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GLOBALIZATION AND ITS CHALLENGES
FOR THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
A. Wati longchar
Globalization has come to be a principal characteristic feature of the
new millennium and it has become an inescapable reality in today's society. No community
and society can remain isolated from the forces of globalization. The cyber society has
come with a bang. The computer culture is spreading rapidly. Even in a poor country,
coca-cola, cars, cosmetics and clothes seen in the cities and towns hide the reality of
poverty and suffering of the people. We have almost reached a point to believe that
"We cannot reverse the trend; we can only go forward!" We need to ask: What is
the role and priorities of theological education in this fast changing situation.
What is Globalization?
Globalization is a new contemporary stage of development of capitalism
over over the world. It is a process of social change in which geographical and cultural
barriers are reduced. This break down of barriers is the result of transportation,
communication and electronic communication. It also involves a process by which economies
of different countries are oriented to a global market and are controlled by multinational
and global financial institutions. It is not merely an economic process, it is also a
cultural process. It creates, by the help of media, a mono-culture - a culture of rich and
powerful. It is no longer a theoretical concept; it is a glaring reality, impinging upon
almost every aspect of human existence - economic, political, environmental, and cultural
and the like.
Globalization has a long history as a political and cultural reality
and as a religious and cultural movement. The first stage of the globalization process
started with the early Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman Empires which united the
world of their time. The second stage traced later part of 1400s when European explorers
voyaged out of Europe to "discover" new lands. Trade expanded between Europe and
the new worlds. Gradually, the process of colonization started. The third stage of
globalization started in the nineteenth century along with the expansion of colonial
empires and trade. The globalization intensified with the advent of the industrial
revolution in Europe as different countries in Europe sought raw materials and markets for
its products. This period ended with the World War II, but its ideological, theological
and cultural consequences continue to influence till today. With the rejection and failure
of socialism as an alternative, the whole world is thrown open to market economy, liberal
democracy and the powerful march of Western cultural values all over the globe with the
help of power tools of information technologies. Today we live in a new stage of
globalization.[1]
Positive Aspects
There are many potentially positive aspects of globalization, if it is
pursued for the common good, not just for the benefit of a few. Today globalization has
led to the opening up of the national boundaries to international trade and global
competition. Developments linked with globalization have opened up boundless possibilities
for human development, enormous new opportunities and enhanced the quality of life for
many people in the third world countries. For example, the production of goods for
consumption on a massive scale has brought not only a better and more varied goods
available to every citizen, but also has brought enormous change in people's value system.
Those who have and are able to buy the goods have attained greater comfort, speedier
communication and faster travel. Information technology has converted the world into a
"global village". The events of far-off lands are easily accessible in our
living rooms. This process has promoted exchange of ideas and customs between peoples of
different countries. Today our ways of thinking and behaving are now challenged beyond
accepted traditional patterns. The horizon of our perspectives has suddenly embraced the
`the global village' beyond the confines of our homes. And this has been reciprocally
beneficial. In addition, live communication of facts makes us partake instantaneously in
the events of history. It also creates and promotes global concern. We now have the
possibility of immediate worldwide attention to global issues, particularly to people in
emergency situations. For this reason, it is irrational on our part to reject it outright;
an uncritical attitude towards it is unwise. We need to affirm the positive side of this
development and make use of the many opportunities it offers for our development.
Negative Aspects
While some economists and politicians approve these developments, many
people look at this process with much apprehension. They look at the global village as an
order or mechanism for greater economic exploitation and political oppression.
Globalization has many dimensions: economic, technological, political, cultural, social,
environmental, ideological, etc. Each of them affects the local either positively or
negatively. Let us see some of its negative aspects:
a) Economic aspect: The world market has emerged as
the dominant economic force. While some nations have tremendous economic advantages,
others have become more and more dependent. The main players in the present process of
globalization are the governments of powerful nations (in particular the G7 ),
transnational cooperation, the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. The development of all
third world countries has to be related to the world market. This is so because the
overall control of the global economy is in the hands of the G7 countries. They control
the monetary system and international trade. The multinationals and other institutions
with the help of the state control all development processes. The foreign debt works as an
instrument to control the development process in these countries. Terms and conditions on
the loans are imposed on them, which make them almost impossible to develop on their own
terms. The role of developing countries is simply to provide cheap labour to attract
investors and to provide raw materials, which are at the mercy of fluctuating prices. They
are to meet the needs of others as cheaply as possible. This unfettered growth of the
multinationals and the emphasis on foreign trade are not conducive to a development
pattern that is oriented to the basic needs of the people. The production needs and
patterns are often determined by the market forces. It is unfortunate that they seldom
take into consideration the basic needs of the people. The production of the goods for
export or for the conspicuous consumption of the rich becomes the market force today. In
the globalized free market, the only people who count are those who have goods to sell and
those who have the money to buy. This in turn drives many to the margins of the economic
life. The small entrepreneurs have very little chance of survival in this system. Only the
stronger and successful competitors survive and thereby widening the gap between the rich
and poor, both between countries and within country. One cannot deny that there has been a
worldwide growth in poverty, inequality and the human misery. Social injustice is becoming
an accepted reality. It is said that the top 20% has access to 82.7%, while the bottom 20%
struggle to survive on 1.4%.[2] The weak, the poor and the inexperienced ones are pushed
to the outer rims of the society. Globalization works for the benefits of the rich while
the poor become commodities since they are used as cheap labours. It is very clear that
the present economic pattern no longer serves the interest of the majority of the people.
It rather destroys the lives of many people due to its unjust distribution of wealth,
exploitation and deprivation of basic needs. Indeed, it has created a situation of
marginalization, exclusion and social disintegration.
b) Political aspect: The development of the third
world countries with the help of industrialized countries has many political implications.
The process of globalization from the beginning was fraught with competition, conflict,
domination and exploitation. The opening up of the national boundaries for free market has
led to a neo-colonialism allowing not only economic domination, but also political
domination over the poor nations. For example, the policies of liberalisation and
withdrawal of subsidies, which are the conditions imposed by the IMF and the World Bank,
have resulted in the curtailing of the state's power. Today, globalization is creating a
government more committed to the protection of foreign investments and less to the
protection of the citizens of the country. Many thirds world are forced to abandon its
social responsibilities. This makes many people to ask whether the present process of
globalization is compatible with democracy, social justice and the social welfare state.
While the state is rendered relatively powerless, it has become a mere tool of the rich
and the powerful. Its sole function is to suppress any organized resistance by oppressed
people of the unjust system.
c) Social aspect: The market ideology of globalization
gives a notion that people who cannot afford goods and live in rural areas are considered
uncivilized and backward. They feel isolated from the privileged groups. This wrong notion
creates an inferiority complex among the poor rural masses that urges them to migrate to
the cities and towns in search of employment and better living. It encourages migration
not only within a country, but also encourages people to migrate to other countries. It is
estimated that there are seventy million workers around the world. The migrant workers are
the most exploited people. They suffer from insecurity and social exclusion. This social
exclusion is deeper than the economic level.
An ever-increasing economic pattern and the expansionary character of
globalization leads to lowering of labour costs and wages. In the struggle to be more
competitive, labour costs and wages are being driven down. Companies go in for
`restructuring' and `downsizing' which creates redundancies. Permanent employment and
skilled workforce is being replaced by the casual and part-time employment creating
immense insecurity among the workers. While wages are being lowered, but working hours
have been increased. Yet it is almost impossible for a poor worker to rebel against the
company that employs him or her. Powerlessness is one of the consequences of globalization
for so many people in the lower brackets of society.[3] All these lead the poor worker to
involve in all sorts of anti-social activities.
The profit-oriented free market has also let loose the present day
social realities. Consumerism and materialism have overwhelmed modern society affecting
every aspect of life. Society has become impersonal, mechanical and inhumane. The present
society and its penchant for unprincipled living, selfishness, corruption, opportunism,
and violence are the product of consumerism and materialism.
d) Cultural aspect: Globalization means the export and
import of cultures. Globalization involves cultural invasion. Technology is power. It
becomes the carrier to those systems and ideologies (values and cultures) within which it
has been nurtured. The whole idea of progress and development is decisively shaped by
western life-style, worldview and its structures. A monoculture is fast emerging. When we
say "mono-culture", it means the undermining of economic, cultural and
ecological diversity and the acceptance of a technological culture developed in the West
and the adoption of its inherent values. The tendency is to accept the efficiency with
productivity without any concern for compassion or justice. In traditional societies,
people maintained a very strong practice of community ownership of land and property. The
accumulation of wealth by individual was not encouraged, but today wealth is increasingly
regarded as belonging to individuals and not to the community. The slow erosion of
traditional cultural values leads to lack of cohesion in societies. The indigenous culture
and its potential to save human development and the earth from destruction are vastly
ignored.
e) Ecological aspect: Globalization involves
environmental degradation and pollution. The pattern of development that we uphold today
is capital-intensive. An ever-increasing economic pattern and the expansionary character
of mechanization and massive industrialization of the economic world-order are reducing
the non-human segments of creation to mere status of object without any intrinsic value.
People simply analyze nature from the viewpoint of its usefulness to humans and they are
all set to be exploited according to human's wishes. Forest and fishing resources are
depleted for quick profits. Mining companies rape resources with little regard to the
environmental and social costs. The sustaining power of the earth for nurturing life is
being destroyed. The whole planet is at threat. Thus, the ecological catastrophe today is
the direct product of modern industrial and technological growth, and the modern
lifestyle.
f) Impact upon indigenous people: With the
accelerating deterioration of the global economic and political situation, the indigenous
people face further marginalization and graver threats of continuity and sustainability.
In many parts of the world, the indigenous people have become the victims of big
reservoirs, mega projects, wild life sanctuaries, mines, industries, etc. An indigenous
theologian from Pacific writes his experience as follows:
The advertisement on our local TV demonstrates this concept very
clearly. The ad begins with people living happily in a joyous environment where there is
fun, plenty of food in the garden and an abundance of fish in the sea. Then the big ships
came with big money, which they gave to the chiefs for the forests. The result is total
displacement, impoverishment and ecological destablisation.[4]
In the name of development, people are forcefully evicted from their
ancestral land and the abode of the various spirits they worship using repressive measures
and often without proper compensation. They are simply ignored, silenced and despised. For
example, in India, 100,000 people are going to be displaced by the Sardar Savovar Project
in Gujarat, 60-70% of whom are indigenous people. Around 130,000 are expected to be
displaced by the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh of whom 65-70% are indigenous
people. Likewise, in the name of development, the indigenous people who are already
powerless and exploited are further reduced to powerlessness and bondage. It is
disheartening to see that indigenous people are made environmental prisoners in their own
land.
g) Religious aspect: Threatened by the forces of
globalization and the ideas of secularism, some sections in all religions assert a
fundamentalist posture. Under the pretext of an identity struggle, the Fundamentalists,
particularly in the majority community, want to achieve their dominance by controlling the
political process through the militant organizations. Religion is used for political
control. This process distorts both politics and religion. Moreover, the role of religion
moves towards mere private affair, without accepting any social responsibility. Indeed,
faith has lost its community anchorage. There is a subtle connection between globalization
and the revival of religious fundamentalism.
The Bible and Globalization
What principles of the Bible should bear on our choice of an economic
structure? Can the holding of wealth and living in plenty be morally justified? It is
right that a tiny percentage should enjoy wealth and conform, while a vast majority people
life in misery and poverty? Does the Bible justify exploitation of earth's resources for
the benefit of few people? The Biblical perspective is global: the grand vision of God
unfolded in the creation of heaven and earth culminating in the creation of humankind in
God's own image (Gen. 1:26). Similarly, the Bible ends with the universal vision of new
heaven and new earth (Rev. 21-22). However, the same Bible plays into the hands of the
vested interests to satisfy their unbridled thirst for power and pleasure at the expense
of the right of fellow humans and the earth. A very powerful biblical teaching is that any
economic system that relegates or marginalizes human life falls short of the divine
standards. Each person is created in God's image and thus worth and valuable for the
Creator. Therefore, in economic life, "any individual, class, caste, nature, gender
and community, should not be regarded as an object whose value is determined by the
fundamental of the market and who may be bought and sole or dispensed with a whim or will
of those who possess economic power, he or she is not to be treated as a means but as an
end."[5] The central preaching of Jesus is the Kingdom of God, a symbol with
universal or global repercussions. It embraces the message that all are brothers and
sisters in the one family of God and demands special concern for the marginalized people
and justice for all. It demands a more equitable distribution of the world's resources,
not the accumulation in the hands of a few. Globalization is definitely not the way of the
Kingdom because it uses human beings as cheap labourers and does not respect them as
person. This value is contrary to the biblical teaching of Kingdom's value. The Bible
upholds a community where justice is expressed in equality and sharing and affirms a
community economic system with reciprocal sharing and hospitality.
The biblical principle of the use of land and its resources is based on
"the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (Ps. 24:1). In the biblical
principle of the divine ownership, human beings are stewards and co-workers and not
absolute owner. Human's responsibility is to preserve and `exploit' the earth's fullness
judiciously and wisely for both the present and future generations. Globalization also
brings destruction to the earth. Nature is not to be exploited. It is not an object, but
it is sacred and holy. It is an integral part of the people to be treated with respect and
honour.
Challenges for Theological Education
We have looked into some of the positive and negative aspects of
globalization. It is a process that is inescapable and irreversible. We have to go through
it. We have to transform it to meet a new future with hope. We need to be critical of the
problems linked to the globalization process and affirm certain priorities while
descerning God's purpose in this world.
So much have been written in the area of globalization and theological
education. Theological education have to move into new areas such as globalization, the
ecological crisis, genetic engineering and ethnicity - all these areas have been outside
of our traditional schemes of theological education, though they all impinge on our lives
and relationships. Many of the theological educators, pastors, missionaries and Christian
ministers are ill-equipped to meet the challenges of new technology and cyber culture. A
theological education that does not take this issue into consideration will have no
impact. We need to evolve a clear theological methodology and perspective to address this
fast emerging challenge. Some of the challenges that we need to face seriously are:
a) A perspectival change: An important area that
theological educators have to face is the question of perspective in theological
education. For any theological inquiry, we need to have a perspective. It matters what or
whose perspective one had in doing theology. For too long an elitist perspective has been
dominant. The perspective of subaltern groups like indigenous people and women and their
struggle for new life has been overlooked in theological education. A very clear
scripturally directed perspective is the subaltern perspective. An addition of one subject
like feminist theology or indigenous people's theology in the existing courses of
theological schools is not sufficient. Neither is organizing a few seminars and
consultations sufficient. The study of gender justice must become a hermeneutical key to
theology. Teaching theology from woman's perspective would help to challenge the present
patriarchal culture and ideology in our religious-cultural, socio-political and economic
structures. We should consciously integrate the perspective of the marginalized people in
the whole process of theological education. In this effort, we should aim to discover an
alternative view of life and vision of human bond to one another and to the earth.
b) Curriculum: Theological schools must develop a
curriculum that is contextual and expose globalization as driven by the motives of
financial profit and just plain greed. We need a curriculum that supports the principle of
Christian solidarity and the traditional values of community, family, respect of life and
hospitality. Moreover, globalization has brought people of different religious faith
closer to each other. Our response is to broaden our curriculum to include a greater focus
on studying other religions.
c) An inter-disciplinary approach: The present
character of theological education is too much disciplinary and compartmentalized. This
approach alone is not sufficient in a multi context like ours. The reality of our
experience is complex and we need a confluence of tools to unravel its significance. We
need an inter-disciplinary character of our study and research. In this process, the
cultural and religious traditions of our people must be taken seriously. They are not just
useful to supply an alternative vision of human bonding to one another and to earth alone,
but they have to be taken seriously to support an alternative development paradigm.
d) A transformative approach: Gaining new knowledge
should help us in the transformation of our lives. It is unfortunate that theological
education has fallen into the trap set by the philosophy of modern educational system.
Education has become skill oriented. Theological education should not be reduced to mere
skill orientation. Today theological education has been reduced to mere abstract and
intellectual exercise leaving very little scope for action-reflection. We need to
challenge this pattern of Theological education. Theological education has to be directed
towards transformation. Praxis-thinking challenges us that, thinking that occurs apart
from critical involvement ends up in construction of theories about existence that keep us
away from the real world. We need rigorous theoretical reflection of the Word of God, but
it should emerge from the practice that is directed to transformation. In order to do
theological-praxis we need social and cultural analysis of our context. They should form
an integral part of the theological curriculum.
e) Protection of diversity: Plurality is an integral
part of the Creator. No culture, no community is excluded from this God's structure of
creation. All are unique in their own ways and, therefore, no one has the right to
dominate and suppress the other. Life is protected and it can grow to its fullness only by
affirming the beauty of diversity. Therefore, a perspectival change in theological
education to understand and appreciate the diverse religious and cultural resources of
human kind as the common property of humanity becomes crucial. A positive approach
especially to the people of other faiths, culture and languages can provide a new paradigm
of pedagogy to theological education.
Conclusion
We cannot find easy answer to these complex problems brought by the
process of globalization. Theological education needs to help people to discern justice
and speak for justice for the victims of globalization. It is important that the Word of
God is constantly engage in helping people to search for an alternative vision of human
bonding to one another and to the whole of God's creation. It is also important to
recognize that an indispensable role of theological education in the context of
globalization is to strengthen the prophetic ministry of the church so that it can become
the salt, light and leaven against the ill effects of globalization.
Notes:
- Kevin J. Barr, "Globalization and the Economy" in The Pacific Journal of
Theology, Series II, Issue 24, 2000, p. 6.
- Ibid., p. 239.
- Ibid., pp. 12-13.
- Jovili Meo, "Globalization, Faith and Culture: The Impact on Morality", in The
Pacific Journal of Theology, Series II, Issue 24, 2000, p. 56.
- I. John Mohan Razu, "Reading of the Bible in the Context of Globalism: From the
Perspective of the Exploited" , a paper presented at National Consultation on the
Priorities of Theological Education in India, Chennai, May 22-25, 2001
[Dr Longchar is jointly appointed by the CCA and WCC as a
consultant for Asia and the Pacific in relation to theological education.] |
