The World Trade Organisation and Protest Movements

The World Trade Organisation and Protest Movements
Author: William B. Paterson
Publisher: Rethinking Globalizations
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2018-12-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780415460958

Focusing on the six year period after the protests at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 1999 Seattle Millennium Ministerial Conference, the book offers a unique analysis of the impact of the alter-globalization movements on the policies and process of the WTO. The emergence of the protest movements labelled the ‘anti-globalization movement’ can be described as a Coxian counter-hegemonic structure. The alter-globalization movements, however, can be seen as distinct, because they demand reforming, rather than tearing down, the WTO. This book identifies and evaluates three strategies employed by the alter-globalisation movements to place their alternative values at the heart of the WTO agenda: demonstrations on the street; assisting developing states during negotiations; and submitting amicus briefs to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Drawing on Cox’s interpretation of trasformismo as central to ‘passive revolution’, Paterson demonstrates how cooptation and distortion are recognized as essential policies for defending hegemonic interest at the WTO. Using a wide number of primary and secondary sources, the obstacles presented by the WTO’s policy of trasformismo are analysed in detail: political elites coopting the alter-globalization movement’s principles into their own rhetoric; the cooption of ‘Alter-NGOs’ by political elites from the developing world, and the cooption of ‘Alter-NGOs’ and rejection of real influence by the WTO. Informing us of the problems and obstacles faced by social movements and NGOs currently attempting to reform world order, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, international relations, economics, sociology and development studies.

The Battle of Seattle

The Battle of Seattle
Author: Eddie Yuen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2001
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Explains the WTO Protests as the birth of an original social movement, the most important and vital burst of activism in 25 years. Here diverse and sophisticated radical/left interpretation is combined with divergent opinions on the question of violence, race and the future. Essays and contributions from Stanly Aronowitz, Alexander Cockburn, Peter Lanborn and Medea Benjamin plus an original interview with Noam Chomsky that questions Chomsky's understanding of social movements.

Direct Action, Deliberation, and Diffusion

Direct Action, Deliberation, and Diffusion
Author: Lesley J. Wood
Publisher:
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2012
Genre: Demonstrations
ISBN: 9781139372091

"What are the micro-level interactions and conversations that underlie successful and failed diffusion? By comparing the spread of direct action tactics from the 1999 Global Justice Movement protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle to grassroots activists in Toronto and New York, Lesley Wood argues that dynamics of deliberation among local activists both aided and blocked diffusion. To analyze the localization of this cycle of protest, the research brings together rich ethnography, interviews, social network analysis and catalogs of protest events. The findings suggest that when diverse activists with different perspectives can discuss innovations in a reflexive, egalitarian manner, they are more likely to make strategic and meaningful choices"--Provided by publisher.

Globalize This!

Globalize This!
Author: Kevin Danaher
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2000
Genre: Developing countries
ISBN:

The Battle in Seattle

The Battle in Seattle
Author: Janet Thomas
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2000
Genre: Child labor
ISBN: 9781555911089

November 30, 1999, is seen as a day of infamy-the day the World Trade Organization was battled head-on in Seattle. Media coverage, with its images of gas masks, tear-gas victims, bullying cops, rampaging hoodlums, and ruffled WTO dignitaries, presented a riveting picture of violence in the streets. But there was another battle of far greater consequence. People from around the world converged that day to show solidarity for working people and to voice their concerns about child labor, the environment, and global economic justice.

Altering World Order

Altering World Order
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2006
Genre: Anti-globalization movement
ISBN:

This thesis analyses the relationship between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the alter-globalization movement through the theoretical framework of Robert W. Cox. A Coxian perspective highlights that the WTO is a central international organization of the current nebuleuse, and one integral to enforcing, promoting and defending transnational corporate hegemony. The emergence of the protest movement inaccurately labelled the?anti-globalization movement? can be described as a Coxian counter-hegemonic structure. From the plethora of protesters making up this?anti-globalization movement? who dispute the legitimacy of the WTO, a distinct alter-globalization movement can be identified. It prescribes the alternative principles of public accountability, the rights of people and the protection of the environment as guides to reforming the WTO towards a Coxian?new multilateralism?. This thesis asks: to what extent has this alter-globalisation movement succeeded in altering the policies and processes of the WTO in accordance with these principles? In Coxian terms the questions of how far the campaign for?new multilateralism? has successfully altered the hegemony of the current world order and avoided trasformismo are asserted. After illustrating corporate structural power within the WTO?s policies and procedures, the alter-globalisation movement is defined as an entity of overlapping social movements and Non-Governmental Organizations (Alter-NGOs). The thesis identifies and evaluates three strategies employed by the alter-globalisation movement to place its values at the heart of the WTO: demonstrations on the street; assisting developing states during negotiations; and submitting amicus briefs to the WTO?s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). The obstacles presented by the WTO?s policy of trasformismo are then detailed, namely: political elites coopting the alter-globalization movement?s principles into their own rhetoric; the cooption of NGOs by political elites from the developing world, and the cooption of NGOs and the fierce rejection of any NGO influence within the WTO. In its conclusions the thesis details the manner in which trasformismo is a significant tool in the armoury of corporate hegemony for resisting reform, and thereby informs existing literature on the problems faced by all social movements and NGOs engaging with reforming the world order.

No Globalization Without Representation

No Globalization Without Representation
Author: Paul Adler
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2021-05-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0812299663

Amid the mass protests of the 1960s, another, less heralded political force arose: public interest progressivism. Led by activists like Ralph Nader, organizations of lawyers and experts worked "inside the system." They confronted corporate power and helped win major consumer and environmental protections. By the late 1970s, some public interest groups moved beyond U.S. borders to challenge multinational corporations. This happened at the same time that neoliberalism, a politics of empowerment for big business, gained strength in the U.S. and around the world. No Globalization Without Representation is the story of how consumer and environmental activists became significant players in U.S. and world politics at the twentieth century's close. NGOs like Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen helped forge a progressive coalition that lobbied against the emerging neoliberal world order and in favor of what they called "fair globalization." From boycotting Nestlé in the 1970s to lobbying against NAFTA to the "Battle of Seattle" protests against the World Trade Organization in the 1990s, these groups have made a profound mark. This book tells their stories while showing how public interest groups helped ensure that a version of liberalism willing to challenge corporate power did not vanish from U.S. politics. Public interest groups believed that preserving liberalism at home meant confronting attempts to perpetuate conservative policies through global economic rules. No Globalization Without Representation also illuminates how professionalized organizations became such a critical part of liberal activism—and how that has affected the course of U.S. politics to the present day.

Street Citizens

Street Citizens
Author: Marco Giugni
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2019-04-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108475906

Explains the character of contemporary protest politics through a micro-mobilization analysis of participation in street demonstrations.

Global Showdown

Global Showdown
Author: Maude Barlow
Publisher:
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2001
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This paperback version of the 2001 book is revised to take into account demonstrations since those protesting the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, and the braking impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the new democracy movement. Activists affiliated with the San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization examine nations' collusion in the global corporate governance game. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR