Global Justice Movement

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Image:Mobilizaiton for Global Justice.jpg

The Global Justice Movement is the broad transnational social movement opposing what is often known as “corporate globalization” and promoting equal distribution of economic resources.

1 A Movement of Movements
- 1.1 Massive Protests
- 1.2 International Solidarity
2 See also
3 Bibliography and further reading
4 External links
- 4.1 Organizations
- 4.2 Articles
5 Notes

[edit] A Movement of Movements

The Global Justice Movement describes the loose collection of individuals and groups—often referred to as a “movement of movements”—who advocate fair international trading rules and are critical of current institutions of global economic governance such as the World Trade Organization.<ref>Tom Mertes, "A Movement of Movements," New York: Verso, 2004</ref> The movement is often labelled the anti-globalization movement by the mainstream media. Those involved, however, deny that they are “anti-globalization,” insisting that they support the globalization of communication and people and oppose only the global expansion of corporate power.^{[citation needed]} The term further indicates an anti-capitalist and universalist perspective on globalization, distinguishing the movement from those opponents of globalization whose politics are based on a conservative defence of national sovereignty. Participants include student groups, NGOs, trade unions, faith-based and peace groups throughout the world.

[edit] Massive Protests

The movement is characterized by the massive citizen protests and alternative summits which have, for the last decade, accompanied most meetings of the G8, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. The movement came to the attention of many in the US when activists successfully used protests to shut down the 1999 WTO Ministerial in Seattle. This represented, however, just one of a series of massive Global Justice protests that have included protests at the 1988 World Bank/IMF meetings in Germany,<ref>http://www.daysofdissent.org.uk/berlin.htm</ref> "IMF riots" in Indonesia over the price of food in 1998,<ref>Greg Palast interviewing Joseph Steiglitz, "IMF’s Four steps to Damnation" The Observer (London), 29 April, 2001: http://www.jubileeresearch.org/analysis/articles/IMF_Four_steps_Damnation.htm</ref> and "water wars" in Bolivia over World Bank-imposed policies.<ref>The Democracy Center, "Bechtel Vs. Bolivia: The Bolivian Water Revolt," http://www.democracyctr.org/bechtel/</ref>

[edit] International Solidarity

The Global Justice movement places a significant emphasis on transnational solidarity uniting activists in the global South and global North. The World Social Forum is one excellent example of this emphasis, bringing activists together from around the world to focus on shared philosophy and campaigning. The Jubilee campaign has been among the uniting efforts activists have worked on together, calling for cancellation of unpayable third world debt.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography and further reading

Alex Callinicos, An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto. London: Polity, 2003.
Donatella Della Porta, The Global Justice Movement: Cross-national And Transnational Perspectives. New York: Paradigm, 2006.
Tom Mertes, Movement of Movements. New York: Verso, 2004.
Notes from Nowhere We Are Everywhere: The Irresistible Rise of Global Anti-Capitalism. London: Verso, 2003.
David Solnit, Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World San Francisco: City Lights, 2003.