Building Hope, Nonviolence and Peace

Revisiting Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by Prof. Michael Sonnleitner

Gay Rights and Marriage Equality by Kien Truong

 

Transgender Realities and Identity Issues by Emma Lugo

 

Challenged by Race Gender and Love Traci Simmons

 

NGOs: Challenges and Impacts by Dr. Daniela Sepulveda - Ruiz

 

International Human Rights Prof. Dorcas Ettang

 

IFPNP Project Work

 

                                                        IFPNP IV Project and Project Report

Jan 10, 2026

Dear friends in Peace,

Greetings,

As part of the IFPNP-IV, the participants are expected to take up a Project as a partial fulfilment of the fellowship program. We have done some intensive study on the themes outlined in programme module of IFPNP and submitted three assignments in the last three months.  If you have not Informed your area preference for the project, please do at the earliest. Mentor / Guide will be allocated based on your area of preference.

Project Guidelines:

1.Project theme can be on any of the above subthemes of the IFPNP IV or related areas

a.       Sustainability

b.       Fundamentals of Gandhian Nonviolence and Peace

c.       Dealing with Conflict

d.       Peace and Nonviolence

2. Nature of the Project can be

a. Your own field intervention / your own engagement with the community

b. Your own field study / a case study of an intervention by someone in the neighbourhood

c. Theoretical exposition of the theme

3. Project methodology

a.it can be empirical/ your own direct study of the field happenings; or

b. it can be conceptual and theoretical

3.Write Project Summary

A.      Name of the Project

B.      Area of project

C.      What is intended to be done (summary of the project)

D.      Objective

E.       Methodology of action (plan of action)

 4.Discuss with the Mentor / Guide

5.Execute the Project in consultation with the mentor

6. Write Project Report after the completion of the project (report contains the following)

a. Name of the Project

b. Area of project (place and people and field of the project)

c. Summary of the project

d. Objective

e. Methodology of action (plan of action)

f. Process

g. Outcome

h. Impact

i. Learning

7. Project report submission:

a. Each Project Report can be between 2500-5000 words

b. A4, Times Roman, Font size 12

c. Project Report can be hand written or typed. However, it has to be submitted in PDF Format.

d. Title Page of the Project Report should have the following details in the given sequence

i. Title of the Program (IFPNP-IV )

ii. Title of the Project Report

iii. Name of the writer

iv. Date of submission

e. Name of the PDF file should contain the following:

-  Your name IFPNP IV Project Title

8.The last date for the submission of Project Report is February 14, 2026

 9. Email the final project to: peace.nonviolence2022@gmail.com

 

Yours in Peace and Friendship,

Siby K Joseph

Director,  IFPNP

 

The UN International Organizations and Sustainability Prof. D. Jeevankumar

 

Global Sustainability and Its Challenges Prof. D. Jeevankumar

 

Globalisation and Sustainability Prof. Jeevan Kumar

 

GLOBALIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Tensions, Synergies, and Governance Challenges

D. Jeevan Kumar, Ph.D.

Hon. Professor

Mahattma Gandhi Rural Development & Panchayat Raj University

Gadag, Karnataka, INDIA

jk4942893@gmail.com

I. Introduction: Framing the Debate

Globalization refers to the growing intensity and velocity of cross-border flows of

goods, capital, labour, technology, information, and culture. Over the last few decades, it

has transformed national economies into deeply interconnected systems through trade

liberalization, financial integration, global production networks, and digital

connectivity. While globalization has accelerated economic growth and innovation in

many regions, it has also increased interdependence and vulnerability, making crises in

one part of the world rapidly spill over into others.

Sustainability, as articulated in the Brundtland Commission’s definition, emphasizes

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs. This concept highlights the ethical

obligation to balance economic progress with environmental protection and social

justice. Sustainability thus introduces a long-term, intergenerational perspective into

development thinking, challenging short-term growth-oriented models.

The central question that animates this lecture is whether globalization functions as a

facilitator of sustainability or whether its structural logic fundamentally undermines

sustainable development. Does global integration enable collective action, innovation,

and diffusion of best practices, or does it lock countries into patterns of ecological

degradation and inequality?

This question has become especially urgent in the contemporary context marked by

accelerating climate change, global pandemics such as COVID-19, repeated supply-chain

disruptions, the rise of digital capitalism, and widening inequalities both within and

between countries. These crises reveal the contradictions of globalization—its capacity

to connect and its tendency to concentrate risks and costs unevenly.

II. Conceptual Foundations

A. Dimensions of Globalization

Economic globalization involves the integration of national economies through trade

liberalization, global value chains, cross-border investment, and financial markets.

Multinational corporations play a central role in organizing production across borders,

often relocating resource-intensive and labour-intensive activities to developing

countries. While this has generated growth and employment, it has also raised concerns

about environmental exploitation, labour precarity, and loss of economic sovereignty.

Political globalization refers to the expansion of international institutions, treaties, and

governance frameworks that shape national policies. States increasingly operate within

a web of global rules related to trade, finance, environment, and human rights. While

these institutions can promote cooperation, they also reflect power asymmetries, with

stronger states and corporate actors exerting disproportionate influence.

Social and cultural globalization manifests through migration, global media, consumer

culture, and lifestyle changes. It has fostered cultural exchange and cosmopolitan

identities, but it has also produced homogenization, cultural commodification, and

resistance movements seeking to preserve local traditions, identities, and knowledge

systems.

Technological globalization is driven by digital platforms, automation, artificial

intelligence, and rapid data flows across borders. Technology has compressed time and

space, enabling real-time global coordination. At the same time, it has intensified energy

use, e-waste generation, surveillance capitalism, and digital divides.

B. Dimensions of Sustainability

Environmental sustainability focuses on respecting ecological limits, preserving

biodiversity, maintaining climate stability, and safeguarding natural systems that

support life. It recognizes that economic activity is embedded within ecological systems

and cannot exceed planetary boundaries without triggering irreversible damage.

Economic sustainability emphasizes long-term economic viability through resource

efficiency, resilience, and diversification. Rather than short-term growth, it prioritizes

stable livelihoods, productive capacity, and the ability to withstand shocks such as

climate disasters or financial crises.

Social sustainability concerns equity, inclusion, poverty reduction, and justice across

generations and social groups. It stresses fair access to resources, opportunities, and

decision-making, ensuring that development benefits are broadly shared rather than

concentrated.

Institutional sustainability highlights the role of effective governance, accountability,

transparency, and democratic participation. Sustainable outcomes depend not only on

policies but also on institutions capable of implementing, monitoring, and adapting

them over time.

III. Theoretical Perspectives on Globalization and Sustainability

The neoliberal perspective views globalization as efficiency-enhancing and innovation-

driven, arguing that open markets and technological progress generate wealth that can

later be used to address environmental and social problems. From this view,

sustainability can be achieved through market mechanisms, green technologies, and

corporate responsibility.

Structuralist and dependency perspectives challenge this optimism, arguing that

globalization reproduces core–periphery inequalities. Developing countries often

become sites of resource extraction, pollution, and cheap labour, while environmental

costs are externalized onto weaker regions, a process sometimes described as ecological

dumping.

Ecological economics questions the very premise of infinite economic growth on a finite

planet. It emphasizes biophysical limits, energy flows, and planetary boundaries,

arguing that sustainability requires redefining prosperity beyond GDP growth.

Gandhian and ethical critiques stress moral limits to consumption, the importance of

self-restraint, localization, and harmony with nature. They argue that sustainability is

not merely technical but fundamentally ethical, rooted in values of simplicity, equity,

and responsibility.

Post-development and degrowth perspectives go further by questioning development

itself as a universal goal. They advocate alternative visions of well-being centered on

sufficiency, community, and ecological balance rather than perpetual expansion.

IV. Globalization as a Driver of Unsustainability

One of the most visible impacts of globalization is environmental degradation. Carbon-

intensive global supply chains, deforestation for export agriculture, mining for global

industries, and industrial farming have placed enormous pressure on ecosystems and

contributed significantly to climate change.

Climate injustice is a defining feature of the global sustainability crisis. Countries and

communities that have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions often face the

greatest vulnerability to climate impacts, such as extreme weather, sea-level rise, and

food insecurity.

Globalization has also intensified social inequality. While wealth and profits have

expanded globally, they are unevenly distributed, leading to widening income gaps,

precarious employment, informalization of labour, and erosion of welfare systems

under competitive pressures.

Cultural erosion accompanies these processes as global consumer culture displaces

indigenous knowledge systems, local livelihoods, and sustainable practices that have

evolved over generations.

Finally, globalization can trigger a regulatory race to the bottom, where countries dilute

labour protections and environmental standards to attract investment, undermining

sustainability goals.

V. Globalization as an Enabler of Sustainability

Despite these challenges, globalization also offers pathways to sustainability. It

facilitates the diffusion of green technologies such as renewable energy systems,

energy-efficient production methods, and climate-smart agriculture across borders.

Global norms and frameworks related to environmental protection, human rights, and

sustainability reporting have emerged through international cooperation, shaping

national policies and corporate practices.

Transnational advocacy networks—comprising civil society organizations, social

movements, and epistemic communities—play a crucial role in mobilizing awareness,

sharing knowledge, and holding states and corporations accountable.

Global knowledge and data flows enable collaborative scientific research, climate

modelling, and early warning systems, enhancing collective capacity to respond to

environmental risks.

Sustainable global value chains, supported by ESG frameworks and ethical sourcing

initiatives, have begun to influence corporate behavior, though their effectiveness

remains uneven and often voluntary.

VI. Global Governance for Sustainability

Global governance mechanisms play a central role in coordinating sustainability efforts.

The United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals provide a comprehensive

framework linking economic, social, and environmental objectives.

Bretton Woods Institutions increasingly incorporate sustainability conditionalities into

development finance, though critics argue that these remain subordinate to growth and

fiscal priorities.

Trade and sustainability debates within the World Trade Organization reflect tensions

between free trade and environmental protection, particularly regarding subsidies,

carbon border measures, and policy space.

Climate governance under the UNFCCC represents the most prominent example of

global environmental cooperation, yet progress is constrained by divergent national

interests and weak enforcement.

Overall, global governance suffers from limitations such as voluntary commitments,

power asymmetries, and inadequate accountability mechanisms.

VII. The Global South and Sustainability Challenges

Countries in the Global South face acute developmental dilemmas, needing to eradicate

poverty and generate employment while simultaneously protecting fragile ecosystems.

Technology gaps, limited access to finance, and weaker negotiating power constrain

their ability to pursue sustainable pathways on equal terms with developed countries.

Emerging economies such as India illustrate these tensions vividly, balancing growth

imperatives, demographic pressures, and urbanization with rising ecological stress and

climate vulnerability.

South–South cooperation and alternative development pathways offer possibilities for

sharing context-appropriate technologies, policies, and experiences outside dominant

Western models.

VIII. Re-thinking Globalization: Towards Sustainable Alternatives

Inclusive globalization seeks to align global integration with equity, decent work, and

social protection, ensuring that the benefits of globalization are broadly shared.

Green globalization emphasizes low-carbon trade, circular economy principles, and

sustainable finance to decouple economic activity from environmental harm.

Localization and glocalization stress strengthening local economies, food systems, and

institutions while remaining connected to global networks.

Ethical globalization foregrounds responsibility, restraint, and intergenerational justice,

arguing that moral considerations must guide economic choices.

In this re-imagined framework, the state plays a critical role as regulator, facilitator, and

protector of public interest, counterbalancing market excesses.

IX. Conclusion: Normative and Policy Reflections

Globalization is neither inherently sustainable nor inherently destructive; its outcomes

depend on political choices, institutional arrangements, and power relations.

Achieving sustainability requires re-embedding markets within society and ecology,

rather than allowing economic logic to dominate all spheres of life.

The future lies in balancing global interdependence with local resilience, combining

cooperation with autonomy.

The key takeaway for students is that sustainability is ultimately a question of

governance, ethics, and political will—not merely technology, markets, or growth.

Reading List

1. IPCC. Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report (AR6). Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change (IPCC), 2023. (IPCC)

2. Jackson, Tim. Prosperity without Growth

London: Earthscan (Routledge), 2009.

3. Kallis, Giorgos. Degrowth. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing, 2018.

4. Meadows, Donella H., et al. The Limits to Growth. Universe Books, 1972. (The

Academy for Systems Change)

5. Raworth, Kate. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-

Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017. (Chelsea Green Publishing)

6. Rockström, J., et al. “A Safe Operating Space for Humanity.” Nature. Nature

Publishing Group, 2009. (Nature)

7. Rodrik, Dani. The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the

World Economy. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. (drodrik.scholars.harvard.edu)

8. Sachs, Jeffrey D. The Age of Sustainable Development. Columbia University

Press, 2015. (Columbia University Press)

9. Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. New Delhi: Oxford University Press,

1999.

10. Shiva, Vandana. Earth Democracy. London: Zed Books, 2005.

11. Stiglitz, Joseph E. Globalization and its Discontents. W. W. Norton &Company,

2002. (wwnorton.com)

12. Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for

Collective Action. Cambridge University Press, 1990. (Cambridge University

Press & Assessment)

13. United Nations. Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. United Nations, 2015. (sustainabledevelopment.un.org)

14. UNFCCC Secretariat. The Paris Agreement. UNFCCC, 2016. (UNFCCC)

15. World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future.

Oxford University Press, 1987. (sustainabledevelopment.un.org)

International Political Economy by Prof. Michael Sonnleitner

 

 “Economic Nationalism” & “Free Trade”:   

2 Dominant Approaches to IPE & Security

an online Presentation to the International Fellowship Program for Peace & Nonviolence

by Michael Sonnleitner                                                                       January 2^nd, 2026.

I.                  CONTEXT:  Global Politics, 4 Approaches to International Security & 3 + 1 Approaches to International Political Economy (IPE) 

II.                ECONOMIC NATIONALISM: Ideological Basics & Consequences

A.   Assumptions & Beliefs:

1.     Human Nature is Competitive, Controlling, & Tribal

REALISTIC REALISM

2.     Hierarchy is Natural & Peace thru Strength

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT: Need Superior Military

B.    Goals & Strategies:

1.     Unlimited Self-Defense (emphasis on “Hard” Power)

PROTECTIONISM & CONTROLLED TRADE

2.     Tariffs or Any Means Necessary (similar to Merchantilism)

STABILITY & ORDER:  Life Boat Vision of World

C.    Ideological Tendencies & Consequences

1.     Conservativisms & Fascisms; Colonialism & Neo-Colonialism

2.     EX.:  British East India Company and Trump & Xi Jinping

3.     Now often using World Bank & International Monetary Fund

4.     Exploit People & Environments: NATIONAL SUPREMACY

III.           FREE TRADE: Ideological Basics & Impacts

      (Also known as Economic Internationalism or GLOBAIZATION)

A.   Assumptions & Beliefs:

1.     Human Nature is Competitive & Individualistic

REALISTIC IDEALISM

2.      Competition is Natural & Peace thru Interdependence

MIGHT FOR RIGHT

B.    Goals & Strategies:

1.     Limited Self-Defense (need Sufficient Deterrent Military Force) FREE TRADE via NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS

2.     Reduce Tariffs & Non-Tariff Barriers progressively down to zero.

FREEDOM & LIBERTY (protect private property): TRIAGE

C.   Ideological Tendencies & Consequences

1.     Political Liberalisms & Representative Democratic Traditions

2.     Ex. U.S.A. under FDR to Johnson to Obama -- until Trump.

3.     Reflected in the GATT & WTO (after 1995) & Regional Groups

4.     Create Trade Agreements first, any “conventions” maybe after…

People & Environments are exploited pending CONVENTIONS.

IV.            QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION:

A.   Can Economic GLOBALIZATION & Cultural impacts be separated

??? Are Cultural Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism often related???

B.    Can Economic Nationalism be better for the environment than Economic Internationalism (Free Trade)?

“Economic Structuralism” & “Empowerment”:

2 Alternative Approaches to IPE & Security

an online Presentation to the International Fellowship Program for Peace & Nonviolence

by Michael Sonnleitner                                                               January 3^rd, 2026.

I.                  CONTEXT: Briefly review the 2 Dominant IPE & Security Approaches

Economic Nationalism & Free Trade (Economic Internationalism)

II.               ECONOMIC STRUCTURALISM: Ideological Basics & Impacts

A.   Assumptions & Beliefs:

1.     Human Nature is Cooperative & Social

IDEALISTIC REALISM

2.     Human Rights are universal & Peace thru International Law

RIGHT FOR MIGHT (eventual WORLD GOVERNMENT)

B.    Goals & Strategies:

1.     Collective Self-Defense (need International rules enforced)

FAIR TRADE via NEGOTIATED GLOBAL AGREEMENTS

2.     First set Conventions, then lower tariffs & NTBs down to zero…

                     EQUALITY & FAIRNESS: “SPACESHIP EARTH” VISION

C.   Ideological Tendencies & Consequences:

1.     Political Socialisms within Representative Democratic Traditions

2.     Examples: Most EU leaders including Gro Harlem Bruntland

3.     Enforce Human Rights via ICJ & International Criminal Court

4.     Trade Expands Interdependency, with Environmental Mitigation.

III.           ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT: Ideological Basics & Impacts

A.   Assumptions & Beliefs:

1.     Human Nature is Social & Spiritual

IDEALISTIC IDEALISM (Law of Karma & Golden Rule)

2.     Life is Interrelated & Peace thru Nonviolence is Necessary

RIGHT MAKES MIGHT; (ABOLITION OF WAR)

B.    Goals & Strategies:

1.     True Security/Defense is Relational (decentralized Self-Rule)

SUSTAUNABLE TRADE & SELF_RELIANCE (Swadeshi)

2.     Living with Gaia based on a Cultural Revolution (not Laws)

BALANCE STABILITY, LIBERTY, & EQUALITY (with a non-binary commitment to the Welfare of All (Sarvodaya)

Welfare of All (Sarvodaya) via Participatory Democracy

C.   Ideological Tendencies & Consequences:

1.     Green Movement valuing Participatory Democracy (Swaraj)

2.     Examples: Gandhi, Vandana Shiva, Mohammad Yunus…

3.     Celebrate Life by Living Simply that Others may Simply Live.

4.     Emphasize Local Self-Reliance & Reduce Trade Globally.

IV.            QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION: 

1)      Which Alternative IPE Approach appeals most to your personal views regarding Human Nature, and Enforcement of Rules?

2)      Which Alternative IPS Approach is best for the Environment as well as a most practical response to Dominant IPE Approaches?