Redeeming Truth and Trust 25 September 2017

1. Brave New WorldA series of 3 lectures / discussions With Professor Joseph A. Camilleri OAMhosted by St Michael’s on Collins11, 18 & 25 September 2018 Redeeming Truth and Trust 25 September 2017

2. Truth and Trust • A palpable tension is in the air

3. Truth and Trust

4. Truth and Trust

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6. To summarise • The governance system that has dominated politics for the past ten decades is in crisis. • Globally, we are faced with a political and economic system that is broken • A system riven by untruth and mistrust • A system driven by insatiable self-indulgence and individualism. • And in the offing, a multifaceted ecological crisis that threatens the human future and other forms of life on Earth

7. The Consequences • The economic model of neoliberalism has captured our political system, consolidating power in the hands of a tiny nebulous minority. A new form of apartheid has taken root in the world. • Jay Naidoo, Former Minister in the Mandela Cabinet • The democratic gains won by the struggles of previous generations are now in danger of being lost • Demands for justice, equality and human rights are ignored. • Disillusioned and cynical electorates are deeply distrustful of elites generally and political authority in particular.

8. What is to be done? Jay Naidoo: . . . the critical challenge facing our planet begs us to pose the question – what does it mean to be human? . . . we need to put humanity and our environment into the centre of politics, our economy and our lives, not just our greed and profit. We must move forward. . . recognising that all living species, including our Mother Earth are sacred. . . That governments derive their legitimacy from the will of the people. And the voices of our youth cry out for us to reimagine democracy, economic growth and even governance itself. He goes on to suggest: We have to question everyone and everything. . . existing civil society is fragmented, depoliticized and weakened. . . We need to rethink citizen participation.

9. What needs to be done If we are thinking of the national context, we need to consider how to apply the principles enunciated by Naidoo and many others. Three key areas are in need of urgent attention: • Shift in policy direction (virtually all areas of policy – economy, finance, environment, education, health, security, foreign policy, industry, communications, and more) • Institutional change – both public institutions (e.g. parliaments, political parties, public inquiries) and private institutions that have large-scale public impact (e.g. business, media, religious institutions) • Constitutional reform (e.g. charter of human rights, war powers, use of plebiscites).

10. But this is nowhere near enough • We can no longer confine our attention to the national arena • National governance has to be placed in a much wider context which includes other layers or tiers of governance – each of which has its own distinctive functions and forms of governance – each covers different space • Local or municipal government • Provincial government • Regional arrangements /organisations • Global organisations / legal arrangements

11. Regional & Global Governance • New Epoch in the making – transition of unprecedented scope • One element of this transition is the advent of the global age. • Governance must therefore comes to terms with the global character of contemporary human experience and interaction: global cross-border flows • For this we need INSTITUTIONS and LAWS • Very considerable (in many cases positive) developments over the last 100 years – which point the way – though still well short of an adequate response to the multifaceted predicament now facing humanity • Two principal impediments: • Dominance of neo-liberal order • Statism

12. Regional & Global Governance • We need further development and substantial (radical) reform of INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: • UN: Security Council – General Assembly – new organs: People’s Assembly / Consultative Assembly • WTO – IMF – World Bank – WHO – ICC – INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE • EU – ASEAN – PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM • But also further development of INTERNATIONAL LAW • Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons • Climate Change Treaty • Strengthening independence of ICC under Rome Statute • Treaty to regulate use and future development of Internet

13. A Wider Agenda • In pursuing this agenda, care must be taken to ensure: • There is careful coordination and mutual reinforcement between different tiers of governance – based on transparent and widely disseminated flows of information • Decisions are not made by a relatively small group of political leaders and bureaucrats, attuned to the requirements of powerful market forces and operating largely behind closed doors. Decisions must rest on widespread consultation and public deliberation. • We need to drastically lower our expectations of what political parties can contribute to the process. • And focus much more sharply on CITIZEN PARTICIPATION – which in turn requires CULTURAL CHANGE in how we engage as citizens = CIVIC ENGAGEMENT within and across boundaries which rethinks the twin evils of neo-liberalism: individualism and consumerism

14. Gandhi’s Wisdom: From Truth to Action via Hope & Empathy

15. Role Models and Precedents • Extraordinary contribution of leaders, public intellectuals, activists and countless other men and women Mahatma Gandhi, Frankilin D. Roosevelt, Pablo Picasso, Saul Alinski, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez. Mohamed Ali, Gorbachev, Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, Pope Francis Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Luxemburg, Simone de Beauvoir, Hanna Arendt, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Day,RosaParkes, Mother Teresa, Rachel Carson, Wangari Mathai, Malala Yousafzai • And more importantly the great social movements of the twentieth century that have mobilised tens of millions of people: Labour, land reform, women’s, environmental, peace, economic justice, human rights, LGBTQ, independence, animal rights, anti-Apartheid, Indigenous and other social movements

16. Responding to the Current challenge We have the opportunity to shape new forms of civic engagement that place the emphasis on: • Education and skilling for civic engagement • Formal • Community / lifelong • Conversation • Private • Public • Dialogue • Within and importantly across boundaries • Personal, social, generational, professional, philosophical, political, cultural, religious boundaries

17. Dialogue: what it entails • What is dialogue? DIA = through, between, across LOGOS = word, speech, meaning, reason, gathering DIALOGUE = flow of meaning, meaning flowing through, relationship • In dialogue listening is as important as speaking • Engaging in dialogue is a journey of discovery = discovery of ‘other’ & ‘self’ • In dialogue we value what we hold in common, and importantly we value the differences • Dialogue takes place • when both sides are actively engaged in the process • when both sides have a genuine desire to gain a deeper understanding of their own positions and the positions of the other participant / interlocutor.

18. A sustained approach to dialogue can

19. Resources

20. For whom the bell tolls John Donne Meditation 17 Devotions upon Emergent Occasions