“Give a man [sic!] a fish and you feed him [sic!] for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Traditional development cooperation followed this paradigm for a long time. But what if there is no fish left? The reality today is: profit-driven big trawlers roam coastlines and overfish on a global scale. Companies that are hoarding fishing rights sue governments over fishing quotas. So, what can be done to address global inequalities in view of corporate capture and lack of regulations or little government oversight capacity? This was a central question around which the expert panel debate “Building Social Cohesion by Fighting Inequality” organised by FES at this year’s Global Solution Summit in Berlin evolved.

Disparities in wealth and access to resources

The global political economy consolidates and exacerbates inequalities within and between countries. Looking at the West African coast, one may see the Confucian fish-analogy revisited. Big commercial fishing trawlers take a terrible toll on oceans while small-scale fisheries communities who depend on it to sustain their livelihoods  struggle to compete. In today’s global political economy, knowing how to fish has become irrelevant: There is almost no fish left and the means for fishery are unevenly distributed.

The consequences of neoliberal reforms

The uneven allocation of resources has not occurred by incidence. “They are the result of deliberate policy choices,” argues Iganico Saiz from CESR. The neo-liberal restructuring of the economies has weakened the role of the public sector. Further, regressive tax policies, illicit financial flows, and the erosion of labour and workers’ rights have benefited multinational corporations. This was also emphasised at a later FES panel on “Assessing the effectiveness of external financial flows for meeting the 2030 Agenda goals”.

Political will, alliances and collective action

If inequalities are the result of policy choices, progressive political action is central to curb the growing power of non-politics. And politicians are definitely not powerless actors vis-à-vis corporate capture, notes Malu Dreyer, Minister President of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. They can change the rules of the game. But they need strong allies, such as trade unions, to achieve paradigm change. One local example is the introduction of minimum wages in Germany. Chidi King from ITUC adds that legal regulations by strong governments provided useful but in the end collective action is needed to fight the status quo. Finally, the empowerment of marginalized groups and their representation in political processes plays a central role.

Promoting solidarity and human rights

Democracy and human rights are the foundation of social cohesion. To come up with political demands for an inclusive society that guarantees all citizens access to education, health or jobs, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides a paramount and indispensable framework. Strong civic action and alliances help secure rights for marginalised social groups. Ken Inoue, JICA, adds: “The erosion of social cohesion must be addressed through a culture of mutual aid, caring and sharing.” Only then, we can overcome detrimental narratives about “us and them” that are driving societies apart and fuel extremist positions.