Neoliberal Globalization and the Internationalization of Protest: A European Perspective

摘要

Assessments of the recent protest movements against neoliberal globalization differ considerably. Is it the "first social movement of post-modernity" (Der Spiegel) or a "Network Guerilla" (Financial Times)? Is it a corrective, or a fundamental opposition, to neoliberal globalization? Can we speak at all of one, movement in the singular or is it not, rather, movements in the plural? Does it, or do they, struggle for a globalization with a human face, global justice, the disarmament of the (financial) markets, the re-regulation of the world economy, the democratization of international organizations, global socialism or communism? Do they struggle against neoliberal globalization, the commodification of ever further areas of life ("The world is not for sale!"), the negative consequences of privatizations, the increasing division between North and South, institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, brand-name fetishism ("No logo!") and corporate rule? The list could be continued. It is just as diverse as the spectra of the movement are heterogeneous.