Anti-globalism is a social movement that emerged at the turn of the 21st century against neo-liberal globalization based on the promotion of free markets and free trade.
What is globalization?
A common theme raised by current theorists Giddens, Castells, and Harvey is the idea that modern technology, such as computers, accelerates the development of social relations and makes them more flexible. The history of modern society is the history of globalization and the technological acceleration of transport (data, capital, goods, people) that has made the world smaller. Technology, by reducing distances, mediates social relationships more and more effectively. Progress led to the separation of information from its carriers, since the speed of its distribution grew faster than the speed of movement of bodies. Transport and communication technologies (railway, telegraph, radio, automobile, television, aviation, digital computer communication and network technologies) have increased the speed of movement of capital, goods, food and information. The earth has become a global communication network that has an impact on all areas of society. Information today is not related tospecific locality: it cannot be limited geographically, and it does not depend on distances. High technology contributes to the delocalization of communication in terms of spatial and temporal distances.
The dominant form is neoliberal globalization. Critics say it aims to create a foundation for an economy that boosts profits by minimizing investment costs, cutting welfare, and promoting individualism. With the advent of neoliberalism, society is increasingly dominated by economic logic - the logic of goods and the accumulation of financial capital.
Globalism is opposed by both right and left activists.
Right anti-globalism: its causes and manifestations
Far-right groups such as the British National Party, the National Democratic Party of Germany, the National Front in France and the Freedom Party of Austria see globalization as a threat to local economies and national identities. They argue that each country should control its own economy, and that immigration should be strictly limited in order to guarantee national identity, which is threatened by the processes of globalization. The anti-globalism of the right is aimed at combating the ideology promoted by Zionism, Marxism and liberalism. In their understanding, globalization is presented as a worldwide conspiracy against national identity, Western culture or the white man.
Such argumentsoften have racist and anti-Semitic overtones. For the right, neoliberal globalization is not the result of the structural logic of capitalism, but rather the result of a conspiratorial political agenda of powerful elites. Conservatives do not advocate alternative globalism, and their anti-globalism offers nationalism and particularism as a means of solving problems caused by the dominant form of globalization.
Left Anglobalism
Far more important in terms of the number of activists and public attention is left anti-globalism. He attracted public attention with protests during meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle in November-December 1999, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington in April 2000 and in Prague in September 2000, countries G8” in Genoa in July 2001, and also thanks to the annual World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, which is held in opposition to the meetings of the World Economic Forum. The causes of left-wing anti-globalism, according to the ideologists of the movement, lie in the capitalist logic underlying globalization - it leads to asymmetric power relations both within the country and around the world and commodifies various aspects of life, including he alth care, education and culture.
Alternative globalization
Anti-globalism is a misleading term, as the movement is not purely defensive and reactive, but rather advocates for global democracy andjustice. Therefore, it is better characterized by concepts such as the movement for alternative or democratic globalization.
World Wide Web
The transnational protest movement, which is global in nature and has a decentralized, network form of organization, is formed mainly thanks to the Internet. With its help, protests are organized online and around the world, the strategy of struggle is discussed, political events and past protests are covered. Highly open, inclusive and global, this movement is characterized by online forms of protest that can be called cyberprotest or cyberactivism, mailing lists, web forums, chat rooms, alternative media and media projects such as Indymedia.
Coalition of Coalitions
Anti-globalism (and alter-globalism) is characterized by pluralism and, to a certain extent, inconsistency. Groups involved include traditional and autonomous trade unions, arts groups, landless peasants, indigenous people, socialists, communists, anarchists, trotskyists, environmentalists, feminists, third world initiatives, human rights activists, students, believers, traditional left parties, critical minded intellectuals from all over the world. Anti-globalism is a global network of networks, a movement of social movements, a worldwide protest movement and a coalition of coalitions. It aims to restore the commonality of goods and services that are increasingly appropriated through agreements such as the GeneralAgreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Unlimited network
Michael Hardt and Tony Negri used the term "plurality" to describe the anti-globalization movement as a collection of individuals who act as a single decentralized body, polyphonic dialogue, an integral united force of world democracy controlled from below, an open society and direct democratic leadership of all for all. The multitude, according to pro-Marxist philosophers, is a wide open, unrestricted network that encourages working and living together.
Unity in difference
Because of its structure and diversity, the movement is non-dogmatic and decentralized. They cannot be controlled and led. The unity of this multitude arises through a common mobilization against the neoliberal exacerbation of global problems. The various issues and problems of the respective groups are connected by the fact that they are caused by capitalist globalization, and the anti-globalism of this movement, its goals and practices are not homogeneous. There is a big difference between reformist and revolutionary activists, between non-violent and militant methods of protest. Another difference concerns those groups that favor increased regulation of capitalism at the local level, and those who seek to establish world democracy instead of national sovereignty.
As a collectivepolitical force, which consists of many interconnected non-identical parts, the movement can be generally considered as a desire for global democracy, justice and the realization of human rights. It is trying to draw public attention to the lack of democracy in international organizations and put pressure on support for the democratization of dominant institutions.
Empire
Anti-globalism is a spontaneous, decentralized, networked, self-organizing movement based on grassroots democracy. Its thinkers see such an organizational form as an expression of a change in the organizational characteristics of society, which is increasingly turning into a flexible, decentralized, transnational, networked system. Capitalist globalization, they believe, has led to the establishment of a world system of domination, which is strictly determined by economic interests. Hardt and Negri refer to this decentralized, flexible networked global capitalist system as an "empire". Empire is a global system of capitalist domination. It is based on the crisis of the sovereignty of nation-states, the deregulation of international markets and the intervention of the world's police forces, as well as the mobility, decentralization, flexibility and network nature of capital and production.
Grassroots self-organization
The emergence of a decentralized global empire, according to Hardt and Negri, is hindered by a decentralized worldwide protest movement that demands global participation and cooperation and a more democratic, fair and sustainableglobalization. It is organized on the principle of network self-organization. For many activists, anti-globalism and its manifestations anticipate the emergence of the form of the future society as an integrative and participatory democracy. The movement expresses the desire for a society in which power does not determine the behavior of people. They define and organize themselves. The movement is directed against globalization from above by forming self-organized forms from below.
ATTAS
Probably the most well-known anti-globalization group is ATTAS (Association for Taxing Financial Transactions and Aiding Citizens), which exists in more than 30 countries. The organization believes that financial globalization creates a less secure and less level playing field for people while advocating the interests of global corporations and financial markets. The main requirement of ATTAS is the introduction of the Tobin tax, a tax on foreign exchange transactions. The organization claims to represent tens of thousands of members in 40 countries.
