*{How Can We Manage the Social Impact of Globalization? [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/How%20Can%20We%20Manage%20the%20Social%20Impact%20of%20Globalization%3F?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            30.01.1999

            Annual Meeting 1999}

            Moderator Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist at The New York Times, suggested that in globalization, separatists and integrationists are at opposite poles and cross-cutting this line are two other extremes: those who believe that the winner takes all, and the "social safety netters" (or as panellist Donald Johnston, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, suggested later - "the trampoliners"). Everyone who has a view on globalization is represented somewhere on this matrix, Friedman said.

            All panellists acknowledged the need for a safety net; it is inevitable that people's lives are dislocated by globalization. There was agreement that education is one key to mastering the challenges, along with respecting people as individuals "with souls". People need to be given every incentive to become more mobile in their work. The panel also agreed that decentralized solutions, which give people some power over their own destinies, are important. This could be supported by encouraging small- or medium-sized companies which employ an increasingly large proportion of the workforce.

            Education proved to be the major issue discussed in the session. Michael Burda, Professor of Economics at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, said that people need to have the basic technical skills to deal with changes on their own. The point was echoed by Noordin Sopiee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia. Sopiee said he is pessimistic about concerted international action to tackle the social impact. However, he has faith that people could absorb the basic skills. Even in the West, training is a major need according to recent OECD statistics presented by Johnston: 

            Between 25% and 40% of adults are functionally illiterate, meaning they are effectively excluded from the advantages globalization offers. In Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US, over 10% of young people aged 15 to 19, and over 20% of those between 20 and 24, are neither in employment nor in education.

            Johnston believes these figures indicate a potential danger of future destabilization from a section of the population which is socially excluded and has no loyalty to democratic institutions. He said that social and economic development could only be implemented together. If this took place, those at risk would not require a social "safety net" so much as a "trampoline" - to bounce back into the productive mainstream of society.

            John J. Sweeney, President of the US AFL-CIO, expanded on these concerns. He outlined the major challenge as making the global system safe for society. Citing evidence from the United States, Sweeney concluded that globalization in its current form is not sustainable as democratic societies would not continue to support it. 

            Panel members were united on the need for concerted international action to tackle the social impact of globalization but were pessimistic about it occurring. They placed more faith in the abilities of individuals to survive the changes and take advantage of the opportunities that arise. They will be helped, as Michael Burda pointed out, by technology such as the mobile phone. The key is education and how to provide it to the vast numbers of people who will need it in the near future.                  

                  *{Contributors:       Burda Michael
                  Friedman Thomas L.
                  Johnston Donald J.
                  Sopiee Noordin
                  Sweeney John J.}