Subject: Global Groupings and Conventions

CONTEXT: The 17th Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) set ten-point priorities of national action under the Singapore Declaration.

Singapore Declaration

• It seeks to draw attention for the member countries to deal with the issue of dwindling wages of workers, inflation and unemployment.
• It was adopted by the delegates representing governments, employers and workers’ governments, employers and workers in the regions.
• Members agreed that social dialogue is essential to address labour market challenges and finding solutions in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and economic uncertainty.

Key point priorities

1. Ensure labour protection for all through the promotion of freedom of association
2. Recognition of the right to collective bargaining, including for workers in vulnerable situations and workers in the informal economy, as enabling rights for decent work
3. Closing gender gaps, increase women’s labour force participation, promote equal pay for work of equal value, balance work and responsibilities, and promoting women’s leadership.
4. Develop and implement inclusive labour market programmes and policies that support life transitions and demographic shifts.
5. Pursue collective and determined efforts to promote and accelerate a smooth and sustained transition from the informal to formal economy
6. Strengthen governance frameworks and respect for freedom of association for migrant workers
7. Strengthen the foundation for social and employment protection and resilience
8. Expanding social protection to all workers, guaranteeing universal access to comprehensive, adequate and sustainable social protection for all

 

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As India assumed the presidency of the G20 group of countries for 2022 to 2023, EAM S Jaishankar said on December 1 that India would be the voice of the Global South that is otherwise under-represented in such forums.

What is ‘Global South’?

• The term has since been used multiple times, such as when Jaishankar said of ongoing global conflicts, “polarisation may occur elsewhere, the people who suffer most are the Global South”.
• ‘Global North’ refers loosely to countries like the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, while ‘Global South’ includes countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

Behind the binary difference: ‘Global North’ and the ‘Global South’

• For a long time in the study of international political systems, the method of categorising countries into broad categories for easier analysis has existed.
• The concepts of ‘East’ and ‘West’ is one example of this, with the Western countries generally signifying greater levels of economic development and prosperity among their people.
• Eastern countries were considered as being in the process of that transition.

What are other such categorizations?

• Another similar categorisation is of First World, Second World and Third World countries.
• It referred to countries associated with the Cold war-era alliances of the US, the USSR, and non-aligned countries, respectively.
• The idea of the “third” world underlined that it was not only different from the “first” — the capitalist West — but also and the second — the socialist “East”.

Concept behind: World Systems Approach

• At the centre of these concepts is the World Systems approach introduced by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein in 1974, emphasising an interconnected perspective of looking at world politics.
• He said there are three major zones of production: core, peripheral and semi-peripheral.
• The core zones reap profits, being the owners of cutting-edge technologies – countries like the US or Japan.
• Peripheral zones, on the other hand, engage in less sophisticated production that is more labour-intensive.
• In the middle are countries like India and Brazil.

Need for new terms

(1) Global shift of powers

• In the post-Cold War world, the First World/Third World classification was no longer feasible.
• This is because when the Communist USSR disintegrated in 1991, most countries had no choice but to ally at some level with the capitalist US – the only remaining global superpower.

(2) Monolithic classification

• The East/West binary was seen as often perpetuating stereotypical thinking about African and Asian countries.
• Categorising incredibly diverse countries into a monolith was felt to be too simplistic.
• Also, the idea that some countries were ‘developed’ while others were not was thought to be too wide a classification, inadequate for accurately discussing concerns.

(3) Issues with Developed vs. Developing

• Writing in 2014 from the perspective of his organisation’s philanthropic activities, Bill Gates said of the ‘developing’ tag.
• It found an irony that- any category that lumps China and the Democratic Republic of Congo together confuses more than it clarifies.
• Some so-called developing countries have come so far that it’s fair to say they have developed.
• A handful of failed states are hardly developing at all. Most countries are somewhere in the middle.

Emergence of Global South

• Colonial past: A big commonality between the South countries is that most have a history of colonization, largely at the hands of European powers.
• No say since de-colonization: Region’s historical exclusion from prominent international organizations – such as from the permanent membership of the UN is intriguing.
• Consciousness for decision-making: As bodies like the UN and the IMF are involved in major decision-making that affect the world in terms of politics, economy and society, the exclusion is seen by these countries as contributing to their slower growth.
• Economic emergence: China and India have emerged economically sound in the past two decades.
• Declining US hegemony: Many consider the world to now be multipolar rather than one where the US alone dominates international affairs.
• Climate reparations: In the ongoing debate adds Northern countries paying for funding green energy, having historically contributed to higher carbon emissions.

Criticism of the classification

• Only few players: South simply aims to replace the North and the positions it occupies, again continuing a cycle in which a few countries accumulate crucial resources.
• More of a India vs. China competition: Much controversy currently surrounds the question of whether elites of the global South and ‘rising powers’ genuinely have the intention to challenge the dominant structures of global capitalist development”.
• Anti-china motive: China’s tentative “going out” strategy at the turn of the century eventually morphed into the expansive Belt and Road Initiative.

Where does India stand?

• No further diplomatic groupism: EAM S Jaishankar India’s objective is not to rebuild a global trade union against the North.
• Bridging the divide: India is eager to become a bridge between the North and the South by focusing on practical outcomes rather than returning to old ideological battles.

Challenges

• Political consistency: In the past, India’s ideological enthusiasm for the Global South was not matched by material power and political will.
• Bridging the neighbours: India must also come to terms with the fact that the Global South is not a coherent group and does not have a single shared agenda.
• Despaired south: There is much differentiation within the South today in terms of wealth and power, needs and capabilities.
• Defiance from NAM: India’s Third World strategy (and Non-Aligned Movement) in the Cold War era was undermined by multiple internal and regional conflicts within the Global South.

Way ahead

• More engagement in neighborhood: Championing the Global South today would demand more active Indian engagement with the messy regional politics within the developing world.
• Political coherence: If India can translate this ambition into effective policy, there will be no contradiction between the simultaneous pursuit of universal and particular goals.

 

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Leaders of the G-20 nations gathered at Bali in Indonesia for the 17th summit of the world’s most advanced economies.

Agenda of this summit

• The motto for this summit is Recover Together, Recover Stronger.
• The leaders will engage in discussions over three sessions on-

1. Food and Energy security
2. Health Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, and
3. Digital Transformation

About G-20

• Formed in 1999, the G20 is an international forum of the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.
• Collectively, the G20 economies account for around 85 percent of the Gross World Product (GWP), 80 percent of world trade.
• To tackle the problems or address issues that plague the world, the heads of governments of the G20 nations periodically participate in summits.
• In addition to it, the group also hosts separate meetings of the finance ministers and foreign ministers.
• The G20 has no permanent staff of its own and its chairmanship rotates annually between nations divided into regional groupings.

Aims and objectives

• The Group was formed with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
• The forum aims to pre-empt the balance of payments problems and turmoil on financial markets by improved coordination of monetary, fiscal, and financial policies.
• It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

Members of G20

• The members of the G20 consist of 19 individual countries plus the European Union (EU).
• The 19 member countries of the forum are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.
• The European Union is represented by the European Commission and by the European Central Bank.

Why was the G-20 created?

For emerging nations: It was created as an acceptable medium between the more “elitist” G-7 (then the G-8), and the more unwieldy 38-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

• Increasing representation: Over the past two decades, the global economic balance has shifted, and the G-20 has been seen as a more representative and egalitarian grouping of global leadership.
• Reducing groupism within: The G-20 was conceived in a more unified, post-Soviet era, when western economies made the rules, China was just on the rise and Russia was still recovering from its breakup.
• Economic boost for west: It was particularly useful in steering the global economy after the global financing crisis and banking collapse of 2008.
• Global-south on focus: Significantly, next year the “Troika” of G-20 will be made up of emerging economies for the first time with India, Indonesia and Brazil — an indicator of the shift in the global economic agenda towards the Global South.

Economic significance of G-20

• G-20 countries represent 85% of the global GDP.
• It accounts for 75% of global trade and 66% of the world population.

What makes this G-20 different from others?

• War mongers at table: For the world, this is the first G-20 since Russia began the war in Ukraine and the west imposed sanctions on Russia.
• Hosting a stronger China: This is only the second time Chinese President Xi Jinping has travelled abroad since the COVID pandemic, and the first time since he was re-elected at China’s Party Congress last month.
• Next chair for India: For India, the importance of the summit of the world’s most advanced economies is that it is India’s turn to host the summit next.

Bilateral meets on the sidelines

• All eyes will also be on the bilateral summits happening by the sidelines — including the Biden-Xi summit at a time when U.S.-China tensions are at a high.
• While neither Delhi nor Beijing have confirmed a Modi-Xi meeting, any interaction between the two leaders will be the first since the military stand-off at the LAC.
• PM Modi is expected to meet many of the G-20 leaders and others, and will invite them to next year’s summit in India.
• Among the leaders who are attending for the first time as heads of their countries are UK PM Rishi Sunak.

 

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