Responding to Globalization: The Center's Newest Book

Second Quarter 2001

Globalization and the Kingdom of God is the fifth Kuyper Lecture book to be published by the Center for Public Justice and Baker Books. It begins with Bob Goudzwaard's lecture and continues with responses from Brian Fikkert, Larry Reed, and Adolfo Garcia de la Sienra. Excerpts from the conclusion by editor James W. Skillen follow.

Bob Goudzwaard calls for awakening, maturation, and conversion to a new way of life that will make possible the survival of the weakest. His appeal culminates in a five-step admonition:

(1) that people should, as adults, learn to be satisfied with enough and give up the childish desire always to have more;

(2) that people should learn self-restraint, including restraint of wage increases, out of regard for those in greater need;

(3) that Western economies should become more "blossoming" instead of merely "expansive" in their approaches to economic growth, and that this will require governmental efforts to preserve the environment, fight world hunger, and promote meaningful employment, better health care, and educational opportunity even when such actions do not maximize financial returns;

(4) that people should work to overcome the impersonal anonymity of the larger corporate/political world by taking steps to see the face of the other and to recognize "publicly authorized companies"; and

(5) that governments in particular should:

(a) work to protect the weak by regulating global finance so it is more strongly tied to the real economy and so that the poorest countries can get a new, debt-free start on development and gain greater access to capital;

(b) gain greater control over information technology networks to "prevent the subjugation of human consciousness to the expanding control of private commercial interests"; and

Brian Fikkert is cautious about efforts that aim to promote global justice and emphasizes the importance of dealing realistically with the self-interest of states. He applauds what he sees as constructive changes in World Bank policies toward poor countries, and he stresses the multi-institutional, holistic approach that is needed to overcome poverty.

Larry Reed focuses on personal responsibility. He challenges Christians in particular to voluntarily act with greater restraint in their consumption patterns and with more regard for others in their investment and stewardship patterns.

Adolfo Garcia de la Sienra takes up Goudzwaard's specific challenge to overcome mechanistic thinking about economic life and urges economists to develop a theory that accounts for the fact that humans are neither autonomous individuals nor merely conditioned animals but respond to moral norms of a diversified nature.

In sum, the authors urge us to wake up from our passive slumbers insofar as we have been hypnotized into believing that there is nothing we can do but to go along with the current trends in globalization. They challenge us, most importantly, to realize that the root of change is religiously deep, not just for individuals but for cultures and societies. The challenge of these essays that most needs further elaboration is the one about leaving childishness behind and becoming responsible adults in obedience to the true God. The decision to accept—and the ability to bear—adult responsibility requires more than a right attitude and intention. It requires action of specific kinds in institutions that bear (or should bear) specific kinds of responsibility.

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The 2001 Kuyper Lecture

James Turner Johnson, professor of religion at Rutgers University in New Jersey, will present the Center's seventh Kuyper Lecture on November 1, 2001, at Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts. Mark your calendars now. More information will be released in the months ahead. The topic this year is retributive and restorative justice.