1 - 2002

Church and Globalisation

A Mediator in the Process of Globalisation

The Evangelical Church in Germany has resolutely taken its stand between the stools

by Evamaria Bohle

The statement of the EKD Synod has neither adopted neo-liberal claims that market integration is beneficial of and by itself, nor repeated counter-claims that it is contrary to Christian values. Rather, the Synod has taken a nicely balanced view.

Max Dietrich Kley, deputy chairman of the electronic media firm BASF, sits shaking his head in the plenary hall at the conference centre in Amberg, as he follows the EKD Synod’s debate over its draft resolution on globalisation. He has just had an argument on the subject with the chairwomen of the Hans B”ckler Foundation and of Bread for the World. Now he is sitting at the back of the hall being surprised by the quality of the contributions to the discussion, which in his opinion are "vague and confused". The various Synod members have very different levels of knowledge of the subject.

In any case Kley is very doubtful whether there are many people in the business world who would be interested in a dialogue with the churches - although this paper on globalisation is undoubtedly very important, he adds politely. Having said that, he quietly leaves the hall, in which the Synod plenary session goes on for quite awhile, manoeuvering between faith, the world market and human rights, agriculture and wage levels, corruption and direct investment. "Still confused, but on a higher level," another observer ironically sums up her impression.

Probably no one is satisfied on this Monday evening. It is too obvious what difficulties are involved in finding a position which on one hand does justice to the Christian self-understanding of standing up for the marginalised, and on the other hand takes account of the desire to be realistic and not merely deplore the realities of economic processes.

In the end, however, the resolution "Designing a Responsible Global Economy" which is adopted betrays none of the muddle of the debate. Not only does the paper cope with the much-bewailed rift between human beings and market; it also carries a proposal for the role of the Protestant church in civil society.  The central concept is quite inconspicuous, appearing only on page 4 of the paper, in the words "Churches can play an important role as...mediators." This understanding of the churches’ role seems to be the key to the whole outline of the paper on globalisation. It also points beyond the paper itself to something more fundamental: Mediation, the role of conciliator, as a concrete form of self-understanding for a Protestant church.

To put it colloquially, this "declaration" challenges the Evangelical Church, not to "fall between the stools" in the globalisation process, but deliberately to take its stand there: between economy and theology, between globalisation’s opponents and winners, between trade unions and corporations, between nations and international organisations. The core statement of the declaration is that globalisation must and can be designed to meet social criteria - a thesis counter to the theses of both the enthusiasts and the opponents of globalisation - hence mediation. Whoever tries to find harsh, principled criticism of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the transnational corporations in this paper will search in vain. The Synod has been content to state facts. This does not meet the need for clear causes and effects or enemy images, but presumably does better justice to the complexity of the situation.

The "adversaries" of yesterday are to become "partners", "even though they are surely in need of critical dialogue". This dialogue, according to the paper, is not to be oriented towards a maximum of ethical demands, but rather towards the art of the possible. This means, for example, that the otherwise popular Tobin tax (a capital gains tax on international financial transactions) does not get a positive vote. Instead there is an appeal to the industrial nations "to cooperate in ... seeing that currency exchange rates promote the economic development of all countries".

Theologically, too, the paper takes into account the values of the secular milieu in which it would like to find readers. Instead of basing its push towards social responsibility on concepts like justice or love of neighbour, it opts more subtly and "globalisation-compatibly" for freedom and prosperity...

The drafters of this paper on globalisation have succeeded in quite a feat. On this basis, dialogue should be possible, at least when one sees it from the viewpoint of the churches. But not everything is true just because it appears in print. Economists as rule are "automatically amused" when theologians talk about economics... Whether anything will change here - whether Protestant Christians can be effective mediators not only on paper, but in actual practice, is another matter.

Evamaria Bohle is an editor of the Protestant monthly Zeitzeichen (Signs of the Times). This article was first published in Zeitzeichen, No. 12/01, in December 2001 and appears here slightly abridged.