The Dig Third World Networks w/ Walden Bello and Jane Nalunga
Oct 28, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Walden Bello, a noted sociologist and critic of neoliberal globalization, joins Jane Nalunga, director of SIATINI, to share insights on the aftermath of Third Worldist movements. They dive into the civil society reactions to dictatorships and structural adjustments, emphasizing the debt's role in mobilization. The duo highlights the revival of South-South solidarity and critiques the far-right's capture of anti-globalization sentiments. Finally, they discuss deglobalization paths and the future of regional cooperation in the Global South.
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NIEO's Ambition And Defeat
- The New International Economic Order aimed to fix skewed North–South trade through protection, tech transfer, and preferential access.
- Its defeat opened space for neoliberal counter-reforms that reshaped the Global South's trajectories.
Civil Society Filled Political Vacuums
- Structural adjustment and IMF/World Bank programs generalized neoliberal reforms across about 76 countries.
- Weak post-independence governments left civil society and movements to lead resistance against these reforms.
Allende, Exile, And Organizing Abroad
- Walden described going to Chile during Allende's presidency to learn from his constitutional road to socialism.
- He later helped organize overseas Filipino communities to cut off aid to Marcos during martial law.
