When we talk of collective action, we have been generally talking in terms of individuals. But I think that the theories and principles of collective action are equally applicable to the nations as well. The reason being that, with trade liberalisation in place, the under-developed and developing countries have become very much vulnerable. The developed countries can use their clout for extracting undue benefits in the form of anti-dumping laws and other non-tariff barriers. The developing countries can challenge the existing power equations only if they come together.
An example is the case related to gasoline imports. Venezuela lodged a complaint against United States in 1995 under the dispute settlement mechanism of WTO regarding violation of WTO norms.. Brazil also joined Venezuela in 1996 with a seperate complaint. Some other developing countries joined the two later. Much pressure was created by this united block of developing countries and finally the judgement went in their favour. Doha Round of WTO talks was also a good example when the developing countries through their collective action were able to raise their voice and resist the existing regime of agriculture subsidies by developed countries. So if the developing countries come together, they can resist the existing power structure of present political and economic order which allows much space for developed countries to exercise their disproportionate power vis-a-vis developing countries.
4 comments:
yes, i think u r right...but then our course material always tries to focus on collective action with individuals as the actors..
i think the parameters that we need to consider when nations play the role of actors would be slightly different...of course, this is just a guess.
Definitely Mrityunjay, collective action for developing nations is very important especially in the wake of increased economic integration taking place world over. No one can more agree that examples such as Doha round talks are nice collective action initiative in this direction.
I think you are right in saying that collective action on the part of developing nations is required to enable them to face the challenges of globalisation. We can also see the example of environmental issues. The developed countries want all the burden to be borne by the developing countries. The developing countries can counter such efforts only if they are united and raise their collective voice.
The owner of the resources have always remain united to ensure a perpetual control on the resources. It is always the marginalised class that has to conciously think about uniting in order to gain a more equitable and just distribution of resources. This can be done more effectively making some institutions which can act as platform to bring a change in the present situation. Association like SAARC and commonwealth can play a major role in this process.
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