States and Movements

Abstract

Between antistatists in the Alternative Globalization Movement (AGM) and World Social Forum (WSF) and advocacy groups and party and state actors who position the state as a key agent of social change are movements that emphasize the importance of political and cultural autonomy without dismissing states and the electoral sphere entirely. Many of these groups have followed the Latin American shift to the left with great interest and look to Brazil’s participatory budget process as a model for radical democracy. Others use states directly to bolster movement activity. In Italy, for example, roughly 50 percent of the social centers had entered into property agreements with local governments or private landowners by 1998 and many of them are supported by political parties, including the Green Party, Communist Refoundation Party (PRC), and the Christian Democratic Party (PdC). Otherwise, the centers would remain illegal squats in need of constant defense, which would leave little room for the other important activities they engage in.