Nobel
- Man's Un-Noble
Corporate Nexus
By Omar Tarek Chowdhury
16 December, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Dr.
Muhammad Yunus, the self-proclaimed ‘banker to the poor’,
has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2006 and following the announcement
of the award mainstream media created an euphoria throughout in Bangladesh.
The mainstream academia has also jumped on the bandwagon. The unrestrained
wave of delight created by the mainstream of society representing the
ruling class in the wake of Yunus' adornment with the coveted prize,
has given it a ploy to camouflage its hollowness, intellectual shallowness
and failure to govern the society it dominates. This ruling class is
rotten to the core and morally and intellectually bankrupt. No wonder
that in the era of neo-liberalism the opinion-makers and the dominant
media, controlled by capital as they are, will be hyper-active to make
people forget their woes and ‘feel good’. The award has
provided a very good opportunity to them. The merriment-deluge washed
away the sense of necessity that makes one analyze the significance
of this world famous laurel which has been bestowed upon the founder-head
of the Grameen Bank (GB).
Except a very few skeptics
none will disagree that no other person has been adorned with so many
awards and honorary degrees than Dr. Yunus, the teacher-turned-banker.
The person advocating credit for the poor has so far won 68 awards,
28 honorary degrees and 15 felicitations from his motherland and other
countries. Along with him the GB, his much acclaimed creation, has been
awarded 8 national and international awards including Nobel Peace Prize
2006. These are, in a real sense, a recognition of his efforts to contain
the poor in a way that helps to maintain the status quo and identify
an effective alternative institutional method for profitable investment
of finance capital. So, the mainstream policy-makers have come to recognize
the merit of this method. The method devised by him has proved effective
to all concerned ranging from the UN poverty-crusaders to the Citibank,
from the promoters of technology-not-friendly-to-environment to the
finance capital investors. These ground realities made it necessary
for a wide range actors to construct a mythical image of Dr Yunus and
in doing so there was an avalanche of awards, honors, etc., for him,
an unending supply of chairs in the boards of 'independent' and 'not
for profit' foundations floated and supported by multinational corporations
(MNC). Reports with illusory images of his warm friendship with kings
and queens and presidents and first ladies were circulated giving the
impression of a fairy tale of friendship between a prince and a 'pauper-son'.
The target for these image-bombardments was the psycho-world of the
common people. The corporate controlled pundits, media and opinion-makers
have 'illuminated' the psycho-world of common people with illusions
and high pitched propaganda to drain people of their reasoning, the
power of questioning and the capacity of digging out truth. Sometimes
the power-owners appear successful, at least for the time being. Relying
on his magnified image Dr. Yunus has successfully become a broker in
the world of international finance capital, in the marketing of technology
and in the mainstream political economy. (It should be mentioned that
brokering, lobbying, etc. are recognized and dignified professions in
the western world.) Muhammad Yunus has been and is being awarded repeatedly
for efficiently acting as a broker on behalf of big corporations of
the west and as a chain reaction one award has attracted another.
No award is politics-,economics-,philosophy-,
and ideology-neutral. While discussing an award it is worthwhile to
take stock of the organizations or persons behind it, to whom it is
awarded, and the reasons behind not awarding it to some other person
than the one who has been tipped for it. Joseph Stalin was nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize but was not awarded it. Jean Paul Sartre,
and in the near past, Arundhati Roy, the defiant voice, refused the
Nobel Prize and Sahiyata Academy Award of India respectively. All these
facts demand an analysis. Dr. Yunus was awarded the World Food Prize,
known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, in 1994 and the prize is patronized
by 74 organizations including the 'famous' US agri-business company
Monsanto, Cargill and other US large soyabean and farm products exporting
companies, the Agriculture Research Service of the US government, a
number of financing companies and the 'famous' Coca-Cola. Yunus took
initiative to float a joint venture company to market harmful agricultural
technologies (genetically engineered seeds, Roundup herbicide, ‘transgenic’
or ‘genetically modified’ plant species) of Monsanto, a
company despised in the west, in Bangladesh after being bestowed with
the Alternative Nobel prize. Even US $150,000 was accepted by him to
set up Grameen Monsanto Center for Environment-Friendly Technologies.
This 'pious' act of brokering was initiated during the second micro
credit summit. Monsanto in its zeal to send 'poverty' to a museum approached
Dr. Yunus, would be curator of ‘poverty museum’, and he
did not hesitate to collaborate. An adventure indeed! But he was later
compelled to make a retreat with 'dignity' following a flurry of criticisms
from different parts of the world by the environmentalists. However,
the former university teacher offered no explanation to the members
of the public, not even to his constituency -- the poor in Bangladesh.
Probably highly innovative minds need not engage in 'petty' acts like
offering public apology for making profit at the expense of the environment
and food security of the country. Nor do the poor have the opportunity
to map the minds that win friendship of MNCs and kings and queens. But
a number of personalities and organizations should be acclaimed for
compelling the Nobel-man retreat and they include Vandana Shiva, the
philosopher and environment activist; late AZM Obaidullah, a famous
Bangali poet; and Nayakrishi Andolon, a movement for ecology-friendly
agriculture in Bangladesh. The now-futile venture of the microcredit
evangelist is a stark example of harming the agriculture of his motherland,
endangering food security, creating dependency, and all these mighty
tasks were planned to be initiated by offering 'free' technology through
microcredit, the 'panacea' for the poor. The myth of 'telephone ladies'
has been created with the same tact. These 'simple' acts tell the intimate
tales of the friendship between the poor’s banker and the mighty
rulers, and help to explain reasons why the corporate owned media and
the pundits, who are ideologically linked, are untiringly singing the
same mantra, propaganda and gospel to build up the cult of the banker
for the humble. An in-depth enquiry will show that many of the individuals
and organizations engaged in this campaign are connected to each other
through business and financial concerns. The link here is, also, finance
and business. Just as the World Food Prize was related to the marketing
of Monsanto-technology among the farmers of Bangladesh, the One World
Broadcasting Trust Media Award (1988) and the World Technology Network
Award (2003) from Britain, the Telecinco Award (2004) from Spain, connected
to marketing of mobile phone, the Economist Innovation Award (2004)
and the Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award (2004) from the
US and many other awards were meant to expand corporate business interest.
The German telephone giant Deutsh Telecom and the US software giant
Microsoft are the patrons of the Petersberg Prize which was awarded
to the Grameen Bank in 2004.
Dr. Yunus has received the
Seoul Peace Prize from Korea a few days after he had been awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize. Before he left for Seoul and after his return from
there he did not forget to advice the caretaker government, mainly responsible
to organize national election during its 90 days tenure, to take a quick
decision on opening the Korean Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Bangladesh.
It seems that formal functioning
of the Korean EPZ is the top priority of the friend of the poor as MNCs
have unrestrained liberty to plunder the natural resources of the country
under the guise of foreign investment, as corruption, kick backs and
absence of transparency is the norm in these deals, and as many people
in this country about half-a dozen poor villagers shed their lives to
safeguard the rights of people on the Fulbari coal mine in the northern
Bangladesh; as the people of the country do not know the consequences
of the agreements with companies like Asia Energy, which was awarded
with the Fulbari coal mine on terms highly unfavorable to Bangladesh.
It is interesting to note that though there are awards for those who
can help the MNCs to maximize profit, there is none for advocacy work
to create pressure and realize compensation for the irreparable loss
of natural resources due to MNC operation. For example, there has been
no award for anyone protesting against the damage done to gas and to
bio-diversity by MNCs in the Magurchhara and the Tengratila gas fields,
in north-eastern Bangladesh, which blew out due to their callous handling
of the well-digging work. There has been no prize for advocacy work
to safeguard people's rights and environment in the Fulbari coal mine
and its surrounding areas, there is no patron to support lobbying work
in Washington D.C. in favor of the female workers in the garments factories
who need safer working condition so that no worker has to be killed
in fire accidents in the factories.
It is known to all that huge
amounts of fund necessary for education and research in the universities
in the west are often provided through grants, assistance, investments,
etc. by many Foundations and Endowments set up by MNCs. Such donations
obviously influence the activities of these universities. These financial
supports influence, directly and indirectly, the ideology of the faculties,
the boards of directors, the boards of regents, etc.; the decision-making
process; curricula; and areas and subjects of research in the universities.
The MNCs efficiently manipulate these bodies and process to advance
their own interest. Awarding honorary degrees is an old tactic to build
up someone's image or to polish someone's palm. There are precedents
of awarding honorary degrees to despised and despotic rulers from different
countries. Compared to those instances awarding Dr. Yunus scores of
honorary degrees and awards seems to be 'small, innocent' act. However,
there is a need to remain awake to the ramifications of such awards
and honors instead of naively looking at them the as the 'recognition
of a person’s extraordinary contribution’.
Muhammad Yunus was selected
as one of the ''25 most influential businessmen in the world in the
last 25 years.'' Wharton School of Business made this selection in 2004
for a documentary made for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), US.
The rich and powerful tycoons in the list included Bill Gates, George
Soros, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Warren Buffertt,
Michael Dell, Alan Greenspan, Lee Lacocca, Charles Schwab, Frederick
Smith, and Sam Walton. The image of Dr. Yunus that has been built up
gradually as a friend of the poor is, apparently, not in accordance
with these rich people. Then, there comes the big question: what is
the below-the-surface reason for his inclusion in this group of moneyed
people? Is it a mere whim of a leading business school? But an analysis
of the politico-economic factors brings forth a different answer: the
efficient performance of Dr. Yunus as a new pathfinder for the investment
of capital, as a broker and salesman of technology is the actual reason
for his getting selected by the corporate circle as one of the 25 most
influential businessperson in the last quarter century. The capacity
of the Grameen Bank in this area is what has prompted the corporate
circle to make its decision correctly.
A few more examples will
help to show the close deals between Muhammad Yunus and the corporate
world. He is a member of the advisory body of the Stockholm Challenge,
the global network of the entrepreneurs of information and communication
technology. The other members of the board include the senior vice-president
of the chief research and science office of the San Microsystems, one
of the leading computer companies; the president and CEO of Ericson;
a member of the European parliament; a leading entrepreneur of Russia,
Western Europe and the US. This list is enough for anyone to understand
that safeguarding corporate interest, instead of pushing back poverty
to a history museum is the main objective of this corporate network.
Dr. Yunus is co-president
and a member of the advisory board of PlaNet Finance (PF), a French
organization for financing microcredit programs. Sanofi-Aventis, a multinational
pharmaceutical company, is one of the financing patrons of PF. Should
anyone believe that Sanofi-Aventis and other multinationals are so eager
to eliminate poverty from the face of the earth? One may pray that their
eagerness should not be like that of Monsanto. If they are a bit less
enthusiastic about poverty elimination that would a favor to the poor.
Dr. Yunus, as a member, adorns
the advisory board of the Holcim Foundation, 'independent of business
interest’ established and run by one of the biggest cement and
construction material producers in this poverty-ridden world. The Swiss
company's revenue in 2000 was US $ 8.2 billion. A look at the activities
of the Rockfeller and Ford Foundations that have been criticized and
condemned by many will help understand the reasons behind establishing
such foundations and the type of activities they often carry out.
Apart from the close connections
and deals with the MNCs Dr. Yunus has an organizational structure to
turn microcredit into a vehicle for the investment of capital and marketing
of technology producedby the MNCs. The Grameen Bank acts as a brand
name or a franchise. Microcredit programs, broadly designed after the
Grameen model are now being run in more than 100 countries, in continents
east and west, in the north and the south. While Bill Clinton initiated
it in the US state of Arkansas, the Reserve Bank of India, 'inspired'
with the neo-liberal ideology, has liberalized their rules so that the
program can be introduced among the starving tea farm workers in north-eastern
India and among the poor in south India. It is a single string tying
all: finance capital, the idle-capital seeking interest.
The Grameen Foundation USA
(GFUSA) was established in 1997 to propagate and to expand the activities
of interest seeking finance capital among the poor. Dr. Yunus is one
of the founder-members and board members of this Foundation, a strategic
partner of the GB. This Foundation has now spread out its credit net
over 7 million breathing souls in 22 countries through 52 networks.
This Foundation invests finance capital among the poor through its marketing
of telephone, and through its window of microcredit which is financed
by the capital market and commercial banks. It is closely connected
with the Citibank, one of the largest financing organizations in the
world. Along with Dr. Yunus, some former or present executives of Kane
Property Company, GuideStar, Citibank, Microsoft, Citigroup, Calvert
Funds and similar other large corporations and financing organizations
are on the board of this Foundation. One can guess the power and brokering
capacity of this Foundation from the fact that it is closely connected
with the Clinton Global Initiative from the days of its inception. Former
US president Clinton recommended Yunus for the Nobel award in 2005 for
the second time though this move of Clinton went beyond all norms. Because
Clinton was not empowered to make such a recommendation as Amartya Sen
had been. While this act of recommendation was under way the GFUSA and
Citibank joined hands as partner of the Clinton Initiative to jointly
invest US $ 50 million and, if possible, $ 300 million, as microcredit.
This Foundation has a special role in mobilizing capital, expanding
GB-model micro credit all over the world, building up image of microcredit
and its guru, and making public relations work. There is a similar type
of power brokering house of Dr. Yunus in Australia to mobilize international
power.
Undoubtedly, Dr. Yunus has
become a blue-eyed boy of the corporate world for his excellent performance
and innovations in the field of investment and marketing of finance
capital and technology among the poor through microcredit. The third
world is not a risk-free area for investment. The defaulting industrialists
in Bangladesh are a stark example of this. There are other relevant
questions that need to be addressed before an investment is made. The
risk of socio-political upheavals in the country in question, the carrying
capacity of the economy, the market size, etc. demand serious attention.
Dr. Yunus has a 'magic wand' that creates an ensured market, an ensured
return, an almost full return of the capital, an instant return, and
all these he has done with his 'panacea' -- microcredit. This is what
makes him dear to the corporate world and the corporate world is paying
him back with laurels, awards, honors, etc. and facilitating his job
by building up a larger-than-life image of the salesman. Thus, the underfed,
undernourished multitude is fed with the fairy tales of friendship between
the 'banker to the poor' and the spellbound kings, queens, presidents
and first ladies. The Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Yunus has reaffirmed
this fact only.
P.S.: Patrick
Bond (Director, Centre for Civil Society (South Africa) and author of
Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation) repored in the South
African daily The Mercury (Oct. 25, 2006): ‘So why then did Norway’s
Nobel committee give Yunus the award? Colleagues in Oslo point out to
me that he was strongly supported by friends in the Norwegian elite,
including a former top finance ministry bureaucrat and leading officials
of the national phone company, Telenor, which owns 62% of lucrative
GrameenPhone, a company in control of 60% of Bangladesh’s cellphone
market.
Note:
1. Websites: Grameen Bank, GFUSA, World Food Prize, Clinton Initiatives,
Holcim Foundation, PlaNet Finance, Monsanto, GAIA Foundation, Stockholm
Challange, Nobel Prize, natural-law
2. British agriculturalist Mark Griffiths’ letter to Dr. Muhammad
Yunus, (June 29, 1998)
3. Vandana Shiva’s E-mail to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, (July 4, 1998)
4. Briefings of Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), Canada
and USA
5. BBC report on termination of Grameen-Monsanto deal. July 27, 1998
6. ‘Gene firm tightens grip on food chain’ by Louise Jury.
The Independent (UK), 16.8.98
7. ‘Unmasking the microcredit success lie’ by Patrick Bond.
The Mercury (SA), 25.10.06
Omar Tarek Chowdhury ([email protected])
translates pro-people political literature and contributes to alternative
periodicals and newspapers.
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