“Combatting neo-liberal globalization at the local level” is the proposal of the Social Forum of Barcelona, a grouping of 45 social, political, religious and trade-union associations that have reflected in recent days on the impact of the globalization phenomenon on the daily life of the citizen. According to Arcadi Oliveras, lecturer in economics, “in the current neo-liberal globalization, the growth of international trade promotes injustice; the transnational companies act with impunity, generating poverty and closing the doors to immigrants”. Among the measures aimed at mitigating the effects of globalization, the Forum proposes “the development of participatatory democracy, the reinforcement of the social services, with limitations on people living off welfare, and the opposition to the action of the international companies that reduce their production costs through mass layoffs”. At a more general level, the Forum calls for “the urgent reform of the UNO, the reform of the Security Council, full recognition of the role of the international penal tribunal and the allocation of 0.7% of GDP to development”.
