Alter-globalization Research Articles

Translation/Interpreting Politics and Praxis

Focusing on Babels, an international network of volunteer translators and interpreters, this article provides an in-depth examination of the politics of organizing interpreting in the context of the Social Forum and the Alter-Globalization Movement, and discusses the extent to which interpreting is constitutive of the complex political process sparked by such initiatives. Babels’ specifically activist, critical and self-reflective project of volunteer interpreting is examined as emerging and evolving out of a series of internal and external pressures. These pressures involve implementing the principles of horizontality, deliberation, participation and prefiguration that Babels calls for in the organizational process of the Social Forum, and delivering interpreting efficiently on the day of the event, while not undermining the professional market of conference interpreting. The article recommends approaching translation and interpreting from both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective – from principles to practice and from practice to principles – in order to better account for the ways in which translation and interpreting shape and are shaped by the geo-political and socio-economic contexts in which they are embedded.

Contesting European policies without being (openly) Eurosceptic? An empirical analysis of the political communication of Attac associations towards European integration (2004–2008)

This article uses claims-making analysis to delineate the main features of the political communication of four Attac associations in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. As one of the most prominent associations of the alter-globalization movement, Attac illustrates quite well the type of political communication that those social movements develop towards European integration. The empirical analysis suggests that Attac associations mainly address demands towards the European level, using the European Central Bank and the Commission as privileged targets viewed as non-majoritarian institutions far away from citizens' democratic control. It also shows that the nature of the discourse of contestation promoted by Attac associations is essentially related to the European policy-making process but not necessarily to the EU polity in itself. It suggests that, under certain circumstances, alter-globalization movements might be actively involved in a potential process of politicization of European issues at the national level.

Theodor Adorno, Alterglobalization, and Non-identity Politics

While the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School has become an interesting player in recent theoretical attempts to understand the problems of, and potential solutions to, capitalist regimes of globalization, it has been generally limited to the work of Jürgen Habermas and his followers. As seen in the recent work of David Held and Nancy Fraser, Habermas's notion of the ideal of the public sphere and his conception of deliberative democracy have provided tantalizing tools for rethinking the importance of global civil institutions and spaces in furthering, to draw upon terms from Fraser's work, both recognition and redistribution on a global level. What has been less relevant in this resuscitation of Critical Theory in things global has been the work of the first-generation Frankfurt School theorists. In particular, the importance that Theodor Adorno's theory may have in articulating and characterizing the character of alterglobalization movements is explored. Adorno's notion of negative dialectics is first looked to in order to uncover a conception of radical politics, and then the recent attempt by John Holloway to bring in Adorno for the global anti-capitalist movement is explored. It is argued that while Holloway draws upon relevant and important aspects of Adorno's thinking, he does so by reinforcing some of the more problematic elements in Adorno's theory. Finally, Ernesto Laclau's characterization of political struggle is brought in to fully flesh out a non-identity politics implied in Adorno's work.

Global Activist Network involving Asia: global continuation and evolution in Japan

Since Seattle 1999, plenty of summit protests around WTO, G8/20, IMF, WB, COP, and so on happened in each of the different summit sites in the last decade. Such incidents were amazingly accepted because of their mass actions and widespread networks of activists sustaining a series of mass actions. As some researchers argue, those of generating networks are based on horizontality and autonomy, and they have already prefigured a powerful model for (re)organizing society. However, on the other hand, some researchers also argue the major shortcomings. In theory, the ‘Global Activist Network’ has been constructed since Seattle, although in practice there has still been a serious spatial gap between the Western part of the world and the other side of the world. Actually, the global activist network has excluded Asia. However, in 2008, the G8 summit was held in Japan. This paper, thus, aims to show that the global activist network since Seattle, which was limited to Europe and North America, has expanded to involve Asia through the 2008 G8 summit in Japan. The 2000 G8 in Japan was right after the Seattle in 1999, yet, due to its single-issue and national character of the movements, globally expanding networks didn't reach Japan. However, movements around the 2003 anti-Iraq war brought in the autonomous character of the alter-globalization movement and referred to the legacy of autonomous activisms. During the 2008 G8, some autonomous activists in Japan took over the diversity of tactics and networks of activists inherited since PGA, DAN and ‘Dissent!’.

Beyond the Network? Occupy London and the Global Movement

This article argues that paying attention to the spatialities of the Occupy movement, and in particular the role of territory, suggests that the dominant metaphor of the network may be insufficient to understanding the diverse spatial strategies of contemporary social movements. The aim of presenting this argument is both to be provocative and also to take seriously the Occupy movement's ‘politics of asking’, not shying away from asking challenging questions. It starts by introducing the reader to the Occupy London movement and its autonomous tendencies of non-hierarchical organisation and do it yourself politics. It then places Occupy London within the wider movement and compares it to the alter-globalisation movement, a similar example of a global movement for socio-economic justice. It is argued that understanding the autonomous politics of the alter-globalisation movement through the logic of networking is not only useful but also limiting in its potentials for conceptualising non-hierarchical organising. The remainder of the essay considers how Occupy may be moving beyond the network as a dominant organisational form and political goal. Specifically, it draws on the author's experiences at international gatherings and in the international commission working group of Occupy London and argues that there has been a renewed attention to territory and territoriality. This does not imply that networked spatialities of activism have become less important but raises questions over the centrality of networked thinking to contemporary understandings of global movements. By way of conclusion, this articles poses questions for activists and academics interested in Occupy.

Theorizing and Engaging the Global Movement: From Anti-Globalization to Global Democratization

Critical research and theorizing on facets of the Anti-/Alter-Globalization Movement (AGM) has proliferated over the last two decades. Fewer accounts, however, have been written by scholar-activist...

Coalescence of the Global Peace and Justice Movements

This work examines how the Alter-Globalization Movement has sustained a transnational presence throughout the ongoing cycle of contention that began in the mid-1990s, even as priorities, leaders, targets, claims, and frames have continuously evolved. It traces the ‘transnational coalescence’ process between the post-Seattle, anti-neoliberal movement and anti-war concerns triggered by the 9/11 attacks and George W. Bush's war on terror, and centers on the protest wave that crested in the global day of action against war on 15 February 2003. Rather than simply an exodus—i.e. ‘spillover’ or ‘spillout’—from one movement to another, or a distinct transnational movement arising spontaneously, key bridge-building organizations have proven crucial in shifting down to harness nascent activist energies by brokering new ties and reinvigorating old ones as well as frame-extending between emerging and extant concerns, in order to scale back up as a broader transnational movement for Global Peace and Justice. Este trabajo examina la manera como el Movimiento de Alterglobalización ha sostenido una presencia trasnacional a lo largo del ciclo de controversia, que comenzó a mediados del decenio de 1990, aun cuando los líderes, los objetivos, las demandas y las estructuras hayan evolucionado continuamente como prioridades. Este movimiento traza el proceso ‘trasnacional de coalescencia’ entre el movimiento anti-neoliberal, post-Seattle y las inquietudes antibélicas provocadas por los ataques de 9/11 y la guerra contra el terrorismo de George W. Bush y los centros en la ola de protesta, que subió al máximo en el día global de acción contra la guerra el 15 de febrero de 2003. En vez de un simple éxodo—es decir ‘desbordamiento’—de un movimiento a otro o del surgimiento espontáneo de un movimiento trasnacional distinto, las organizaciones vinculantes claves han probado ser cruciales en reducir las energías activistas emergentes, mediante la intermediación de nuevos nexos y la revitalización de los viejos, tanto como la extensión del marco entre las inquietudes emergentes y las existentes, para volver a incrementarse como un movimiento trasnacional más amplio para la Paz y Justicia Global. 另立全球化运动始于20世纪90年代中期，其重点、领导者、目标、主张和框架在历次争论中不断演变。本文考察了另立全球化运动是如何在历次争论中维持其跨国存在的。本文回顾了后西雅图时期的反新自由主义运动和由9.11恐怖袭击及布什的反恐战争引发的反战担忧之间的跨国联合进程，并把以2003年2月15日的全球反战行动为高潮的抗议浪潮作为研究中心。另立全球化运动不是简单的“溢出”，即从一种运动转向另一种运动，不是一种独特的自发产生的跨国运动，而是要发展为一种更广泛的追求全球和平与正义的跨国运动。为实现这一点，通过建立新纽带、重振旧纽带和包括新兴、现存问题的框架，关键的搭桥组织在管理新兴活动分子方面发挥了关键的作用。 이 글은 1990년대 중반에 시작된 저항의 순환 속에서 대안 세계화 운동이 우선 순위, 지도자, 목표, 요구와 프레임의 지속적인 진화를 겪으면서도 어떻게 초국적인 모습을 유지하고 있는지를 검토한다. 이 글은 포스트 시애틀 반신자유주의 운동과 9.11 테러와 부시의 테러와의 전쟁에 의해서 촉발된 반전 운동 간의 초국적 융합을 추적하고, 2003년 2월 15일 전지구적인 반전 행동의 날에 드러난 저항의 물결에 초점을 맞춘다. 단순히 하나의 운동에서 다른 운동으로 탈출 – 확산이나 dl이전- 혹은 자생적으로 성장한 특별한 초국적 운동이라기보다 조직들을 연결시키는 핵심적인 조직들이 지구적 평화와 정의를 위한 광범위한 초국적 운동으로 규모를 확대하기 위해서 기존의 관심과 새로운 관심을 연결시키는 프레임뿐만 아니라 새로운 네트워크를 연결시키고, 기존의 네트워크를 되살려 초기 운동가들에게 에너지를 불어 넣는데 매우 중요하다는 것이 판명되었다.

The Global Social Forum Rhizome: A Theoretical Framework

This work draws on Deleuze and Guattari's image of the ‘rhizome’ to develop a framework for mapping and understanding the global social forum process and its implications for the broader global left. The image of the rhizome is insightful for analytically accentuating the nature and workings, as well as the challenges and contemporary shortcomings, of the social forum process and more generally the broader global movement(s). Thriving on multiplicity and thus lacking a dominant core or main axis, the social forum-as-rhizome emphasizes the multi-connectivity and heterogeneity of this process, which has no central actor, issue, strategy, or ideology, beyond the strong opposition to neoliberalism. While what I call the ‘Global Social Forum Rhizome’ allows for unprecedented connections as well as tempering and managing inherent antinomies of the alter-globalization movement(s), its logic simultaneously limits the degree of congealed and resilient movement building. In the final analysis, these intrinsic rhizomatic characteristics foster a rather thin articulation of commonalities and convergences, which result in a politics often unable to move beyond mere symbolic acts and resistances and towards organizing, campaigning, and concrete movement building. Este trabajo se inspira en la imagen del ‘rizoma’ de Deleuze y Guattari, para desarrollar un marco para representar y entender el proceso del Fórum Social Global y sus implicaciones para la más amplia izquierda global. La imagen del rizoma es reveladora, tanto para acentuar analíticamente la naturaleza y el funcionamiento, como los retos y las carencias contemporáneas del proceso del Fórum Social y en mayores rasgos, el(los) movimiento(s) global(es) más amplio(s). Creciendo en multiplicidad y por lo tanto carente de un núcleo dominante o de un eje principal, el Fórum Social como rizoma enfatiza la conectividad múltiple y la heterogeneidad de este proceso, que carece de un actor central, cuestión, estrategia o ideología, más allá de la fuerte oposición al neoliberalismo. Mientras lo que yo llamo el ‘Fórum Social Global del Rizoma’ tiene en cuenta a las conexiones sin precedente, como también atenuando y controlando las antinomias inherentes del(los) movimiento(s) de alterglobalización, su lógica limita simultáneamente el grado de congelación y tenacidad del desarrollo del movimiento. En el análisis final, estas características intrínsecas del rizoma fomentan una articulación bastante escasa de similitudes y convergencias, que resultan en una política frecuentemente incapaz de moverse más allá de actos meramente simbólicos y de resistencias y hacia la organización, las campañas y el desarrollo concreto del movimiento. 本文借鉴了德勒兹与瓜塔里的“块茎说”，发展出一种测绘和理解世界社会论坛进程及其对更广义全球左派的意义的框架。“块茎说”是解析社会论坛进程和更普遍、更广泛的全球运动的性质、运作、挑战和当前不足的真知灼见。作为块茎的社会论坛因多样性的繁荣导致其缺少主导的核心或主茎，强调多元连通和进程的异质性，除了强烈反对新自由主义外，社会论坛缺少核心行为体、议题、战略或意识形态。虽然我所谓的“全球社会论坛块茎”虑及前所未有的连通和对另立全球化运动的内在矛盾的调节和管理，其逻辑同时限制了静态和有弹性的组织建设。总而言之，这种内在的块茎特点致其共同点和交汇点甚少，导致了一种往往无法超越仅为象征的行动和反抗，无法开展组织、竞选和具体的运动建构的政治。 이 글은 지구적 사회포럼 과정과 그것이 전 세계 좌파에게 주는 함의를 찾아내고 또 이해하기 위한 틀을 발전시키기 위하여 드뢰즈와 카타리의 ‘리좀(rhizome)’ 이미지를 다룬다. 리좀의 이미지는 사회포럼 과정과 보다 일반적으로 더 광범위한 지구적 운동들의 성격과 작동뿐만 아니라 도전과 현재의 부족한 점을 분석적으로 강조하는데 있어서 통찰력을 제공한다. 다양성이 증진되면서 지배적인 중심이나 주축이 없는 리좀으로서의 사회포럼은 과정의 다연계성(multi-connectivity)과 이질성(heterogeneity)을 강조한다. 이 과정은 신자유주의에 대한 강력한 반대 이상으로 중심적인 행위자, 이슈, 전략 혹은 이데올로기가 없다. 내가 ‘지구적 사회포럼 리좀’이라고 부른 것은 대안 세계화 운동들의 내적인 자기모순을 완화시키고 관리할 뿐만 아니라 전대미문의 연계를 허용하지만, 그것의 논리는 동시에 응집되고 끈질긴 운동의 건설을 제약한다. 최종 분석에서 이러한 내적인 리좀의 특성들이 공통점과 수렴의 약한 절합을 촉진시키며, 때로 단순히 상징적인 행동과 저항을 넘어서 구체적인 운동을 조직하고 선전하는 쪽으로 나아가지 못하는 정치로 끝난다.

A “New” Anarchism? – On Bifurcation and Transformation of Contemporary Anarchist Thought and Praxis

AbstractThe article reflects main discrepancies between basic coordinates of classic anarchist thought and coordinates of contemporary anarchism, as it developed within the “post-Seattle” alter-globalization movement. The article ascertains that the anarchist renaissance within the alter-globalization movement is not fostered only by classical anarchism, but also by ideational currents that in the past had represented its main counterpoint. The question that the author addresses is therefore: Is it possible to talk about a “new” anarchism? Following a thorough examination of the alter-globalization movement, its genealogy and the main ideational currents within the movement, the author concludes, that a “new” or “post-ideological” anarchism does not offer important innovations only on the level of political praxis, but also on the level of theoretical paradigms. In the last part of the article, the author affirms these findings with an outline of redefinition of violence, political power, nation state and democracy within (contemporary) anarchism.

The Ideas of Alter-globalization Movements of the South Korean Left since 1997

The Ideas of Alter-globalization Movements of the South Korean Left since 1997

Rethinking Democracy: A Discourse on Municipalised Democracy and Translocal Citizenship

This paper discusses a genuinely new political alternative. It is about the alter-globalization movement (AGM) founded on municipalized -yet global- democracy, horizontalism, and decentralization. The paper starts from the assumption that for a long time, the most important political innovations have not come from the traditional centres of political power, but they have instead been invented by the “newest social movements”. It tackles some of the topical debates on global, world and cosmopolitan citizenship in the light of a conceptualization of translocal citizenship that, in the long run, may prove to be the single most subversive thing the AGM has ever recuperated.
 
 Keywords: alter-globalisation movement • translocal citizenship • direct democracy • municipalisation

Альтерглобализм как социальный и политический феномен: опыт анализа

The author proposes an investigation into the alter-globalization movement. The movement’s origin and development, its aims, organizational principles, participants and the role of Internet in its ascent are considered. The main ideological trends within the alter-globalization movement are also analyzed in the article. A conclusion is made that the alter-globalization is a new social and political phenomenon. It essentially differs from the XXth century political parties and movements. The article also considers the causes of the present crisis of the alter-globalization movement.

Doing is Believing: Prefiguration as Strategic Practice in the Alterglobalization Movement

In most accounts of social movements, prefiguration and strategy are treated as separate movement practices that are either contradictory or complementary to each other. In this article I argue that in the case of the alterglobalization movement, we have to understand prefiguration itself as strategic. When movement goals are multiple and not predetermined, then prefiguration becomes the best strategy, because it is based in practice. By literally trying out new political structures in large-scale, inter-cultural decision-making processes in matters ranging from global politics to daily life, movement actors are learning how to govern the world in a manner that fundamentally redesigns the way power operates. This process constitutes a prefigurative strategy in which movement actors pursue the goal of transforming global politics, not by appealing to multilateral organizations or nation-states, but by actively developing the alternative political structures needed to transform the way power operates.

Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Endangered Scholars Worldwide BELGIUM According to the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR), m a ria n n e m a e c k e lb e rg h , a U.S. scholar based in the Netherlands, has accused Belgian police ofabusing her along with many other arrest­ ees at a “No Borders” protest camp in Brussels. Maeckelbergh, an assis­ tant professor ofcultural anthropology at the University ofLeiden, was reportedly arrested on October 1, 2010, while taking pictures of the arrest of activists at the protest camp. A statement by her publisher, Pluto Press, claims that “when Marianne began taking pictures, she was arrested. She was taken into police custody where she was violently dragged by her hair, chained to a radiator, hit, kicked, spat upon, and threatened with sexual assault by the police. She also witnessed the torture of another prisoner also chained to a radiator.” She has since been released, but has yet to have her property, including her camera with photos, returned by the police. Maeckelbergh is the author of The Will of the Many: How the Alterglobalisation Movement is Changing the Face ofDemocracy, and focuses her academic research on the anthropology of globalization, democracy, and social movements. She was due to observe decision-making structures within the No Borders camps on October 2-3, but was arrested before this took place. Appeals to: Monsiuer Yves Leterme Madame Annemie Turtelboom Prime Minister Minister ofthe Interior 16 Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 2 Rue de la Loi 1000 Brussels 1000 Brussels Belgium Belgium sophie.pieters@premier.fed.be min.annemie.turtelboom@ibz.fgov.be (secretary to the Prime Minister) Fax:02 504 85 00 - 02 504 85 80 Information current, to the best ofour knowledge, as ofJanuaiy 30, 2011. social research Vol 77 : No 4 : W inter 2010 v IRAN a h m a d g h a b e l, a prominent Iranian religious scholar, was arrested on September 8, 2010, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, three years’ exile from his city of residence, and a three-year ban on speeches. This is the maximum sentence for the crime of acting against national security. After spending almost four months in prison, Gabel was released on a $50,000 bail on January 4, 2011; the remainder of his sentence was converted into a fine of $4,000. He had previously been arrested in December 2009 and held for five months without charge in Valcilabad prison. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Ghabel was rearrested because, following his release, he gave reports and interviews regarding his detention and secret mass executions in Vakilabad prison. Gabel is currently awaiting the release of his appeal court’s ruling. We are sorry to announce that ja ’f a r kazem i, a scholar featured in our previous issue, was executed on January 24, 2011. The execu­ tion took place without notification of his family or lawyer, and came shortly after he refused to give a television interview forthe authorities. Kazemi was arrested in September 2009 and charged with Moharebeh (enmity against God) for his alleged contact with the banned organiza­ tion the People’s Mujahideen ofIran Scholars featured in previous issues who remain in prison in Iran include em ad e d d in b ag h i, a well-known Iranian scholar and human rights defender serving a total of seven years in prison on charges related to the formation of an organization to defend prisoners’rights and for recording an interview with a reformist cleric; m ajid ta v a k o li, b a h a re h h ed a y at, and m ila d a sa d i, distinguished student activists sentenced to eight-and-a-half, nine-and-a-half, and seven years, respec­ tively, for their involvement in 2009 anti-government protests; d r. m o sta fa a la v i, an Iranian doctor and researcher sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in August 2008 for “plotting against the regime”; d rs. a r a s h and k a m ie r a la e i, two AIDS researchers who were sentenced to three and six years...

Three Ethics of Coalition

Three Ethics of Coalition

Revolution in the Air: Images of Winning in the Irish Anti-Capitalist Movement

This article explores strategic conceptions within the alter-globalisation movement in Ireland. Based on action research carried out within the left-libertarian (‘Grassroots’) wing of the movement, it notes imbalances in participation in a very intensive form of political activity, and asks how activists understand winning. It finds substantial congruence between organisational practice and long-term goals, noting social justice and participatory democracy along with feminist, environmental and anti-war concerns as central. Using Wallerstein's proposed transition strategy for anti-systemic movements, it argues that Irish alter-globalisation activists are realistic about popular support and state power, and concerned to link short-term work around basic needs with the construction of alternative institutions and long-term struggles for a different social order.

Globalisation and resistance: struggles over common sense in the global political economy

AbstractThis article develops and applies the role of ‘common sense’ in a Gramscian theory of transnational counter-hegemony. Building on recent interpretative literature on the alter-globalisation movement, it applies this framework to then evaluate empirically the impact of the alter-globalisation movement on the realm of global ‘common sense’ understandings of the world in the period 2002 to 2007. It shows that there is little empirical support for the notion that the alter-globalisation movement effected a legitimation crisis for neo-liberalism as a hegemonic project on a global scale. Instead, a more ambivalent and potentially reactionary situation amongst collectively held norms is revealed. This indicates the shortcomings of the alter-globalisation movement as a coalition of social forces capable of mounting an ideological attack on neo-liberalism and forging a new intellectual-moral bloc.

The will of the many: how the alterglobalisation movement is changing the face of democracy

Introduction: The Unglamorous Side of Glory 1. Horizontal Armies and Vertical Networks 2. Turning Dreams into Reality 3. Creating Conflictive Spaces 4. Reinventing Democracy 5. Resisting Unity through Networks Conclusion: Taking Their Time References Index

Social Movement and Unionism in France: A Case for Revitalization?

From the mid-1990s onwards, France has been rocked by ongoing social protests. This article considers whether and how these protests provide a strategic context for the “revitalization” of labor organizations. After providing insights into the French industrial relations system, particular attention is given to three cases: the organizing of unemployed and migrant workers, the alter-globalization movement, and recently established independent trade union Solidaires, Unitaires et Démocratiques, which epitomize emerging forces and contradictions at play. The conclusion reconsiders the revitalization thesis in the light of these cases.

Alterglobalization Movements and Radical Left Parties: Experiences of Socialist Workers Party and Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire

Alterglobalization Movements and Radical Left Parties: Experiences of Socialist Workers Party and Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire