Abstract

GATT & the Shape of Our Dreams

As the complex struggle over the globalization of the capitalist market proceeds, the debate surrounding it gets more tortuous and the linguistic hypocrisy delies even writer George Orwell's imagination. Freedom to work means the right to be exploited, and internationalism is identified with the movement of capital in search of profit and universality-with the reign of merchandise throughout the world. How difficult it is to clarify matters is illustrated by a fierce fight during the recent General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade negotiations, a struggle over money that is insignificant in its immediate effects yet may be crucial in the long run, as it will shape one's dreams, one's thoughts and, therefore, one's acts. The battle is over Europe's insistence that it continue subjecting American movies and audiovisual materials to quotas and other restrictions--the so-called "cultural exception." In the European, and particularly the French, press the issue was portrayed as being largely a fight by greedy Hollywood producers for a heftier share of foreign film revenues. This clashed with the U.S. version, which was that hypocritical, elitist Euros are protecting a dying industry from more popular U.S. products.