Alterglobalization and the Limits of Prefigurative Politics

Abstract

Prefigurative politics is understood as a practical and critique of democracy, as an open-ended strategy for social change, and as the mini form here and now of a better society, offering an alternative to power relations. Anarchist-inclined alterglobalization activists argue that the collaborative of the movement itself functions as a critique of hierarchical and authoritarian power relations reproduced by the institutions of representative democracy, corporations, political parties, and even trade unions: new forms of organization are its ideology. Direct action could be designated as the activity of anarchist prefigurative politics, as the end is already present within the means, and as the actors leading the are the direct beneficiaries of the action - e.g. the homeless squatting derelict houses, workers occupying and running factories, etc. From the collaborative perspective, such a concept of prefigurative politics is deeply problematic, as it is unclear what precisely is being pre -figured. Keywords: alterglobalization; anarchist prefigurative politics; open-ended strategy ; social relations