Following our conference in Bangkok and according to the existing and the newly launched work teams, we expect to have workshop sessions on the following sub-themes; The list is not closed and may change according to the propositions and the will of participants
Access to basic services for all
Access to land
Access to water resources
Fair management and sustainable practices
Fairer trade local and international
Societal balance of enterprise activity
New organisational, participative forms in Enterprises
Participative democracy
Coton, trade and industrialization in less advanced countries
A new dynamics for city-countryside relationships
A new curriculum and international exchange programmes for students and professionals
Moral economy
Work (- and democracy)
Market (- and democracy)...
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7 - Join our working team on “Access to basic services for all”
Access to water and sanitation, waste management, energy, housing, transport, health and education, in other words access to basic services, is a condition for a “decent life”, a right recognised to all without discrimination in the Declaration of human rights. It is also a condition for an individual to participate in the economic and social life. Consultations undertaken in the framework of the UN Institute for Training and research (UNITAR) of government officials, mayors of large cities, civil society organizations, corporate business and UN organizations on difficulties encountered in providing all access to these basic services led to two sets of conclusions:
First, in order to provide all access to basic services, - access here implies both availability and affordability - three priorities emerge:
To conduct sustained pro-poor policies. This implies, in particular, that civil society organisations are in a position to remind governments of the commitments they made and to assist in their implementation. The commitments to fight poverty made in The Millennium Declaration, in the Johannesburg Declaration and its Plan of Implementation are consistent with those of the Declaration of Human Rights and its Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
To develop partnerships between different stakeholders. Partnerships are difficult to put in place, time-consuming, and difficult to implement; nevertheless, they are necessary for mobilising the capacities and resources of all the stakeholders. It would facilitate the process if clear rules were established that would guide the partners in their relations with each other.
To give a central role to local authorities. Indeed basic services must be provided locally and it is at the local level that partnerships can be more efficiently developed to reach the poor.
Second, in order to meet these priorities two main obstacles, cutting across all sectors, have to be overcome. They both call for national and international action:
The development and maintenance of infrastructure, and the day-to-day delivery of services require a significant amount of financial resources that will have to be found locally, nationally and internationally. In this respect, the issues raised by stakeholders include the allocation of resources from national budgets to local authorities, possibility for the latter to borrow internationally and to introduce taxes; the availability of micro-credit mechanisms and the mobilization of local savings; a significant increase of ODA and loans from national and regional financial institutions, etc. It appears unlikely that the private sector will finance basic infrastructure but it can contribute to its maintenance and improvement provided that the tariffs applied allow both sound business and access for the rich and the poor.
It is necessary that the rights and responsibilities of the different stakeholders be recognised at the national level in order for them to fully play their part in sustained pro-poor policies and partnerships. This means that they have to be embodied in national institutions, laws and regulations. The rights and responsibilities of each stakeholder, as seen by themselves and their partners, are described in section 4 of this working document: “Listening to the stakeholders”.
Both partnerships and access to financial resources call for a clarification of the rights and responsibilities of each stakeholder.
I would like to join forces with those PEKEA members interested by the issue in two ways;
First, I would appreciate comments on the text that can be found on the website of UNITAR (www.unitar.org Click here)... This would help me to improve the work done for UNITAR. Genuine examples of how communities managed to provide access to basic services to all citizens and how the necessary financial resources were mobilised would be helpful.
Second, I would like that we work together in the PEKEA framework on the theme of access to basic services for all. The point of departure could be the UNITAR text that could be developed in adding to it an economic and legal approach, views of political scientists, sociologists and so on.
I would invite preliminary reactions addressed to yberthelot@unog.ch Click here and if this elicits sufficient interest we could organise a virtual debate.
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8 – News from a WT : “A New dynamics for city-countryside relationships”
This working team is composed of scholars, farmers, citizens and activists in Japan and in Brittany. Scholars are postgraduates from various disciplines: anthropology, ethnology, political economy, sociology, agronomy, geography, dietetics. When it has been launched, the general theme of the project was worded as follows :
Comparative analysis Brittany-Japan of city-countryside interactions via networks of direct sales for local products from agriculture and cattle farming. What local dynamics for human sustainable development?
General funding has come from the Brittany Local Authority (Region Bretagne) and each team tries to find funds for specific works.
Teams are working separately in Japan and in Brittany some of their members meet from time to time. A first common meeting took place during the PEKEA international conference in Bangkok. In Japan teams from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukui, Chiba, Tako are working with this programme, each one on some points; they had a first general seminar in Tokyo in December 2004 with the programme coordinator. It was the beginning of the research in Japan. In Brittany the research started after a meeting that took place in November 2004; field studies and desk studies as well are in progress and a one day seminar will take place in June 2005 to discuss first results. Japanese members of the teams will come to Brittany (Rennes, France) for the PEKEA world conference (4 to 6 November 2005), and at this occasion they will meet with the French members for a joint seminar. They will also, all altogether, lead and participate to a workshop open to everyone during the PEKEA conference.
The project is carrying out field studies of networks of direct sales for local products in Brittany and in Japan to analyse their potential as factors facilitating a safe farming in a perspective of human sustainable development. On a one hand, this supposes to resume a relation of trust and responsibility between city dwellers – consumers and rural farmers, and on the other hand to encourage farmers to commit themselves into qualitative production instead of a quantitative orientation. Distribution circuits of products will be studied in order to promote local consumption of local products. In order to have children more sensitive to environmental problems and of food security problems, contact with farm activities should be organised. Education to a good diet and to a healthier life should be included in primary education programme. This could be a basis for a new dynamic of city-countryside interactions which will integrate children and schools and a contribution to the maintenance of local farming that will preserve the environment.
Relationships between producers and consumers is not considered as a simple purchase-sale relationship but as social relationship that may be richer; relationship between city and country side, relationship between people. For example the economical and law concept of product traceability is here a question of human and social relationships between farmers and city dwellers. The latter may come and visit farms and receive with their products to consume not a label but a letter or a journal with a complete story of their production. Products and farming activities may be reintegrated in the nature cycle and a new sharing by the whole society of the joys of the germination and crops could be organised with a village festival.
The education side of city-countryside is essential. The education of taste and food education, and environment education and education for relation to Nature, animals and farm life have been neglected in favour of other subjects. The replacement of schools canteens by caterers delivering deep frozen meals to heat and the practice of fast food are seriously to put under question.
There are four main lines of research a) Interaction city- countryside b) New trends : organic and fair c) taste education and food equilibrium d) local dynamic and culture .
If you have any comments, suggestion, references, if you want to know more about our project, if you are personally involved in something related to that, please contact us:
e-mail : ongpekea@yahoo.fr
Hiroko Amemiya,
Coordinator of the VDBJ programme.
CRCJR /LAS Université de Rennes 2, France.
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9 – A partner conference on Moral Economy
CALL FOR PAPERS : Perspectives on Moral Economy
An International Conference to be held at Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK on 25 - 27 August 2005
Plenary Speakers include Erik Olin Wright and Sylvia Walby. The conference is organised as part of an ESRC fellowship held by the organiser - Professor Andrew Sayer.
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociology/events/moralecon/moraleconhome.htm (Click here)
Closing Date for abstracts – 1st March 2005
Conference organiser: Andrew Sayer, Professor of Social Theory and Political Economy, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, U.K. a.sayer@lancaster.ac.uk. (Click here)
Conference secretary: Pennie Drinkall: p.drinkall@lancaster.ac.uk (Click here)
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| PEKEA President: Yves BERTHELOT yves.berthelot@unog.ch Executive Secretary: Marc HUMBERT Marc.Humbert@univ-rennes1.fr Scientific VPdt : Theotonio DOS SANTOS theotoni@terra.com.br Treasurer: Danièle BENEZECH daniele.benezech@univ-rennes1.fr |
PEKEA Newsletter Chief editor : Wei
WANG |