Walden Bello
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Walden Flores Bello (born November 11, 1945) is a Filipino
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
,
environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
, and
social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
who served as a member of the
House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish language, Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house ...
. He is an international adjunct professor at
Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
, professor of sociology and
public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
at the
University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...
, and executive director of regional policy think-tank Focus on the Global South. Bello is also the founder and chairperson of the left-wing alliance
Laban ng Masa Laban ng Masa (LnM, ) is a major left-wing electoral coalition of democratic socialist and progressive groups in the Philippines. Being democratic socialist, LnM participates in the political processes of the state, insisting on elections as a ...
. ''(lit. Fight of the Masses)'' On October 20, 2021, Bello filed his candidacy for
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
in the 2022 Philippine elections as the running mate of presidential candidate and labor leader
Leody de Guzman Leodegario "Ka Leody" Quitain de Guzman (; born July 25, 1959) is a Filipino socialist labor rights activist who ran for president in the 2022 Philippine presidential elections, under the Partido Lakas ng Masa. He is currently the chairperson ...
. Their platforms focus on progressive,
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
, and pro-poor systemic change.


Early life and career

Bello was born in
Cardona, Rizal Cardona, officially the Municipality of Cardona ( tgl, Bayan ng Cardona), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,143 people. Cardona is part of the 2nd Con ...
to Luz Flores and Jesse Bello from
Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner of ...
and
Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...
, respectively. His family paid for his
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
schooling at the
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...
and he attended
graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. While attending Princeton in the United States, he was introduced to the
anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...
and led an occupation of the
Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
. The confrontation with police during these protests radicalized Bello and inspired him to pursue a life of activism. For his graduate studies, he traveled to Chile and stayed in shanty towns following
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
's
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
rise to the presidency. When he returned to the United States to defend his dissertation, he lost his ability to return to the Philippines after his passport had been revoked when the declaration of
Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
by President
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
on September 21, 1972.


Politics and activism

Bello received his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton in 1975 after completing his doctoral dissertation titled "The roots and dynamics of revolution and counterrevolution in Chile." he then became part of the anti-Marcos movement, began teaching at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and became a member of the
Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is desi ...
. In 1978 after being arrested multiple times during protests, he was arrested after leading the takeover of the Philippine consulate in San Francisco. Bello was later released following a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
to bring attention to the situation the Philippines was facing. In the early-1980s, Bello also broke into the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
headquarters and stole 3,000 pages of confidential documents that he said would show the connection of the IMF and World Bank to Marcos. He later wrote ''Development Debacle: the World Bank in the Philippines'' in 1982 surrounding the documents stating that this publication contributed toward the 1986
People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...
in the Philippines, with Bello returning to his native state two years later. In 1995, Bello co-founded Focus on the Global South, a policy research institute based in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Thailand. Bello had also led teach-ins during the
1999 Seattle WTO protests The 1999 Seattle WTO protests, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Seattle, were a series of protests surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, when members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened at the Washington State Con ...
and protested internationally against globalization at the 2001 G8 summit, the
WTO Ministerial Conference of 2003 At the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2003, trade ministers from 146 members of the World Trade Organization, representing 93 percent of global Commerce, convened in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003. The goal of this meetin ...
, the
WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005 The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, also known as the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and abbreviated as MC6, was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong from 13 to 18 Dece ...
and was banned from the 2006 World Bank-IMF Conference in Singapore. Politically, Bello began to turn away from the Communist Party of the Philippines after he heard that they allegedly killed individuals in the 1980s and 1990s that were accused of being
double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
s. Bello later joined the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party and became a member of congress in 2010. In March 2015, Bello resigned his position in congress due to conflicts with President
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...
that surrounded the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the Mamasapano incident. He ran for senator in 2016 but lost. He currently sits on the board of directors of the International Forum on Globalization and on the board of directors of the leftist think-tank
Center for Economic and Policy Research The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is a progressive American think tank that specializes in economic policy. Based in Washington, D.C. CEPR was co-founded by economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot in 1999. Considered a left-lea ...
. He is also a member of the regional
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
.


2022 national elections

The Laban ng Masa coalition launched a campaign to collect 300,000 signatures to urge Bello to run for president in the 2022 elections. In a statement, Laban ng Masa said it wants to "push for an ambitious platform that focuses on the poor, prioritizes the neglected, and fights for the rights of ordinary Filipinos". Bello's group sought talks with Vice President
Robredo Robredo is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Álvaro Robredo (born 1993), Spanish cyclist *Jesse Robredo (1958–2012), Filipino politician *Leni Robredo (born 1965), Filipina lawyer and social activist *Tommy Robredo Tomá ...
's backers for three months but were ignored. This caused them to support
Leody de Guzman Leodegario "Ka Leody" Quitain de Guzman (; born July 25, 1959) is a Filipino socialist labor rights activist who ran for president in the 2022 Philippine presidential elections, under the Partido Lakas ng Masa. He is currently the chairperson ...
's presidential candidacy, instead.


2022 vice presidential campaign

In October 2021, Bello decided to run for the vice-presidency under the
Partido Lakas ng Masa The Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM; ) is a democratic socialist political party in the Philippines. Created in 2009, it includes as its affiliate the labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino and is Sanlakas' political party for purposes of co ...
, replacing Raquel Castillo who had filed her candidacy as Guzman's running mate in the same party.


Political positions

The US ''
Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...
'' described Bello as "one of the most articulate and prolific voices on the international left" and that "he has devoted most of his life to fighting
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
and corporate globalization". Bello was also a supporter of
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
and was impressed by his opposition to the United States, stating after Chávez's death that he was "a class act, one impossible to follow. Wherever you are right now, give 'em hell".


Books

Bello has authored and edited a number of nonfiction books. Among them are the following: * ''A Siamese Tragedy: Development and Disintegration in Modern Thailand'' (1999), with co-author Shea Cunningham *''Global Finance: New Thinking on Regulating Speculative Capital Markets'' (2000), editor, with co-editor Nicola Bullard *''Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy: Global Issues'' (2005) * ''Dilemmas of Domination: The Unmaking of the American Empire'' (2005) *''The Anti-Development State: The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis in the Philippines'' (2006), with co-authors Herbert Docena, Marissa de Guzman, and Mary Lou Malig *''The Food Wars'' (2009) * ''Capitalism's Last Stand?: Deglobalization in the Age of Austerity'' (2013) * ''Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right'' (2019) * ''Paper Dragons: China and the Next Crash'' (2019)


Recognition

In 2003, Bello was awarded the
Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob v ...
, whose website describes him as "one of the leading critics of the current model of
economic globalization Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization. Econom ...
, combining the roles of intellectual and activist." Bello is also a fellow of the
Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...
(based in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
), and is a columnist for ''Foreign Policy in Focus''. In March 2008 he was named Outstanding Public Scholar for 2008 by the
International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs since ...
br>


References


External links

*Biographical information o
Right Livelihood Award websiteBiographical information
from the
Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

Focus on the Global SouthOsama and Trump: 2 bookends to the downspin of an Empire
by Walden Bello {{DEFAULTSORT:Bello, Walden 1945 births Anti-globalization activists Candidates in the 2022 Philippine vice-presidential election Center for Economic and Policy Research Development specialists Ilocano people Filipino activists Filipino socialists Filipino sociologists Filipino writers Foreign policy writers Living people Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines for Akbayan People associated with Greenpeace People from Rizal People from Quezon City Princeton University alumni Sociology educators Ateneo de Manila University alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty University of the Philippines Diliman faculty