Patriarchy: Derived from the Greek word patria, meaning ‘father’ and arché, meaning ‘rule’, patriarchy - literally meaning ‘rule of the father’ - is the anthropological term used to define the sociological condition where male members of a society tend to predominate in positions of power. In many societies, one man, usually an elder, the patriarch, has absolute power over everyone else in the family. Equally, outside the family, the more powerful the position, the more likely it is that a male will hold that position.
The term ‘patriarchy’ is also used in systems of ranking (male) leadership in certain hierarchical churches or religious bodies, for instance the position of ‘Patriarch’ in the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches.
Many feminist writers consider patriarchy to be the basis on which most modern societies have been formed, and argue that the only way to achieve gender equality is to get away from this model.
Peace : The concept of peace ranks among the most controversial in our time. Peace undoubtedly carries a positive connotation; almost nobody admits to opposing peace; world peace is widely seen as one of the most noble goals of humanity. Various groups, however, differ sharply about what peace entails, how best to achieve peace, and whether peace is even truly possible.
Peace is many things: the meaning of the word peace changes with context. Peace may refer specifically to an agreement concluded to end a war, or to a lack of external warfare, or to a period when a country's armies are not fighting enemies. It can also refer more generally to quietude, such as that common at night or in remote areas, allowing for sleep or meditation. Peace can be an emotion or internal state. And finally, peace can be any combination of these defintions.
A person's conception of "peace" is often the product of culture and upbringing. People of different cultures sometimes disagree about the meaning of the word, and so do people within any given culture.
Positive discrimination: Positive discrimination (British English) or affirmative action (in US usage) is a policy or a programme providing access to systems for people of a minority group who have traditionally been discriminated against, with the aim of creating a more egalitarian society. This consists of access to education, employment, health care, or social welfare. In employment, affirmative action may also be known as employment equity or preferential hiring. In this context affirmative action requires that institutions increase hiring and promotion of candidates of mandated groups. There is much debate concerning claims that the practice is itself racialist, that it fails to achieve its desired goal, and that it has unintended and undesirable effects.
Racism: Often used in a loose and unreflective way to describe hostile or negative feelings of one ethnic group or ‘people’ toward another and the actions resulting from such attitudes. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race. Hitler invoked racist theories to justify his genocidal treatment of European Jewry, as did white supremacists in the American South to explain why Jim Crow laws were needed to keep whites and blacks separated and unequal; and so also the Apartheid regime in South Africa. There is a growing, but controversial, tendency to define racism is ‘a system of oppression that combines racist beliefs, whether explicit, tacit or unconscious, with the power to have a negative effect on those discriminated against at a societal level’.
Reproductive rights: Reproductive rights are a series of rights that enable all women - without discrimination on the basis of nationality, class, ethnicity, race, age, religion, disability, sexuality or marital status to decide whether or not to have children. This includes the rights to reproduce (such as opposition to forced sterilization) as well as the rights not to reproduce (such as support for access to birth control and abortion), the right to privacy, medical coverage, right to contraception, family planning and protection from discrimination and harassment. The right of access to safe, legal abortion is a basic right.
The term encompasses the political framing of contraception and abortion as rights, particular to women—as women, exclusively, are the biological vessels of human reproduction. In this context, ‘reproductive rights’ are largely perceived as being synonymous with the ‘pro-choice’ position, which states that a woman ought to be in control of her own body by deciding if and when she reproduces.
The Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights strives for women's right to self-determination in keeping with their freedom, dignity, and personally held values. Transforming social, political, and economic conditions are part of the reproductive rights agenda so that all women are able to fully enforce reproductive rights.
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation): is the largest regional organization in the world, covering approximately 1.47 billion people. SAARC is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia. The organization was established on December 8, 1985 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. Afghanistan was accepted as the eighth member of SAARC on November 13, 2005. Commonly agreed five areas of cooperation between these nations are :
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Meteorology
- Heath and Population Activities
- Transport
- Human Resource Development
Self-determination: A theoretical principle that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structures. It is the basis for many forms of nationalism, particularly ethnic nationalism. Self-determination is now embodied in international law. At the ratification of the UN Charter in 1951, the signatories introduced ‘the right of all people to self-determination’ into the framework of international law and diplomacy.
Sexuality: The expression of sexual feelings due to genetic predisposition or one’s own personal experimentation. Sexuality, which can be influenced by hormonal changes in the development of the foetus during pregnancy, strongly influences social behaviour. Human sexuality can also be understood as part of the social life of humans, governed by implied rules of behaviour status in quo.
Shudra, Sudra: The fourth caste or varna in the traditional four-section caste division in Hindu society in India and south Asia. Their assigned and expected role in Vedic India was that of artisans and labourers. The four Jatis are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Shudra. Mlechha is sometimes referred as fifth varna.
Like most of the other castes, Shudras are also either totally dismissive of caste identities or fiercely proud of the caste or Jati that they belong in rather than the Varna itself.
In South Indian society both the dominant castes and weaker castes are classified under Shudras. This caste model is also true for Bengal, Orissa, Assam and even Maharashtra states, areas in central and east India. Hence the mapping of four varnas over these areas is incomplete.
Socialist / Socialism: The terms ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ refer to several related things: an ideology, and economic system, a nation-state, and in Marxist theory, the society that will succeed capitalism and develop further into communism. The terms essentially refer to societies operating according to principles of solidarity and egalitarianism. The philosophy dates back to the first half of the 19th century. It originally included Marxists and non-Marxist followers of the Second International, who subsequently parted ways with the Marxists forming the Third International and the Socialists going on to form the Socialist International. Socialists have led industrial and agricultural workers’ struggles and have formed governments in both the North and the South.
South: A geo-political concept that gained currency in the 1980s, to collectively describe what had till then been described as ‘developing countries’ as a collective political force in world politics. Together with its opposite, the ‘North’ -- composed of advanced capitalist countries --, this duality established a dynamic and dialectical opposition of wealthier and poorer countries as collectivities that respectively had common interests in world politics. The duality however fails to account for (wealthy) countries such as in the Middle East, which are still ‘developing’ but do not see themselves as belonging to the ‘South’.
Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP): ‘Structural adjustment’ is a term used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the changes it recommends for ‘developing countries’. These include ‘internal’ changes, notably the cutting of social expenditures by the state, also know as ‘austerity’; Implementing user fees in basic services such as education and health; the privatisation of public enterprises; Removing price controls and state subsidies, and in general, the deregulation of the economy and a focus on exports; and - The cancellation or dilution of labour laws and what the IMF says is “Enhancing the rights of foreign investors vis-à-vis national laws”, in other words, preferential treatment. They also include ‘external’ ones, especially the reduction of barriers to trade, the opening of domestic stock markets, and an insistence that all tenders for projects have to be global, in other words, the national market has to be opened to global competition. In the IMF’s understanding, these changes are designed to promote economic growth to generate income to pay off debts that the countries have accumulated. Imposition of these changes has been a condition for getting new loans from the IMF and the World Bank for many developing countries. Due to the near universality of Third World debt, and the growth of the World Bank and IMF’s programmes, the terms of structural adjustment policies became a template for the governance of much of humanity during the 1980s and 90s.
The serial impacts of the imposition of structural adjustment policies on Third World countries across the world since the 1980s however – with experience in Latin America being referred to as ‘The Lost Decade’ - has generated deep criticism and opposition across the world, at local, national, and global levels. This opposition has been a major part of the growth of emerging global ‘anti-globalisation’ movement, and arguably also of the G77 – the group of countries in the UN that seeks to represent the interests of the countries of the South. Critics claim that SAPs threaten the sovereignty of national economies because an outside organisation is dictating a nation's policy. They also criticise the economic impact of SAPs. The lowered wages that are a result of SAP causes local purchasing power to be reduced; the privatisation of public enterprises reduces state capacity, export expansion often displaces or even destroys local production systems; and SAP only adds to indebtedness and to the flow of capital from the South to the North rather than reducing it. The anti-land reform and food trade policies associated with SAPs have been pointed out as a major engine in the growth in urban poverty and slums, the urbanisation of the global South, the ballooning of megacities, and accompanied by lowered wages and the shutting down of local industries, consequent worldwide migration towards the global North.
Worldwide opposition to SAP has been growing since the 1980s, and coalesced into a global movement during the 1990s, Since 2000, the emerging global movement has staged several actions in protest of IMF and World Bank policies, including A16 / Washington DC, Prague 2000, and elsewhere. Eminent economists such as Joseph Stiglitz have also deeply criticised SAP, and the IMF’s policies in general. This combined force of these criticisms have forced the World Bank and the IMF to change their policies.
Since the late 1990s, partly in response to criticisms and partly as a consequence of internal evaluations showing the ineffectiveness of SAP, the World Bank and the IMF have replaced the term ‘structural adjustment’ with an emphasis on ‘poverty reduction’, with developing countries encouraged to draw up Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs); but where the content of these is often quite similar to Structural Adjustment
Sustainable Development: Policy of promoting growth consistent with protection of environment, e.g., via shift to renewable resources and local community participation in development projects. Compromise reached in international negotiation, recognizing interests of developed and developing countries. Normative principle with mixed practical effect.
Sustainability: A concept relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilisation and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present even while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals indefinitely.
True sustainability affects and requires participation from every level of organisation, from the local neighbourhood to the entire planet.
Swadeshi: Hindi word, literally meaning ‘indigenous’, but now has deep cultural and political connotations in India. This term first gained currency in Indian political philosophy when Mohandas Gandhi used it as an economic concept during India’s freedom struggle against the British. His idea of swadeshi was directed at making India self-reliant and at removing the British Empire from power by following principles of swadeshi (indigenously self-sufficient, self-reliant) production and consumption. Strategies of the swadeshi movement involved mass boycotting of British products and the revival of domestically-made products and production techniques. As a strategy, swadeshi was a key instrument for Gandhi, who described it as ‘the soul of Swaraj’ (self-rule).
The Left in India has by and large kept away from using this term, but some sections of the Right have begun to use it since the late 1990s. This term has now expanded beyond its earlier limits and acquired some rather xenophobic undercurrents.
Terrorism: The use of violence against non-combatants for the purpose of achieving political goals, on a scale smaller than full-scale warfare. Even though most people can recognise terrorism when they see it, experts have had difficulty coming up with an ironclad definition. Acts of terrorism can be perpetrated by individuals, groups, or states, as an alternative to an open declaration of war, and are often carried out by those who otherwise feel powerless. States that sponsor or engage in the use of violence against civilians use neutral or positive terms to describe their own combatants, such as freedom fighters, patriots, or paramilitaries.
Third World: A term used to distinguish those nations that neither aligned with the West nor with the East during the Cold War – therefore constituting a ‘third’ sector, or world. These countries are also known in academic circles as ‘the global South’, developing countries, or ‘least developed countries’. Development workers and activists also tend to call them The South. Many dislike the term developing countries as it implies that industrialisation is the only way forward, which they believe is not necessarily the most beneficial route to equality, justice or to ‘development’. The term ‘third world’ was coined by economist Alfred Sauvy in an article in the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur of August 14 1952. It was a deliberate reference to the ‘Third Estate’ of the French Revolution. The term gained widespread popularity during the Cold War when many ‘poorer nations’ of the South adopted the term to describe themselves as being aligned neither with NATO / the West nor the USSR, but instead composing a non-aligned ‘third world’. Leading members of this original ‘Third World’ movement were Yugoslavia, India, and Egypt – the founders of NAM, the Non-Aligned Movement.
The term ‘First World’ was generally understood to mean the United States and its allies in the Cold War, which would have made the Eastern or Soviet bloc the ‘Second World’ by default; however, the latter term was seldom actually used. Most ‘Third World’ countries, as the term is understood now, are located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Trade union: A union (‘labour union’, in American English; ‘trade union’, sometimes ‘trades union’, in British English and Indian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers in a particular industry. Formed for the purpose of collectively negotiating with an employer (or employers) over wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. Unions also often use their organisational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to workers.
The political structure and autonomy of unions varies widely from country to country. The concept began early in the industrial revolution when it was illegal for many years in most countries. The labour movement has an outgrowth of the disparity between the power of employers and the powerlessness of individual employees.
Trafficking: Often referred to as ‘human trafficking’, trafficking involves the movement of people (mostly women and children) against their will by means of force for the purpose of sexual or labour exploitation. Examples include abduction for sexual and domestic service (including boys), abduction for debt release, the exchange of women for settlement of disputes, forced prostitution, and sexual exploitation of children. It is different from people smuggling, and is an international, organised, criminal phenomenon that has grave consequences for the safety, welfare, and human rights of its victims.
UN (United Nations): The United Nations (UN) is an international organisation that describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity." It was founded in 1945 by 51 states, replacing The League of Nations. As of 2005 it consists of 191 member states, including virtually all internationally-recognised independent nations except the Vatican City (which has declined membership), Palestine (whose status is still one of a de facto state and has not yet legal declared statehood), Niue (whose foreign affairs are dealt with by the New Zealand Government), and the Republic of China, or Taiwan (whose membership was superseded by the People's Republic of China in 1971). Palestine and the Vatican City however both have Permanent Observer Missions to the UN. From its headquarters in New York City, the UN's member countries and specialised agencies give guidance and decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. The organisation is divided into administrative bodies, including the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, UN Economic and Social Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UN Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice, as well as counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN system agencies, such as the WHO, UNHCR, UNDP, and UNICEF. The UN's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan is the present Secretary General.
Unorganised sector: The working poor in the economies of all developing societies.
The labour force in all developing economies consists of two broad sectors, the organised and the unorganised. The organised sector can be defined as the sector consisting of labour in activities carried out by private and public corporate enterprises and the government at the central, state and local levels, solely with the help of wage-paid labour which, in a great measure, is unionised. In this sector labour productivity is likely to be high, incomes even of the unskilled category are relatively high, and conditions of work and service are protected by labour legislation and trade unions.
The unorganised sector, on the other hand, covers most of the rural labour and a substantial part of urban labour. lt includes activities carried out by small and family enterprises, partly or wholly with family labour, and in which wage-paid labour is largely non-unionised due to such constraints as the casual and seasonal nature of employment and scattered location of enterprises. This sector is marked by low incomes, unstable and irregular employment, and a lack of protection either by legislation or trade unions. Apart from those who are poor because they are unemployed, the people in the unorganised sector can be referred to as the ‘working poor’.
In India, the struggle for the recognition of unorganised sector workers – as a first stage in the improvement of their conditions - gained significant momentum with the formation of the National Centre for Labour (NCL) in 1995. Six lakh (hundred thousand) workers are now members of the NCL. One key issue in the NCL’s campaign has been that of the government providing identity cards to workers of the unorganised sector. This has been their key demand as it establishes their worker status and also makes them visible to the world at large. In 1999, an important breakthrough was made when the ILO (International Labour Organisation, a UN agency) organised a special discussion on the unorganised sector and trade unions.
Welfare state: There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state:
The provision of welfare services by the state; An ideal model in which the state assumes primary responsibility for the welfare of its citizens. This responsibility is comprehensive, because all aspects of welfare are considered; a "safety net" is not enough, and nor are minimum standards. It is universal, because it covers every person as a matter of right; and - The provision of welfare in society.
In many ‘welfare states’, especially in continental Europe, welfare is not actually provided by the state, but by a combination of independent, voluntary, mutualist, and government services. The functional provider of benefits and services may be a central or state government, a state-sponsored company or agency, a private corporation, a charity or another form of non-profit organisation.
The term ‘welfare state’ is believed to have been coined by Archbishop William Temple during the Second World War, contrasting wartime Britain with the ‘warfare state’ of Nazi Germany.
World Bank: The World Bank, often referred to as ‘The Bank’, came into formal existence on December 27 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements between state-nations led by the USA and the UK on July 22 1945. It is headquartered in Washington DC, USA.
The World Bank is not a ‘bank’ in the common sense. It is one of the United Nations’ specialised agencies, and is made up of 184 member countries (though the Bank has also made clear its independence from the UN and has refused to be accountable to it). These countries are jointly responsible for how the institution is financed and how its money is spent.
There is in fact no such institution as a ‘World Bank’; its correct name is the ‘International Bank for Reconstruction and Development’ (IBRD).
Commencing operations on June 25 1946, it approved its first loan on 9 May 1947 (US$250m to France for post-war reconstruction, in real terms the largest loan issued by the Bank to date). The World Bank is one institution within the ‘Bretton Woods institutions’. These include International Monetary Fund (IMF), created along with the World Bank in 1945, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), created on July 20 1956, and the International Development Association (IDA), on September 24 1960. The World Bank says its current activities are focused on ‘less economically developed countries’ in fields such as education, agriculture, and industry. Among other things, it is meant to provide loans at preferential rates to member countries that are in difficulty. In counterpart, it also often asks that political measures be taken to, for example, limit corruption, foster democracy, and liberalise economies by opening them up to multinational corporations.
The work of the Bank, as well as its sister institution the IMF, is subject to long-standing and strong criticism from a range of civil (non-governmental) organisations and academics, and in some cases from the Bank's own internal evaluations. It has been accused, including by some its own members such as Japan, of being a US or western tool for imposing economic policies that support western interests such as SAP (Structural Adjustment). Critics argue that the free market reform policies which the Bank advocates in practice are often harmful to economic development, especially if implemented badly, too quickly, in the wrong sequence, or in very weak, uncompetitive economies.
World Economic Forum (WEF): In technical terms, the WEF is only a Geneva-based foundation whose annual meeting is attended by chief executives of the world's richest corporations, some national political leaders (presidents, prime ministers, members of parliaments and senates, and others), and selected intellectuals and journalists, about 2,000 people in all. It is usually held in Davos, Switzerland. There are also regional meetings throughout the year. It was founded in 1971 by Klaus M Schwab, a business professor in Switzerland, and has helped fund his family foundation, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
According to its supporters, the WEF is an ideal place for dialogue and debate regarding the major social and economic problems of the planet, since representatives of both the most powerful economic organisations and the most powerful political organisations are present, since intellectuals also participate, and since there is a generally informal atmosphere encouraging wide-ranging debate. Journalists have access to every session at the Annual Meeting in Davos and the majority of sessions are webcast live so that the debates can be open to a wider public.
According to its critics, the WEF is really just a business forum, where the richest businesses can easily negotiate deals with one another and lobby the world's most powerful politicians, and that the aim is profit-making rather than solving economic problems like poverty. The WEF's membership, the membership of its board, and the attendance at its annual meetings is heavily composed of representatives from Europe, the USA and industrialised Asia, with the rest of the world excluded. It has a very low participation of women. Moreover, given the domination of the WEF by corporations, with the status of corporate personhood, and the influence of the WEF in global decision making, it is seen by some critics as an unelected, non-democratic, elitist, secretive world Senate.
Since 2000, an ‘Anti-Davos Davos’ meeting has also taken place at Davos at the same time as the WEF, made of critics and protestors; and since 2001, the World Social Forum has also taken shape, as a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum, making the point that the world is not only made up of its economy.
WSF (World Social Forum): Originally an annual meeting held by members of the alterglobalisation movement to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organising strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and their issues. It tends to meet in January each year when its ‘great capitalist rival’, the World Economic Forum, is meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The first WSF was held from January 25 to 30 January 2001 in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, organised mainly by Brazilian organisations involved in the alterglobalisation movement along with ATTAC, the French Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens. The first WSF was sponsored, in part, by the Porto Alegre government, led by the Brazilian Worker's Party (PT). The town was experimenting with an innovative model for the local government that combined the traditional representative institutions with the participation of open assemblies of the people. 12,000 people attended from around the world. At the time, Brazil was also in a moment of transformation that later would lead to the electoral victory of the PT candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The second WSF, also held in Porto Alegre from January 31 to 5 February 2002, had over 12,000 official delegates representing people from 123 countries, 60,000 attendees, 652 workshops, and 27 talks. One famous speaker was famed American author and dissident Noam Chomsky.
The third WSF was again held in Porto Alegre, in January 2003. There were many parallel workshops, including, for example, the Life After Capitalism workshops that focussed discussion on non-communist, non-capitalist, participative possibilities for different aspects of social, political, economic, and communication structures.
The fourth WSF, in January 2004, was held in Mumbai, India, the first time the world meeting of the WSF was held outside Brazil. This was attended by some 140,000 people, and marked by the participation of Dalits, Adivasis, and women.
While the fifth WSF was again held in Porto Alegre, the sixth WSF marked a new phase of the initiative, being organised as a Polycentric World Social Forum – held in Bamako, Mali, and Caracas, Venezuela, in January 2006, and then in Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2006 (postponed from January on account of the major earthquake that had taken place in the country in November 2005).
The seventh WSF is to be held in January 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The World Social Forum is now a world movement where there are also regional social forums taking place (for instance, the European Social Forum and the Asian Social Forum) as well as thematic social forums and country and local social forums, all over the world. For details, see
WTO (World Trade Organisation): An international organisation that oversees a large number of agreements covering the ‘rules of trade’ between its member states. Created in 1995 as a secretariat to administer the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a post-war trade treaty that laid much of the groundwork for the WTO. The WTO is the long-delayed successor to the project of the International Trade Organisation, which was intended to follow GATT and whose charter was agreed at the UN Conference on Trade and Employment in Havana in March 1948, but which was blocked by the US Senate. The WTO’s headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. As of October 13 2004, there were 148 members in the organisation. All WTO members are required to grant one another Most Favoured Nation status. Since the late 1990s, the WTO has become a major target for protests by the global justice and solidarity movement, with demonstrations taking place at every WTO meeting, including the ministerial meetings at Seattle, USA, in 1999, where the meeting was disrupted, at Cancun, Mexico, in 2004, and in Hong Kong, China, in 2006.
Xenophobia: A phobic attitude toward strangers or of the unknown. It comes from the Greek words xenos, meaning ‘foreigner’ or ‘stranger’, and phobos meaning ‘fear’. The term is typically used to describe fear or dislike of foreigners or in general of people different from one's self. For example, racism is sometimes described as a form of xenophobia. In science fiction, it has come to mean ‘fear of extraterrestrial things’. Xenophobia implies a belief, accurate or not, that the target is in some way alien.
The word ‘xenophobic’ is used by some as a way to collectively describe the positions held by racists and isolationists.
The term ‘xenophilia’ is used for the opposite behaviour, of attraction to or love for foreign persons.