Global institutions

Are small food producers responsible for the food poisoning epidemic? - this talk was broadcast at various dates during December 2003 on the World Business Report programme of the BBC World Service, as part of a series of six talks by Edward Goldsmith.

What to do? - chapter from La terre vue du ciel (the Earth seen from the Sky) by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Paris, 3 September 2002). "Ultimately the answer ... is to change the industrial system itself and return to a largely rural, community-based society in which economic activities are conducted on a very much smaller scale and that cater as much as possible for the local economy."

Reflection on the 2002 Johannesburg Summit - the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September, the tenth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. This critique, written in advance of the Summit, shows that even in the unlikely event of 'success', the exploitation and destruction of peoples and ecosystems would continue unimpeded. Published in The Ecologist, 22 July 2002.

The new imperialism - the era of colonialism may be over, but it has been replaced by a new era of economic and intellectual imperialism, enforced by the Bretton Woods and allied institutions, for the benefit of trans-national corporations. Preface to a book by Shri Faizi Shahul.

The last word: a personal commentary - "the development of the global economy ... will, we were assured, usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity for all. However ... it can only lead for most of humanity to an unprecedented increase in general insecurity, unemployment, poverty, disease, malnutrition and environmental disruption ... ". This essay was written as Chapter 26 of The Case Against the the Global Economy: and for a turn towards localisation edited by Edward Goldsmith and Jerry Mander, 2001.

The Prague summit - In September 2000, Prague was the venue for the joint annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. This article describes how the "Maoist" economic prescriptions of these twin institutions create poverty and dependence among their client nations. Editorial for The Ecologist Special Report, September 2000.

Globalisation will destroy India! - The Rediff Business Interview, March 2000. Pritish Nandy interviews Edward Goldsmith.

Introduction to Le Piège se Referme (Plon, May 2002), successor to Le Piège (Editions Fixot, March 1994) by James Goldsmith.

The European project - an exposition of the problems inherent in the structure and institutions of the European Union.

On Seattle - some comments on the humiliation of the World Trade Organization.

Is free trade working for everyone? - letter published in Prospect Magazine No. 47, December 1999, written to Jagdish Bhagwati.

Profits of doom - Steven Ferry interviews Edward Goldsmith for Government Technology Magazine, May 1999. "Built into the global economy are the seeds of its own disintegration. But the biggest problem we face today, which dwarfs all others, is global warming ... The only thing which may save us is the complete collapse of the global economy, with all the problems that that will create. The choice is between two horrors."

Gaia and the global corporations (extended version) - "Development involves methodically destroying the real world or the world of living things in order to substitute in its stead a totally different world; the surrogate world or world of human artefacts ... ". This article, based on Edward Goldsmith's keynote address at the International Forum on Globalization in April 1998, was published in Caduceus magazine issues 42 and 43, winter 1998 and spring 1999.

Development as colonialism - this important essay exposes modern-day 'development' as colonialism repackaged and ferociously applied through transnational corporations, compliant local elites and global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF - and backed by the threat of military force. It was published in The Ecologist Vol. 27 No. 2, March / April 1997, and as Chapter 1 of The Case Against the Global Economy by Edward Goldsmith and Jerry Mander (Earthscan 2001).

Cynicism, food and power - a leading article for The Ecologist Vol. 26 No. 6, November / December 1996, by The Editors. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). "As the peasant movement Via Campesina has pointed out, 'Food Sovereignty can only be achieved through solidarity and the political will to implement alternatives.' Acting together to create such political will offers the best hope of ensuring that the 400 million people written off by the World Food Summit do not starve. "

The Great Takeover and its reversal - a personal commentary on the development of the global economy.

Development, biospheric ethics and a new way forward - Contribution to The Future of Progress - Reflections on environment and development edited by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Peter Goering and Steven Gorelick on behalf of ISEC (the International Society for Ecology and Culture. This is a collection of essays that challenge the Western notions of progress that dominate the current debate on environment and development. Published by Green Books, revised edition 1995;

Development and colonialism - in this important essay Edward Goldsmith explores why development, whether described as 'sustainable', 'ecological', 'appropriate' or otherwise, will only deepen the poverty and misery of poor tropical nations. Published in Ecoscript No. 35, June 1993.

No, the real global threat is the relentless demand for growth - writing in the Sunday Times on 31 May 1992, Edward Goldsmith examines the forthcoming Earth Summit conference in Rio de Janeiro - reaching pessimistic conclusions which have been all too amply fulfilled.

FAO's plan to feed the world - Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard critique the FAO's main policy document, World Agriculture: Toward 2000, and the whole model of capital-intensive, industrialised, export-oriented agriculture which it promotes. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 21 No. 2, March-April 1991.

FAO's projections for livestock - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is envisaging huge increases in livestock numbers and meat production worldwide. But nowhere does it stop to ask, what the impacts will be on the environment, or on the rural poor. Written with Patrick McCully. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 21 No. 2, March / April 1991.

Aid - enlightened self-interest or gun-boat politics? - a quizzical look at the politics and economics of international aid. Editorial article published in The Ecologist Vol. 18 No. 2, 1988. "Those with a superficial knowledge of the development process often remain convinced that aid is designed to help the peoples of the Third World. Even many environmental institutions still appear to believe this and persist in campaigning for increased aid ... "

You can only be judged on your record - a second Open Letter to Barber Conable, President of the World Bank, calling on him to make good on his and his predecessors promises of progress on the social and environmental impacts of the Bank's lending. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 17 No. 2, 1987.

An open letter to Mr Clausen to Mr Alden Clausen, Retiring President of the World Bank, and Mr Barber Conable, President Elect, reflecting on the disastrous social and environmental record of the World Bank, and its consistent inability to advance beyond the mere rhetoric of reform. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 16 No. 2/3, 1986.

Worshipping at the altar of economic pragmatism - The World Bank has suspended, on environmental grounds, a loan of $256 million for the Polonoroeste Project in Brazilian Amazonia. But the Bank's President, Alden W. Clausen, continues to "worship at the altar of economic pragmatism". Published in The Ecologist Vol. 15 No. 4, 1985.

The retreat from Stockholm - editorial article published in The Ecologist Vol. 12 No. 3 May / June 1982. Republished in The Doomsday Funbook (Jon Carpenter Books, February 2006). Goldsmith muses on the progress of UNEP and concludes: "It is difficult to avoid agreeing with Sir Frank Fraser Darling that 'we are all doomed'."

An Environment Programme - but for whom and what? - an abbreviated version of Edward Goldsmith's critique of the UNEP document, ref: UNEP/GC(SSC)/2. "If it wants a real function over and above that of offering palliatives, UNEP must have the courage to tell the truth - to tell industrialised and developing countries alike that it is development that is the scourge of mankind and destroyer of worlds..." Published as an editorial in The Ecologist Vol. 12 No. 2, March-April 1982.

Letter to the directors of FAO - The FAO is pursuing with zeal its aim to increase African meat and livestock production through the mass spraying of insecticide, intended to eradicate the tsetse fly. The most probable outcome is famine and the decimation of Africa's wildlife. Published in The Ecologist Vol. 6 No. 6, July 1976.