1 - 2002

Church and Globalisation

The Potential Benefits of World Trade

German Protestants have revised their attitude towards business

by Thomas Bastar

The latest EKD Synod declaration marks a shift in the German churches’ thinking: Protestants are no longer sticking to their heavily critical attitude towards economic globalisation. They now seek a dialogue with business representatives and international institutions.

At its Synod meeting this year, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) was concerned with the topic of globalisation, and came to a surprisingly positive assessment.

On the day when the EKD Synod meeting was concluding in Amberg in the Upper Palatinate, the World Trade Organisation Conference was beginning 5500 km away in Doha on the Persian Gulf. At first glance, these two events seem to have nothing to do with one another. In Doha the discussion was about practical ways of improving the world-wide exchange of goods and the global trade network, while the Synod members in Amberg were concerned with its ethical categories.

The surprising result was that the Evangelical Church made its first positive statement about globalisation. The world-wide trade network has "appreciably raised gross world-wide production and thus - on a purely mathematical basis - created more affluence for everyone", said Gerhard Rau, Professor of Theology at Heidelberg, in presenting the statement "Designing a Responsible Global Economy" in Amberg.

Unlike the 1991 EKD memorandum on the economy "Common Good and Self-Interest", and the "Word on the Economy and the Society" which was drawn up together with the Catholics in 1997, the new position paper no longer takes national economies as the frame of reference for ethical economic considerations, but rather a world economy which is in the process of growing together. According to Rau, the EKD wanted to respond to the insecurity which many people are experiencing as a result of globalisation.

Thus the statement follows a middle path between neo-liberal optimism which says that expansion of markets alone will promote the common good, and the pessimistic criticism that globalisation only makes the rich richer. The churches are urged to monitor critically a process which in itself is desirable. However, the focus is not on demands, but rather on proposals for dialogue.

The Synod sees the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and multinational corporations as partners, not as opponents. Investments by multinational corporations in the Third World are even seen as ways of overcoming poverty, "assuming that appropriate conditions are met". For church development aid, the conclusion would be not only to promote local markets, but also to support projects which aim to integrate them into world trade.

During the discussion, Professor Rau recalled that the World Council of Churches in Geneva, which used to be one of the opponents of globalisation, has begun to seek dialogue with corporations and international trade and finance organisations. In this reorientation process, the EKD Position Paper can contribute to making the churches’ relationship to the international institutions less ideological. It also helps that the Synod refrains from calling for unified ecological and social standards world-wide, as critics of globalisation usually do...

However, it is also worth noticing what the declaration does not say. For example, there is no call for increased development aid. The key word "fair trade" is also missing. And, while the authors of the "Word on the Economy and the Society" in 1997 saw the private economic interests of corporations as opposed to their social responsibilities, the new EKD paper merely speaks of the possibility for transnational corporations "to set standards in their areas of work which are in line with the criteria for a sustainable economy". Here, too, dialogue and commitment have taken the place of demands and pressure.

Professor Rau said that in its declaration, the Synod wanted to give a sign to Christians in the leadership echelons of the economy that they are welcome as dialogue partners. "But these are basically issues of existential concern to every local church member," he added, and hopes that congregations will discuss the Position Paper intensively.

Thomas Bastar is an editor of the church-related monthly magazine Chrismon Plus. This article was first published in Chrismon Plus, No. 12/01, in December 2001 and appears here slightly abridged.