Global Justice Movement

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Activists protest policies of the World Bank in Washington, DC
Activists protest policies of the World Bank in Washington, DC

The Global Justice Movement is the broad globalized social movement opposing what is often known as “corporate globalization” and promoting equal distribution of economic resources.

A number of organisations and groups using this term have emerged at the beginning of this century - see links and references.

Contents

[edit] A Movement of Movements

The Global Justice Movement describes the loose collection of individuals and groups—often referred to as a “movement of movements”—who advocate "fair trade" rules and are critical of current institutions of global economics such as the World Trade Organization.[1] The movement is often labelled the anti-globalization movement by the mainstream media. Those involved, however, frequently deny that they are “anti-globalization,” insisting that they support the globalization of communication and people and oppose only the global expansion of corporate power.[2] The term further indicates an anti-capitalist and universalist perspective on globalization, distinguishing the movement from those opponents of globalization whose politics are based on a conservative defence of national sovereignty. Participants include student groups, NGOs, trade unions, faith-based and peace groups throughout the world. However it is clear that the movement is overwhelmingly dominated by Northern NGOs and that there is a systemic marginalisation of popular organisations from the global South.[citation needed]

[edit] Massive protests

The movement is characterized by the massive citizen protests and alternative summits which have, for the last decade, accompanied most meetings of the G8, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. The movement came to the attention of many in the US when activists successfully used protests to shut down the 1999 WTO Ministerial in Seattle. This represented, however, just one of a series of massive Global Justice protests that have included protests at the 1988 World Bank/IMF meetings in Germany,[3] "IMF riots" in Indonesia over the price of food in 1998,[4] and "water wars" in Bolivia over the implementation of World Bank recommended policies.[5]

[edit] International solidarity

The Global Justice movement places a significant emphasis on transnational solidarity uniting activists in the global South and global North. Some have argued that the World Social Forum is one excellent example of this emphasis, bringing activists together from around the world to focus on shared philosophy and campaigning. However others see the World Social Forum as dominated by Northern Activists and argue that Southern representation is largely organized via Northern NGOs and that popular organizations in the global South as systematically marginalized.[citation needed] For this reason many movements in the South boycott the forum or actively oppose it. The Jubilee campaign has been among the uniting efforts activists have worked on together, calling for cancellation of unpayable third world debt.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography and further reading

  • Rodney Shakespeare & Peter Challen, Seven Steps to Justice. London: New European Publications Limited, 2002. http://www.globaljusticemovement.net/home/seven-steps.htm
  • Alex Callinicos, An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto. London: Polity, 2003.
  • Notes from Nowhere, We Are Everywhere: The Irresistible Rise of Global Anti-Capitalism. London: Verso, 2003.
  • Gelder, Melinda, Meeting the Enemy, Becoming a Friend. Boulder: Bauu Press, 2006.
  • David Solnit, Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World'.' San Francisco: City Lights, 2003.
  • Tom Mertes, Movement of Movements. New York: Verso, 2004.
  • Donatella Della Porta, The Global Justice Movement: Cross-national And Transnational Perspectives. New York: Paradigm, 2006.

[edit] External links

[edit] Organizations

[edit] Articles

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Tom Mertes, "A Movement of Movements", New York: Verso, 2004
  2. ^ della Porta, D. 2005. “The Social Bases of the Global Justice Movement: Some Theoretical Reflections and Empirical Evidence from the First European Social Forum.” Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper No. 21.Geneva: UNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development).
  3. ^ Berlin 1988 IMF World Bank Conference protests
  4. ^ Greg Palast interviewing Joseph Steiglitz, "IMF’s Four steps to Damnation" The Observer (London), 29 April, 2001: http://www.jubileeresearch.org/analysis/articles/IMF_Four_steps_Damnation.htm
  5. ^ The Democracy Center, "Bechtel Vs. Bolivia: The Bolivian Water Revolt", http://www.democracyctr.org/bechtel/
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