Full article: Ten Reflections on the Emerging 'Global Protest Movement'

Full article

Author(s): Kees Biekart
Publication date: Wednesday 20 October 2004

As the dust settled after the G8 summit in Genoa, governments, the media and protesters licked their wounds and the global protest caravan moved on to Washington DC in September for the annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. Perhaps it is time to consider what has been learned, what has been achieved and where the future lies for global protest.

Ten Reflections on the Emerging 'Global Protest Movement'
by Kees Biekart with Angela Wood

The Ecologist, Vol. 31, No. 8, October 2001

As the dust settled after the G8 summit in Genoa, governments, the media and protesters licked their wounds and the global protest caravan moved on to Washington DC in September for the annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF. Perhaps it is time to consider what has been learned, what has been achieved and where the future lies for global protest.

1. Global protesters have achieved at least one major victory: they have shaken the ivory towers of neoliberalism.
As the Financial Times put it after Genoa: 'The protesters are winning. They are winning on the streets. Before too long they will be winning the argument. Globalisation is fast becoming a cause without credible champions. This week we saw the Washington consensus make way for Washington's retreat.'
A diffuse and limited set of highly influential global players, such as multinational corporations (MNCs) and multilateral institutions, is under attack. There is a growing consensus that multilateral institutions (World Bank, WTO, IMF, etc.) which are supposed to deal with poverty and economic instability, are in fact achieving the opposite. Their policies are paving the way for the growing dominance of MNCs. The impact of the protests has been to bring home to this elite that ordinary people are no longer willing to tolerate the negative effects of this concentration of power, such as rising social inequality and environmental degradation, and will no longer abide by a 'consensus' that does not include them. Their success has been their passion, which has caused others to question the logic of neoliberalism.

2. Global protest existed long before the 'battle of Seattle'. What is new are the growing linkages between highly diverse campaigns.
International campaigns against structural adjustment policies, environmental degradation, nuclear weapons and human rights abuses have a history stretching back decades, particularly in the South. What is really new and powerful is that many of these initiatives have come together and are communicating with each other via the internet and on the streets during international meetings. A global forum has been created allowing discussion and expression of mutual concerns.

3. However, it would be incorrect to speak of an 'anti-globalisation movement' or even an 'anti-capitalist movement'.
There is a strong force amassing which is fuelled by a perception that the current economic model is already unsustainable. However, it has yet to find a clear direction. Whilst the 'anti-globalisation' label invented by observers has contributed to a sense of unity, it is meaningless. After all, global protest has been aided by the same tools that have brought about globalisation. Some have preferred the umbrella of 'anti-capitalist'; yet this still does not offer a sense of direction. There are no general agreements on solutions to world poverty or climate change. At most there is a set of general principles. These include increasing transparency, accountability and participation in decision making, reducing the power of multinational companies and multilateral institutions and making them more responsive to social and environmental needs. Global protest is not just about poverty 'out there': it is increasingly about the denial of democracy at home.

4. The main weakness of the 'movement' is its apparent inability to articulate alternative proposals.
It is impossible and undesirable to come up with one coherent alternative proposal, given the complexity of the issues, cultural perspectives, and differences within and between countries. However, its not sufficient to simply point out problems. The public already feels overwhelmed by these. They need to be inspired that there are solutions. They want some direction. The conscious choice by the 'movement' to seek no spokespeople and to make space for all voices is positive but confuses the media who thrive on soundbites. It also highlights the potential friction between those NGOs generating concrete proposals and willing to discuss these at the negotiation table, and those activists who accuse them of 'reformism' and betraying the movement by speaking in their name. NGO professionals and activists should find better ways to meet and reach common ground on alternatives. This is the crucial importance of initiatives such as the World Social Forum, held in Brazil in January this year www.worldsocialforum.org and umbrella campaigns such as Jubilee 2000 www.jubileesouth.net and Attac www.attac.org.

5. The emergent 'global protest movement' includes more people and initiatives than just the thousands that have gathered at global summits.
One of the criticisms in the media after Genoa has been the white, middle-class, Northern identity of global protesters. However, protest against undemocratic global decision-making is more lively and diverse than many are being led to believe. The struggle against imposed structural adjustment policies, such as the privatisation of public services, has a long history, notably in Latin America. In Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia today, these protests have become massive, given greater urgency since the crises in the late 1990s, which wiped out years of gradual gain. A step backwards from all-out liberalisation in any one of these countries could be the vital catalyst for a more widespread retreat from neoliberalism.

6. The potential of the 'global protest movement' lies in its enormous diversity of participants.
Diversity among global protesters, and the desire to maintain it, is one of the movement's main strengths. The fact that hundreds of thousands from Seattle to Genoa showed solidarity is amazing. The movement encompasses several generations, and is truly transnational. It builds on the heritage of the solidarity and peace movements of previous decades, but also on a broad array of environmental, consumer, and human rights campaigns. This diversity has been facilitated by the internet, making communication more open and spontaneous than ever before.

7. The movement has no leaders and questions the role of political parties; this is enabling the emergence of a 'global citizenship'.
A global civil society is emerging, in response to the uncontrolled power of global corporations which represent a minority of interests and views, and the failure of traditional political institutions to control them. As the Italian Tute Bianche or 'white overalls' have shown, global citizenship is not only exercised on the internet. In Mexico earlier this year they formed a human shield of a few hundred to help protect the peaceful march of the Zapatistas to the Mexican capital. Or the French farmers in Milau, who closed a McDonalds restaurant to protest at WTO measures against their cheese exports. For more examples visit www.indymedia.org.

8. Street marches during global summits have been an important tool, but new, creative means of expression need to be found.
As the organisers of international summits try to dodge the protesters by meeting in more inaccessible places (the next WTO meeting will be in Qatar, and the G8 summit will be in the mountains in north west Canada), it is likely that demonstrations will have to focus again at the national level. It is essential that these remain coordinated internationally whilst bringing the arguments and the demands back to the homes of the G8 leaders where they can be held accountable. While the protests have helped connect those who are hungry for change, many do not have an appetite for street demonstrations. Connecting with, and inspiring, those who are sympathetic but still stand on the sidelines is challenging but vital. Putting messages across in incisive and humurous ways, such as pie throwing and 'subvertising', can be extremely effective too.

9. The 'movement' itself will have to show the capacity to develop new and more transparent, inclusive methods of decision-making as an alternative to 'representative democracy'.
As well as raising the political stakes, the global protests have served the hugely important function of enabling people to share ideas and experiences and to put into practice new ways of organising. Efforts to increase the inclusiveness of decision-making, in often tense situations, have been very inspiring, if still imperfect. Lessons learned must be consolidated and put into practice at the local as well as the global level. It will be a challenge to develop inspiring and non-elitist ways of bringing people together to share ideas and to create new and inclusive forms and formats for global participation without replicating the style of those that are being criticised. This new culture of communication and interaction is probably the area where genuine alternatives to current political practice will become viable in the longer term.

10. Change must happen at millions of different locations. Don't hesitate to become a global citizen yourself!
Unlike the summits, anybody can participate in activities to counter and question the unsustainable dynamics of neoliberalism. Taking to the streets is not the only way. You can participate in the great variety of inspiring debates blossoming on a multitude of internet websites (see below). Moreover, since we are all affected by corporate globalisation in one way or another, responsible global citizenship also requires an active attitude as a consumer, an employee, or as a local community member. The challenge is to put your local initiative or campaign into a global perspective. If we can mobilise all our creativity and solidarity to connect local struggles around the globe, we will be able to make a step towards a world with more social and economic justice. Global citizens: log on, act now, and reinvent your world!

Angela Wood is a policy officer at the Bretton Woods Project in London.

Other interesting websites on global protest and alternatives:

Copyright 2001 The Ecologist

Source:

Transnational Institute, the Netherlands


Related links:

http://www.tni.org/archives/biekart/ecologist.htm




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