Marketing Rebellion: Insurgent Groups, International Media, and NGO Support

Abstract

Many scholars view an emergent “global civil society” as an accessible, democratic alternative to the state system–a new political space where social movements frustrated at home can gain support from “principled” transnational advocacy networks. But, only a few movements from the developing world attract transnational backing. This article first proposes a framework clarifying the process, and then identifies structural and strategic factors explaining the variation. The article compares two movements that secured significant international support, Nigeria's Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Mexico's Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, EZLN), against similar groups from the same countries that failed to do so. On this basis, the article argues that “global civil society” requires reconceptualization–as a competitive arena where weak domestic challengers vie for scarce transnational resources, where those groups that gain support have structural or strategic advantages over others, and where transnational supporters act on interest as well as principle.