BANGKOK, Nov 1 (IPS) – It’s a somber global moment as civil society actors battle assassinations, imprisonments, trumped-up charges and cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos and rising authoritarianism. Yet the mood at Thammasat University in Bangkok was anything but defeated.
Once the site of the 1976 massacre, where pro-democracy students were brutally crushed, the campus – a “sacred ground” for civil society actors – reverberated with renewed voices calling to defend democracy in what CIVICUS Secretary General Mandeep Tiwana described as a “world turned upside down” with rising authoritarianism – a poignant reminder that even in places scarred by repression the struggle for civic space continues.
“Let it resonate,” said Ichal Supriadi, Secretary General, Asian Democracy Network. “Democracy must be defended together,” adding that it was the “shared force” facing authoritarianism.
Despite the hopeful spirit at Thammasat University, where the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) is underway, conversations often focused on sobering realities. Dr. Gothom Arya of the Asian Cultural Forum for Development and the Peace and Culture Foundation reminded participants that civil liberties are being curtailed in much of the world.
Citing alarming figures, he spoke bluntly about the global imbalance in priorities – noting how military spending continues to rise even as public space shrinks. He pointedly referred to the United States Department of Defense as the “Department of War,” comparing its $968 billion military budget to China’s $3 billion and noting that spending on the war in Ukraine had increased tenfold in just three years—a stark illustration of global priorities. “This is where we stand when it comes to peace and war,” he said somberly.
At another session, similar reflections set the tone for a broader critique of global power dynamics. Walden Bello, a former senator and peace activist from the Philippines, argued that the United States – especially under the Trump administration – had abandoned even the pretense of a free market system and replaced it with what he called “overt monopolistic hegemony.” American imperialism, he said, “has abandoned attempts at camouflage and now brazenly demands that the world submit to its wishes.”
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani physicist and author, echoed this sentiment and expressed outrage at his own country’s leadership. He condemned Pakistan’s decision to appoint a “psychopath, habitual liar and aggressive warmonger” to the Nobel Peace Prizesaying the leaders “had no right to trade minerals and rare earths with an American dictator” without public consent.
Hoodbhoy urged the international community to intervene and resume peace talks between Pakistan and India – two nuclear-armed neighbors constantly teetering on the brink of new conflict.
But at no point during the day did the focus shift from the ongoing humanitarian crises. Arya reminded the audience of the tragic loss of civilian lives in Gaza, the devastating fighting in Sudan that had led to widespread malnutrition, and global inequality exacerbated by the lack of climate action. “Because some major countries refused to follow the Paris Agreement a decade ago,” he warned, “the rest of the world will suffer the consequences.”
That grim reality was brought into even sharper focus by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a Palestinian doctor and politician, who gave a moving account of the destruction of Gaza. He said that through the use of American-supplied weapons, Israel had killed an estimated 12 percent of Gaza’s population, destroyed all hospitals and universities and left nearly 10,000 bodies in the rubble.
“Even as these crises spread around the world, the conference demonstrated that civil society continues to persevere as nearly 1,000 people from more than 75 organizations overcame travel bans and visa hurdles to gather at Thammasat University, sharing strategies, solidarity and hope over more than 120 sessions.
Among them was a delegation whose presence carried the weight of the silenced hopes of an entire nation: Hamrah, believed to be the only Afghan civil society group at ICSW.
“Our participation is important at a time when much of the world has turned its gaze away from Afghanistan,” said Timor Sharan, co-founder and program director of the HAMRAH initiativesays the IPS.
“It is critical to remind the global community that Afghan civil society has not disappeared; it is fighting and holding the line.”
Through networks like HAMRAH, he said, activists, educators and defenders have continued secret and online schools, documented abuses and amplified those silenced under Taliban rule. “Our presence here is both a statement of resilience and a call for solidarity.”
“Visibility is important,” says Riska Carolina, an Indonesian woman and LGBTIQ+ rights advocate she works with ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC). “What is even more powerful is being visible together.”
“It was special because it brought together movements – Dalit, Indigenous, feminist, disabled and queer – that rarely share the same space, creating space for intersectional democracy to take shape,” said Carolina, whose work focuses on regional advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights within the political and human rights frameworks of Southeast Asia, particularly the ASEAN system, which she said has historically been “slow to recognize issues of sexuality and gender diversity.”
“We are working to ensure that SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) inclusion is seen not just as a niche issue, but as a core part of democracy, governance and human rights. That means engaging governments, civil society and regional bodies to ensure the participation, safety and dignity of gay people is part of how we measure democratic progress.”
She said the ICSW has given ASC the opportunity to make “visible” the connection between civic space, democracy and queer liberation and remind people that democracy is not just about elections, but also about “who is able to live freely and who is silenced by the law or stigma.”
Outside of the main sessions, civil society leaders gathered for a candid conversation – part reflection, part reckoning – to examine their role in an era when their space to act was shrinking.
“The dialogue raised some difficult but necessary questions,” he said. They asked themselves, “Have we understood the full extent of the challenges we face?” ‘Are our responses strong enough?’ “Do we expect anti-rights forces to respect our rules and values?” ‘Are we reacting instead of setting the agenda? And are we allies – or accomplices – of those who risk everything for justice?’
But if one thing was crystal clear to everyone present, it was that civil society had to be united, not fragmented, to defend democracy.
IPS UN office report
© Inter Press Service (20251101133125) — All rights reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
#Defending #democracy #world #turned #upside