Responsible Globalization Workshop in Lyon

Yesterday (Thursday) I attended the first half of a giant conference in the Cite Internationale complex near the Parc Tete d'Or. The topic was "Responsible Globalization" and academics and business people from all over Europe and Africa (only a few from Asia) came for two days of round-table discussions and workshops.

The starting point was the often-cited fact that 90% of the world's population lives on less than 2 euros a day and that globalization made good sense economically but was destroying the livelihoods of local producers across the planet -- even here in France.

The seminars I found somewhat dull, if not academic, but the booths that various NGOs had put up caught my eye. How exactly were they going to market their message to the people assembled there, some of the richest and most powerful consumers?

There was a particularly thoughtful display talking about the possibility of "responsible tourism" rather than the resort-based tourism that consumes an amount of resources proportionally excessive to the number of people it serves (one example: golf courses, and the enormous amounts of water that they consume). But many of the outfits were selling "fair trade" items that were made abroad and which sold at substantially higher prices than the ones that you find in a drugstore or supermarket. Were they as good or better than the everyday ones, in order to justify the higher prices? (Always the question)

Incidentally, logistically, this seminar was a nightmare, with rooms poorly marked and a lunch line that was so disorganized that the lines overflowed with people and there was no place for people to put their dirty dishes .... so people stacked their dishes and leftover food on top of each other. People were also fighting each other to get at the coffee and wine. Forget civility!

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LINK:
Official Site of Conference
http://www.global-economic-and-social-forum.com/

A briefcase provided to all participants, as well as headphones to which were broadcast the simultaneous interpretations into English and French of the guest speakers' remarks. Yes, they work like mini-FM radios. Manufactured by Sennheiser!