Global thought local action: understanding conflicts

There is a global context to our local developmental challenges. Therefore, we need to think about the global political economy. This will help us to craft better local strategies. Hence, global thought guides local action. As a result we inform our local practices by understanding global events.

Global economic prospects

The global economy remains sluggish at best. At worst we are on the brink of another Great Recession (because asset bubbles make up significant chunks of the global ‘casino’ economy). Consequently the economic future for millions of people is uncertain. Competition over resources increases in an uncertain environment. Brexit and the Trump Presidency have disrupted a neo-liberal consensus about free markets.

Global politics

People use political power to fight to gain access to resources. Thus the political future is also uncertain. There are premonitions of a world of walls and apartheid (in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territories). Under President Obama the US waged seven wars in the Middle East and Africa. Western encirclement of Russia and China raises the risk of further war. There is growing great power confrontation. We can expect an increasingly unstable global geopolitical climate.

AI image of Cape Town protest against Israeli apartheid

Local xenophobic actions

It is important to think globally to understand the drivers of global instability. Economic and political factors impact on the development of sustainable human settlements at home. Our insertion into the global economy influences economic development. Since 1994 economic benefits accrued to the wealthiest 15 per cent of South African households. Economic and social marginalisation prompted the xenophobic attacks against African nationals during 2008 and 2010. Local forces scapegoated them for the poverty of the majority. They excluded other African nationals from settling in many areas. The context of global social struggles influences the way local social struggles play out. It is also critical to use this to inform local developmental strategies. One such strategy is solidarity with oppressed and exploited people everywhere.