Globalizing Resistance

François Polet

Description

From Bolivia to New Zealand, from South Africa to Russia and China, this is a round-the-world tour of resistance to neoliberalism. The anti-globalization movement is truly global, each region has its own specific groups and agendas, this book presents writers and activists from every continent to provide a truly international view of alternative social and political struggles.



Struggles against capitalism, privatisation, social exclusion and exploitation are mobilising many thousands. This book examines what has been achieved so far. The authors examine the World Social Forums as a dynamic for moving things forward. They explore the global anti-war movement and the successful mobilisation for the protests of 15th February 2003; they analyse new media strategies; and they offer a disturbing account on new police arrangements to control demonstrators.



Edited by Francois Polet, who is a member of the Tricontinental Centre and the World Forum for Alternatives -- a group that plays a prominent role in the World Social Forums -- the book includes contributions from Donatella della Porta, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Verity Burgmann, Paola Manduca and Bernard Dreano.
Introduction

Part 1: The State Of Struggles Around The World

1. Political diversity, common purpose: social movements in India, by Vinod Raina

2. Resistance to globalization in rural China, by Lau Kin Chi

3. NGOs and social movements in Southeast Asia, by Francis Loh

4. Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus: US rearguard bases? by Bernard Dreano

5. Resistance to neoliberalism in Australia and Oceania, by Verity Burgmann and Andrew Ure

6. Social movements in the Arab world, by Azza Abd el-Mohsen Khalil

7. Struggling and surviving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by François L’Ecuyer

8. Social movements: experiences from East Africa, by Opiyo Makoude

9. South Africa’s new social movements, by David Coetzee

10. Neoliberalism and social conflict: the popular movements in Latin America, by Clara Algranati, José Seoane and Emilio Taddei

11. Proletarian resistance and capitalist restructuring in the United States, by Pierre Beaudet

12. Europe: the challenge for social movements, by Bernard Dreano

Part 2: The Dynamic Of Convergences For Another World

13. The World Social Forum: towards a counter-hegemonic globalization, by Boaventura de Sousa Santos

14. The World Social Forum: a democratic alternative, by Francine Mestrum

15. The African Social Forum: between radicals and reformers, by Mondli Hlatshwayo

16. Convergences and the anti-war movement: experiences and lessons, by Paola Manduca

17. The trade-union movement and the social movement: towards a new dialogue? by Pierre Beaudet

18. The new agrarian issue: three billion peasants under threat, by Samir Amin

Part Three: The Strategic Challenges

19. The alternative movement and its media strategies, by Victor Sampedro

20. The European Union and the « internal threat » of the alternative world movement, by Ben Hayes and Tony Bunyan

21. Police measures against the new global protest, by Donatella della Porta and Herbert Reiter

22. New powers, new counter-powers, by Raoul-Marc Jennar

23. International law, a decisive issue for the alternative world movement, by Monique Chemillier-Gendreau

Contributors

Index

Sujets

• Political Advocacy
• Political Process
• Political Science
• Activism

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 septembre 2004
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849642651
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Globalizing Resistance The State of Struggle

Edited by François Polet with translations by Victoria Bawtree

P Pluto Press LONDON  ANN ARBOR, MI in association with THE TRICONTINENTAL CENTRE (CETRI) LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, BELGIUM

First published 2004 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © François Polet and CETRI 2004 English translations © Victoria Bawtree 2004

Translators note: Chapters 4, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 22 and 23 have been translated from French; Chapters 10 and 19 from Spanish; and Chapter 16 from Italian.

The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN ISBN

0 7453 2356 1 hardback 0 7453 2355 3 paperback

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England

Introductionvii

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Part One: The State of Struggle Around the World

 1 Political Diversity, Common Purpose: Social Movements in India, byVinod Raina 3  2 Resistance to Globalization in Rural China, byLau Kin Chi15  3 NGOs and Social Movements in Southeast Asia, byFrancis Loh27  4 Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus: US rearguard Bases? byBernard Dreano42  5 Resistance to Neoliberalism in Australia and Oceania, byVerity Burgmann and Andrew Ure52  6 Social Movements in the Arab World, byAzza Abd elMohsen Khalil68  7 Struggling and Surviving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, byFrançois L’Écuyer85  8 Social Movements: Experiences from East Africa, byOpiyo Makoude91  9 South Africas New Social Movements, byDavid Coetzee103 10Neoliberalism and Social Conict: The Popular Movements in Latin America, byClara Algranati, José Seoane and Emilio Taddei112 11 Proletarian Resistance and Capitalist restructuring in the United States, byPierre Beaudet136 12 Europe: The Challenge for Social Movements, byBernard Dreano145

Part Two: The Dynamic of Convergence for Another World

13 The World Social Forum: Towards a Counter-Hegemonic Globalization, byBoaventura de Sousa Santos165 14 The World Social Forum: A Democratic Alternative, byFrancine Mestrum188 15 The African Social Forum: Between Radicals and Reformers, byMondli Hlatshwayo206

vi Contents

16 Convergences and the Anti-war Movement: Experiences and Lessons, byPaola Manduca212 17 The Trade Union Movement and the Social Movement: Towards a New Dialogue? byPierre Beaudet222 18 The New Agrarian Issue: Three Billion Peasants Under Threat, bySamir Amin226

Part Three: The Strategic Challenge

19

20

21

22 23

The Alternative Movement and its Media Strategies, byVictor Sampedro243 The European Union and the Internal Threat of the Alternative World Movement, byBen Hayes and Tony Bunyan258 Police Measures Against the New Global Protest, byDonatella della Porta and Herbert Reiter272 New Powers, New Counter-powers, byRaoulMarc Jennar289 International Law, a Decisive Issue for the Alternative World Movement, byMonique ChemillierGendreau294

Contributors303 Index305

Introduction

Gone are the days of the hegemony ofla pensée unique(or the one-and-only-way of thinking) and the euphoria created by the globalization of markets. Rising unemployment and insecurity, the insidious dismantling of public services, repeated  nancial crises, ecological imbalances and US unilateralism: all these have helped to undermine the neoliberal discourse. People have lost their condence in the capacity  or will  of those who govern to guarantee priority for collective security, even rights, over the interests of powerful private groups. This is responsible for the emergence of a world citizens movement that seeks new forms of collective and democratic regulation. It has taken only a few years for the alternative world galaxy to force its way, often in a spectacular fashion, on to the international scene and attract responses from broad sectors of the population. The alternative world events that have had the greatest impact  counter-summits, demonstrations and social forums  show the range and diversity of the various forms of resistance to liberal policies. However, we perceive the characteristics and potential of the struggles against globalization only partially and are often conditioned by national viewpoints and the generalizations of the media. Mobilizations against neoliberal hegemony have their own peculiarities, in range, social composition and political culture, according to the different regions. To understand the dynamic of social conicts, certain aspects of the various national societies have to be seen in perspective, such as the evolution of the social and economic structures resulting from the type of modernization adopted by the elites, the way in which liberal policies have been put into practice  rapidly and radically in certain cases, more hesitantly and partially in others  and the various impacts that these policies have had on different social groups. The kind of political power and the type of relationships that have been historically established between the power structures  parties and State  and popular organizations affect the margin of manoeuvre and the mode of expression of these organizations. In many countries, particularly in Africa and the Arab world, they are far from having acquired the right to express their views and make their claims. The holding of elections, more or less regularly, as well as concessions made

vii

viii Introduction

to external fundraising bodies, have in no way hindered numerous regimes from controlling and blocking the political and social life of their countries through a subtle combination of clientelistic practices, co-optation and intimidation. In such authoritarian and paternalistic environments, participation in political activities outside the control of political power is an everyday challenge. The presence of apolitical NGOs that loudly proclaim their role as actors in civil society contributes to the marginalization, even asphyxiation of popular initiatives contesting structural adjustment. In countries where there is more massive contestation of neoliberal policies, it is often led by trade unions or popular movements  movements of peasants, women, students and indigenous people  that have been organized over a long period of time. These struggles against neoliberalism are thus part of a broader project for political and cultural emancipation, in the same way that they are the prolongation of historical struggles against the unequal social structures that liberalization and privatization are reproducing and accentuating. It is through a long process of confrontation of ideas and experiences that these actors have identied the new dynamics of the global powers, made the linkages with their local situation and incorporated these new realities into their agendas. In the North as in the South, the question of how to translate these struggles into political action lies at the heart of many of the discussions. The militant organizations are sometimes linked to political parties, to which some identify as being in the same broad political movement. These alliances are important, as they give greater publicity to the demands being made by the movements. However, they do imply allegiances that can be very ambiguous, for example when competition between parties leads to a fragmentation of social forces (as in thepiqueterosof Argentina or the mass movements of India). Also, sharing power with allied parties leads to the institutionalization of movements and trade unions, who are invited to give their opinions, but also to soft-pedal some demands so as not to weaken their political partner (as in the Cosatu trade union confederation in South Africa or the CUT in Brazil). At the same time, new forms of organization  more autonomous and less formal  are emerging, from day to day, in the  eld, to oppose privatization policies and the pillage of natural resources. Whether they are the unemployed, the precarious, the urban poor or rural communities threatened by the construction of dams and the destruction of their natural environment, they often take direct

Introduction ix

action such as occupying the land or of cial buildings, barricading roads, sit-ins, diverting water or electricity supplies. It is also necessary to stress the tendency for exible and decentralized coordination between organizations that normally work on different issues but decide to join forces to make progress on cross-cutting issues. These new groupings, like the Coordination for Water and Life in Bolivia (Coordinadora por el Agua y la Vida de Bolivia), Jobs with Justice in the USA and the Assembly of the Poor in Thailand, go beyond specic interests, rise above particular struggles and promote new forms of solidarity. Moreover, campaigns against regional integration projects that are dominated by liberal principles  like the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the proposed European constitution and the NEPAD for Africa as well as the campaigns against the WTO and Third World debt  greatly contribute towards creating political ties between the movements that are emerging and operating in very different national contexts. In this respect, the development of the international movement against the war in Iraq  which culminated in the demonstrations of February and March 2003  provides valuable lessons. The extent and synchronization of these demonstrations were the result of a long process of networking by organizations and movements at the world level. Reaching beyond national contexts and specicproblematiques, this method of horizontal coordination makes it possible to form and reinforce exible and effective international coalitions and even to mobilize millions of people on the same issue at the same moment. The convergence of these different movements in the same demonstrations and in the same public places is indisputably an important development, linked to increasing awareness of the global and interdependent nature of problems  socio-economic, cultural and ecological  which used to be considered separately. Clearly, it is also linked to the disappearance of a doctrinaire and exclusive concept of militancy. This convergence does not come about automatically, however. Simply bringing people together under the same banner condemning neoliberalism and afrming that another world is possible is not enough to produce political proposals or development strategies that are unanimously accepted. The discussions now taking place in world, regional and national social forums are certainly the best way of tackling the divergences between organizations that are pursuing the same general objectives while expressing their own ideas on citizen action and its relationship

x Introduction

to politics. Such debates should contribute to the political maturity of these convergences. Not, however, as an arti cial alignment of everyone on one position or another: there must be an effort to distinguish what separates and what unites them so that the struggles for another world are articulated more effectively. In treating these different aspects lucidly but from a committed standpoint,Globalizing Resistancesees itself as a crossroads between the militant and the academic. The authors include key actors in various mobilizations who have undertaken to step back for a moment from their daily activities in order to understand them better, as well as researchers who have been close to the movements and contribute original analyses of how they are developing. They hail from all ve continents and show their involvement and understanding of the struggles for another world, so they are particularly well qualied to present their ndings to a wider public. The rst part of the book invites readers to take a trip round the world to sample the resistance to the neoliberal model of globalization. This unusual circuit consists of a series of incursions into the dynamics of resistance that are at work in the different regions of the world. Concise and representative presentations give an idea of the vigour and diversity of these struggles, which are not given much publicity or not well understood, whether it is the gas war in Bolivia or the claims of the Maori in New Zealand, the coalitions against privatizations in South Africa or thedalitmovement in India, not forgetting the new forms of opposition to unbridled capitalism in China. These accounts go beyond the purely anecdotal in order to give readers an overall and consistent framework of interpretation, to help them grasp the sense and range of these struggles. In the second part we focus on key discussions that bring together networks, movements and unions in the social forums, as well as in the anti-war movement. What kind of relationships should there be with the State or with international institutions? How to articulate local or national struggles with global campaigns? Which is better, direct action or action through the institutions? What positions should be adopted on such issues as global governance, international trade and the solidarity economy? In the third and last part of the book the emphasis is on several of the crucial challenges faced by the social movements, of which media strategies are one of the rst. How to make use of the mass media at the same time as developing their own information channels? The climate created by the war on terror is another such challenge.

Introduction xi

This has now become generalized, giving numerous governments the opportunity of setting up new mechanisms for control and surveillance and to adopt measures to criminalize the actions of those who oppose the state. At the same time international institutions have been trying for years to co-opt part of what they call civil society in order to domesticate NGOs and marginalize those who refuse to dialogue. And nally powerful private actors impose the rights of business over the rights of peoples. Another challenge faced by social movements is to recover the principle of the common good and to develop its applications in texts that are universally relevant. Contestation of neoliberal globalization is no passing phenomenon. It is highly contemporary, as it is gradually integrating the global dimensions of todays problems, in both analysis and practice. And it is a long-term proposition, to bring social forces gradually together, across frontiers and above political sensitivities. This collective work stems from the conviction that the different viewpoints involved need to be put into perspective and disseminated, and the belief that this is an indispensable stage in the long process of exchanges underpinning the political, cultural and thematic convergences that are taking shape today.  François Polet