Globalization is in. Definitely. Everyone speaks about it, the gurus of management, the pundits of economics, journalists of every tendency and politicians of every color.

The recent founding meeting of the African Union in Lusaka (Zambia) and the G8 meeting in Genoa (Italy) were just two more occasions for the media to hammer on the idea that we live in a time when social life is determined by global processes, and that cultures, traditions, local economies and national boundaries are fading away. All of us will soon be part of a global village.

The image of globalization and the positive message it evokes are so powerful that even the most serious analysts seem to be hypnotized by it, and unable to see the reality.

Even African politicians notorious for having promoted wars based on tribalism feel compelled to support globalization. Joining the bandwagon, President Yoweri Museweni of Uganda, interviewed by the BBC on 10 July, did not hesitate to say that the problems Africa has to overcome to build up a credible Union are “shallow”, and the forces for unification and globalization are much stronger. He said the Congo war is also a “shallow problem”. “As shallow as the graves of the more than one million people, Ugandan soldiers included, who have died there?” one would have liked to ask him.

The driving forces of this process of globalization are technological progress, especially in the field of information technology, and the economy. People like Museveni are simply forced to give lip service to it, because they feel they have no choice

Yet we must not forget that over-using a word has always the same results: the more meaning they try to convey, the more they become obscure. The more they want to explain, the more they become abstract and far from reality. They become dogmas, holy cows, unquestionable assumptions. Yet they deteriorate to slogans in which everybody fits what he/she wants.

The word “globalization” is not an exception to the rule. Its hypnotizing power is particularly dangerous, because in fact when speaking of globalization people do not usually refer to human rights or to the building of a peaceful society. They refer to market forces. Globalization, as it is used, implies the supremacy of the market forces, of the profit, over people.

What is truly happening is a concentration of power and a progressive marginalization of the poor. Time, space and boundaries tend to disappear for the elite, while for persons situated at the margins of economic life, barriers and boundaries spring up. So, while ten years ago it was difficult to go to Europe for a Kenyan, it is now easy if you are a wealthy and it is practically impossible if you are poor. Visas and bureaucracies conspire to marginalize the poor. If you have a credit card, a modem, a computer and a telephone line, you can buy an air ticket and do the check-in from the comfort of your home, but the majority of the Kenyan population does not have roads and electrical power, not to speak of a telephone line, or the money to buy an air ticket.

We can compare the world economy to mini- bus, or a “matatu” as it is called in Kenya. Twenty-five passengers are more or less comfortably seated inside, while other 20 are hanging from the windows and the roof. If the matatu proceeds slowly, those who are outside can try to get in, but if the matatu speeds up, the ride for those outside will become pretty unconfortable. They will just be lucky to hang on, some will be dropped. For those sitting inside, this is better because they will reach their destination faster, but for those outside, the chances to get inside and the condition of the travel will deteriorate drastically. The same happens with economic globalization: the process expands the opportunities for a few, but reduces the opportunities for the majority. How can we then speak of globalization when precisely the majority of the world population is excluded?

And make no mistake: all those hanging from the windows of the matatu are Africans.

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