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A Movement of Movements: Is Another World Really Possible?
A Movement of Movements charts the strategic thinking behind the mosaic of movements currently challenging neoliberal globalization. Leading theorists and activists—the Zapatistas’ Subcomandante Marcos, Chittaroopa Palit from the Indian Narmada Valley dam protests, Soweto anti-privatization campaigner Trevor Ngwane, Brazilian Sem Terra leader João Pedro Stedile, and many more—discuss their personal formation as radicals, the history of their movements, their analyses of globalization, and the nuts and bolts of mobilizing against a US-dominated world system.
Explaining how the Global South and the experience of indigenous peoples have provided such a dynamic and practical inspiration, the contributors describe the roles anarchism and direct democracy have played, the contributions and limitations of the World Social Forum at Porto Alegre as a coordinating focus, and the effects of and responses to the economic downturn, September 11, and Washington’s war on terror. Their statements, at once personal and visionary, offer a dazzling new insight into the political imagination of the global resistance movements.
Explaining how the Global South and the experience of indigenous peoples have provided such a dynamic and practical inspiration, the contributors describe the roles anarchism and direct democracy have played, the contributions and limitations of the World Social Forum at Porto Alegre as a coordinating focus, and the effects of and responses to the economic downturn, September 11, and Washington’s war on terror. Their statements, at once personal and visionary, offer a dazzling new insight into the political imagination of the global resistance movements.
265 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 14, 2011
A collection of interviews and a few essays from the NLR regarding movements involved in the World Social Forum and organized against neoliberal globalization. The first two sections are organized geographically (global South and global North) and have some really interesting interviews, but I was hoping for a lot more cohesion or tying together of these movements and themes- which the final section, of analytical essays, should have given, but these focused much more than the interviews on the most recent WSF, and felt more like a series of kind of repetitive introductions, of which I think the only one really worth reading was Emir Sader's. The whole thing closes with an essay from Wallerstein which, as seems to be his M.O., presents some great points and brilliant ideas (none of which are footnoted or backed up at all), but also some bizarre mischaracterizations (it was news to me, for example, that the African American civil rights movement was an example of the move of the Left away from an interest in working with state power?).
Also, only one female interviewee and one female essayist? For shame, NLR.
Also, only one female interviewee and one female essayist? For shame, NLR.
February 20, 2012
This book is in reference to a moment (the emergence of the "anti-globalization" movement and the world social forums), and the interviews and articles are relevant and worth reading.
The first two sections of the book (Southern Voices and Northern Voices) were particularly interesting because they didn't focus on the whys of the movements the people were being interviewed about, but rather the hows. How did this organization evolve? How are decisions about strategy and action made? How is the work funded?
The final section was food for thought, some tools and instigation for thinking further about the "Movement of Movements" the book is trying to capture. I thought some of these final chapters were more worthwhile than others, but it was a good way to thoughtfully close the collection.
The first two sections of the book (Southern Voices and Northern Voices) were particularly interesting because they didn't focus on the whys of the movements the people were being interviewed about, but rather the hows. How did this organization evolve? How are decisions about strategy and action made? How is the work funded?
The final section was food for thought, some tools and instigation for thinking further about the "Movement of Movements" the book is trying to capture. I thought some of these final chapters were more worthwhile than others, but it was a good way to thoughtfully close the collection.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews