An Analysis of the G8

To understand the role of the G8 and what it represents we must first look where it came from and why. The G8 was born out of an economic crisis management meeting in 1975 and has been meeting annually, in varying guises and with varying objectives, ever since.

The initial motives behind these gatherings remained within a limited and sustainable framework - nation states, or rather the governing powers of these states, concerned themselves with how capitalism was ‘affecting’ economic stability, both nationally and pan-nationally, and as a consequence sought to compile an agenda that would diminish, or at least usefully manage, this current crisis.

The initiation of the G8 was a response to the fact economically advanced capitalist nations could no longer, individually, sustain their domination of markets and the traffic of capital.

Background

By the early 1970’s international capital had become conscious of itself as a specific entity independent of national origins, and increasingly free of any obligations to them. International (or more accurately trans-national) organisations appeared to become stronger so as to cope actively with a new kind of emerging global economy, later to become known as ‘neo-liberalism’ or ‘globalization’.

In truth nation states had to adapt their perspectives to serve and channel the demands of capital cut loose both from fixed exchange rates and imposed economic trade barriers and national labour laws. From this the G8 sought to establish itself as a forum capable of arranging the dynamics of the world market. In reality its concrete objective was to reiterate its support for the continued expansion of capital as a necessary process of social development and global stability. It can be seen from the first declaration that the G8 was designed to reinforce a version of democracy through the open access of markets, and free flow of capital.

As the G8 remained largely disconnected form the day to day activities of domestic governance it achieved little impact beyond reinforcing ties and establishing mutual economic strategies. These summits then provided a continuity, serving to re-affirm “the power of their power”.

When it all changed

Where the G8 gained mass public recognition and scrutiny both of its motivations and functions was when Tony Blair [UK Prime Minister] inaugurated the current “heads-only” model of summits at Birmingham in 1998 thus taking it out of the realm of the financial pages and into the territory of public relations and mainstream media.

This new style of summit agenda created a very public ‘backlash’ that was to become the backbone of what was labelled the ‘anti-capitalist movement’ with the institution of summit protests and mass mobilisations. The targets of these summit protests (World Bank, World Economic Forum, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), European Union) were identified as the main culprits of the imposition of a new global order.

Why then oppose the G8?

The opposition to the G8 itself is situated on many levels – from a call for it to amend their objectives, recognise social conditions, to its total destruction – and are largely based on moral issues. The G8 is ‘bad’ because it does ‘bad’ things. The G8 is ‘unfair’ because its members come from ‘wealthy nations’ etc. yet it is these world leaders that are the elected heads of state in their respective countries. They ‘represent’ democracy in its effective expression.

The question then is: why are these leaders ‘bad’ during the G8 summit, yet remain the very people we elect to represent us? At this level opposition to the G8 could be seen as irrational and emotive. An expression of dissent directed at an obvious target (as a representative of the formulation of global power). But what does the G8 really represent?

G8 - the power to do?

There is little or no outward conflict of member states within the G8 framework, the relationship of members remains cordial & open, adding to the face of informality. But it also emphasises that little power can be gained directly from the G8 as a process. (It is clear that George Bush Snr had little time for these summits, and John Major, the then UK Prime Minister, wanted to limit their frequency).

Equally of all the concrete directives issued by the G8 little effort is put into ensuring their implementation. (Of the 209 directives the UK has delivered on 21). In short what is important to the G8 is presenting a unified (and thus strong) voice of intent and maintaining its credibility in that. Its activities represent little more than an ‘ordering’ of world affairs rather than altering their dynamics.

Where the real power lies then is through the concert of opinion established at these summits to influence (and direct) the organisations that have the authority to impose global conditions (IMF, WTO, World Bank etc). This is also reflected as elected leaders necessarily need to maintain their political credibility at home. In this respect the G8 represents an opportunity to make bold pronouncements (without the need to justify them later) thus reinforcing the strength of their leadership and demanding our continued compliance. Indeed previously it has been global economists who are quickest and severest in exposing the charade of the ‘authority’ of the G8.

It must be remembered also, that all elected heads of state have participated, without question, in all the summits since their inception. The G8 then is not based on ideological prominence (i.e. left-wing, right-wing) or the established political priorities of one governing faction, reinforcing again what little direct political power could be achieved through these occasions.

Aspects of governance

An aspect of G8 is to infer that problems are caused objectively, external of those institutions that govern and make decisions. Indeed to the world of G8 it is those that make the decisions who have the greatest power to prevent these problems. The reality of course is that crisis and social conditions are created by capital itself endorsed by the governing leaders who then lurch from one failed solution to the next, leaving localised communities, be they in central Africa, central Birmingham or central Baghdad decimated by the needs of capital.

Representing who about what?

The G8 represents liberal democracy at its most elevated form: elected representatives doing their best, as they perceive it, for us on our behalf through the mechanism of capital. (It must be noted that capitalism as a system of social relations is rarely charged against these institutions).

Just as the governing powers of the rich and privileged west went to Africa two centuries ago in the name of their respective countries to expand capital, so today the same challenge is presented to ‘our’ governing powers. All that has changed is the process of exploitation and the methods of legitimising them.

A criticism of the G8 by liberal or left factions is that it is out of our hands, beyond our control. Yet when have parliamentary democracies ever not been these things? We do not elect cabinet members in government, we are not consulted on laws and decisions enacted on our behalf, nor do we protest when Tony Blair holidays with Silvio Berlusconi at his private villa. ‘Accountability’ then is an arbitrary thing & not a universal given for governing leaders.

Why we oppose the G8

Our opposition is based on a political acknowledgement rather than a moral objection. We oppose the G8 because it is the highest expression of liberal democracy, of the uncontested power of states to support capital above and beyond the concerns of people. Its legitimacy is already established if we consider states as legitimate functions. As these states move from welfare / social democratic to neo-liberal then the G8 makes more and more sense, regulating the conditions of our participation as society in accord with the manufacture of capital. The opposition to the G8 then should be seen as a complete opposition to capitalism and the power of the state. If we are to destroy the G8 we must also destroy the component parts that make it up.

The problem is that it is a natural consequence of capitalist expansion as a whole, not an ideology personified by the cult of eight men promoting globalization (& its ‘bad’ effects). It could be argued that the dissenting voices against the ‘bad’ effects of the G8 reinforce its legitimacy, which is why Gordon Brown [UK’s finance minister] is happy to encourage such dissent. Those oppositional voices of course do not want to see the destruction of capitalism, simply orientated in more ‘humane’ ways. The G8 is feted to deliver these ‘humane’ ways.

Where to now?

The increasing isolation of the G8, both geographically and within the public perception is one of the successes of summit protests. This stage-managed media spectacle of governing world power hiding away in fortresses banished behind miles of fencing and protected by state forces is a recognition of the impact of mass mobilisations. The erosion of legitimacy of the G8 reflects the erosion of legitimacy of all the institutions of capital and authority. We should, though, not forget that capitalism affects our day to day living experience and we must continue to fight daily in small & often mundane ways, as well as expressing our collective anger at summit protests.

Even though these protests are largely symbolic and ineffective in their desired affect (no summit has been successfully prevented) they do hold clues to how we organise ourselves, how we establish networks and communicate, how we mobilise, how we perceive a world beyond capital. In essence our objective lies in how we choose to work together that creates our empowerment. It also adds to the sense of communality.

A single act of defiance can be individually empowering, but it is largely lost, a collective act of resistance is both empowering and resonates far beyond the moment has passed. With it we retain a glimmer of potential, a sense of expectation, of belonging to something bigger than merely our own reflection.

The power to create and connect is a force we ignore at our peril.

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