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10 Rules for understanding civil society imperialism
Stephen Gowans
March 16, 2008

http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/10-rules-for-understanding-civil-society-imperialism/

Stephen Zunes, chair of the board of academic advisors to the US ruling class International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, and Patrick Bond, director of the Centre for Civil Society at Durban, are regular contributors to Z-Net, Counterpunch and other left media. There-s nothing particularly new, interesting or exciting about their writing. When it comes to foreign governments that pursue a traditional leftist agenda of independent economic development outside the domination of imperialist powers they can be counted on to ape the New York Times and Washington Post, and by extension, the White House and Department of State.

Reading Zunes- write about Belarus, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and Iran, is like reading State Department press releases. "The best hope for advancing freedom and democracy in the world-s remaining autocratic states," says Zunes, "comes from civil society" ¹. In its reference to freedom and democracy in the abstract, Zunes- language is evocative of the propagandistic bilge that gushes in rivers from White House and State Department speechwriters trying to shape public opinion. Bond, who claims an expertise on Zimbabwe based on proximity to the country (he runs a civil society center on the other side of the Limpopo River) is hardly better. Both mimic State Department charges against the West-s leftist and national liberation foreign policy betes noire, and, like the State Department, both celebrate civil society. Bond has gone so far as to naively dub activist groups in Zimbabwe that receive Western funding as "the main wellspring of hope for a Zimbabwean recovery" ². It would be more apt to say civil society is the West-s main wellspring of hope to return Zimbabwe to a colonial past.

Bond and Zunes are formulaic writers. They cleave to a basic set of rules to guide their analyses of governments that have disrupted property relations that once favored Western investors, banks and corporations. Once you know the rules, you can predict what either Zunes or Bond are going to write with astonishing accuracy.

Rule #1
All governments are bad, especially those that pursue traditional leftist agendas of placing control of a country-s resources and productive property in the hands of its public, its government, or its domestic business class. The leaders of these governments deceptively employ socialist, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist rhetoric to win and then to hang on to power. They enjoy enormous privileges secured and defended by corruption and abuse of authority. Governments, by nature, are corrupt, authoritarian and thoroughly rotten, particularly those that call themselves leftist and anti-imperialist. There has never been a truly leftist, anti-colonial or anti-imperialist government, and can never be one. All revolutions are betrayals and no one should expect that anything good can ever come from left and anti-imperialist forces taking power. The only good revolution is the one that has never happened, or the ones that have been financed by wealthy individuals and the US government.

Rule #2
Civil society is the main wellspring of hope. Non-governmental organizations funded by the US Congress-s National Endowment for Democracy, the US State Department-s USAID, Britain-s Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Germany-s Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and other Western "democracy promotion" agencies, are independent organizations that are working to build a better world. Leftists should look to these groups to understand what-s going on in countries led by nominally anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and socialist governments. Zimbabwe-s Lawyers for Human Rights, for example, represents one of the main wellsprings of hope for Zimbabwe. Never mind that it is funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy ³- an organization that does overtly what the CIA used to do covertly. Plenty of civil society organizations take money from wealthy individuals, corporations, capitalist foundations and imperialist governments. Does that mean they-re not independent?

Rule #3
Decentralized, participatory democracy is good. It is the absolute good.

Rule #4
Process is more important than outcome. Zimbabweans becoming owners of their own land and natural resources is only half as important as the British parliamentary tradition in Zimbabwe being upheld; only a tenth as important as the freedom and democracy Zunes- celebrates in the abstract; only a hundredth as important as civil society having room to operate to peacefully change the government. It-s not helpful to mention that peaceful regime change is often preceded by economic warfare and threats of military intervention and that non-violent activism and civil society are only part of a larger whole of regime change operations.

Rule #5
Governments that call themselves anti-imperialist or socialist or both are neither of these things and are as deplorable as imperialists and neo-liberals. Civil society, though drawing its funding from wealthy individuals, corporations, capitalist foundations and imperialist governments, is the main wellspring of hope.

Rule #6
When writing about governments that pursue traditional leftist agendas, it is important to follow State Department narratives. This is equivalent to doing what the New York Times, CNN and other major media did when they amplified Washington-s lies about Iraq-s non-existent weapons of mass destruction - an inconvenient reality, but skip over it. Charges made against leftist, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist governments of corruption, human rights abuses, and betrayal will resonate with a left population primed for cynicism. Accordingly, it takes little effort to make the charges stick. Don-t bother to cite evidence. You don-t need to. Tap into what everyone knows is true, because everyone says it-s true, because the media say it-s true, because the State Department and White House say it-s true. Who will ask for evidence? Insist that the other side present evidence. If you don-t like the evidence, say it-s not from a credible source.

Rule #7
Never shy away from basing your argument on appeal to authority. If you live close to the country civil society is to promote democracy in, or have visited it, claim authority based on geography. "I-ve been (or live close) to Zimbabwe." This, however, might backfire. Opponents can reply: "If geography is so important, I-ll accept as a higher authority the analysis of the leaders of the government you denounce, since they are long-time residents of their country, and not merely tourists and residents of a neighboring country."

Rule #8
Make definitive statements. For example, assert with certitude that Bob Helvey has never been to Venezuela to train civil society to bring down the Chavez government. When you-re shown evidence that Bob Helvey has indeed been to Venezuela, say "I only found about it last week." Never let ignorance get in the way of self-appointed authority.

Rule #9
Defend civil society-s receiving its funding from wealthy individuals, corporations, capitalist foundations and imperialist governments by saying, "A people-s revolution cannot happen by generous funding alone." This sounds compelling. Of course, if this were true, we could also say, "Acceptance of a ruling class ideology cannot happen by the ruling class virtually monopolizing the media and schools" or "George Bush won his first run at the presidency through a groundswell of popular support that had little to do with his connections to wealthy supporters and the king-s ransom spent on his campaign."

Rule #10
Some say civil society should not take money from wealthy individuals, corporations, capitalist foundations and imperialist governments. Others say the reality that wealthy individuals, corporations, capitalist foundations and imperialist governments shower many civil society groups with money tells you everything you need to know about these groups. These people are not helpful.

1. Stephen Zunes, "Nonviolent action and pro-democracy struggles," February 17, 2008, http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16538
2. Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh, "Zimbabwe-s political roller-coaster hits another deep dip"
3. Michael Barker, "Nonviolent Imperialism: A Major Revision," March 10, 2008, http://fanonite.org/2008/03/10/nonviolent-imperialism-major-revision/

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