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The Battle in Seattle: The Story Behind and Beyond the WTO Demonstrations
The story behind and beyond the WTO demonstrations.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 13, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 1, 2024
A GRIPPING ACCOUNT OF THE 1999 PROTESTS AGAINST THE WTO
Author Janet Thomas has also written 'At Home in Hostel Territory: A Guide to Friendly Lodgings from Seward to Santa Cruz.' She wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, "This book ... [is] about the real faces in the crowd, the extraordinary people who helped to give Seattle a new and different face during WTO week, the face of a different future. They were all shapes, ages, colors, nationalities; all intent with reasons for being present... There's a lot that's not covered in this book. The media minefield would take an army to excavate. The police presence remains a mystery... It was a mess of 'police' violence in the same sense that it was a mess of 'anarchist' violence: Unless individuals can be identified, their stories can't be told." (Pg. 13, 15)
She admits, "But you had to be there. If you weren't, it was a week of shame, a shocking example of violence and mayhem, a blight on Seattle's shining reputation, a disgrace." (Pg. 12) She notes that "The truth is that very few stores were looted, and even those that were looted lost just a few things." (Pg. 45)
She summarizes the case against the WTO: "The main demand that the IMF and the World Bank make of countries to which they lend money is this: Get over self-sufficiency and sign up for an export/import lifestyle in which the Big Guys from the developed countries will invest in your natural resources, build an infrastructure to get to them all, and then export them for big bucks. This means you'll have jobs and money, but maybe not enough to pay the high price of the other things in life you need..." (Pg. 51)
She notes about a violent incident, "the freeway itself was the eastern border of the area that was to be closed after curfew. Why the police couldn't just hold that point was bizarre. Instead, they had aggressively bullied the crowd beyond the border and up into residential neighborhoods, where uninvolved bystanders going about their business were inadvertently caught up in the violence." (Pg. 161) She argues, "When the 'anarchists'... broke windows in Seattle, they were protesting today's economic violence against much of humanity. When the police wielded tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and physical force against the people on the streets of Seattle, they were acting against civil rights, freedom of speech, and the citizens themselves." (Pg. 215)
This is an excellent account of the protests, filled with "inside" information.
Author Janet Thomas has also written 'At Home in Hostel Territory: A Guide to Friendly Lodgings from Seward to Santa Cruz.' She wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, "This book ... [is] about the real faces in the crowd, the extraordinary people who helped to give Seattle a new and different face during WTO week, the face of a different future. They were all shapes, ages, colors, nationalities; all intent with reasons for being present... There's a lot that's not covered in this book. The media minefield would take an army to excavate. The police presence remains a mystery... It was a mess of 'police' violence in the same sense that it was a mess of 'anarchist' violence: Unless individuals can be identified, their stories can't be told." (Pg. 13, 15)
She admits, "But you had to be there. If you weren't, it was a week of shame, a shocking example of violence and mayhem, a blight on Seattle's shining reputation, a disgrace." (Pg. 12) She notes that "The truth is that very few stores were looted, and even those that were looted lost just a few things." (Pg. 45)
She summarizes the case against the WTO: "The main demand that the IMF and the World Bank make of countries to which they lend money is this: Get over self-sufficiency and sign up for an export/import lifestyle in which the Big Guys from the developed countries will invest in your natural resources, build an infrastructure to get to them all, and then export them for big bucks. This means you'll have jobs and money, but maybe not enough to pay the high price of the other things in life you need..." (Pg. 51)
She notes about a violent incident, "the freeway itself was the eastern border of the area that was to be closed after curfew. Why the police couldn't just hold that point was bizarre. Instead, they had aggressively bullied the crowd beyond the border and up into residential neighborhoods, where uninvolved bystanders going about their business were inadvertently caught up in the violence." (Pg. 161) She argues, "When the 'anarchists'... broke windows in Seattle, they were protesting today's economic violence against much of humanity. When the police wielded tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and physical force against the people on the streets of Seattle, they were acting against civil rights, freedom of speech, and the citizens themselves." (Pg. 215)
This is an excellent account of the protests, filled with "inside" information.
December 2, 2019
I was hoping for either something with a bit of objective distance or something with a number of well-represented perspectives (even all-protestor perspectives), or more analysis of ground game/tactics for protest. Instead I come out of this book feeling like I learned a few names and acronyms. The sense of protestors' pride and the great distance between the feeling in the street and reporting in the media was clearly conveyed. But most of the book was leftist rhetoric. I'm an activist in progressive movements; I probably don't even disagree with a lot of the rhetoric. It's just not very useful or interesting.
August 22, 2008
Pretty cool. This actually went down in Seattle the day before I moved there in 1999. It was wild. Explains what went down that week and how members of the WTO leaders are appointed by gov leaders. Their powers can go above local, state and federal laws if they feel there are some that interfere with global trade. Check it!
November 12, 2008
This is a great book to refresh your memory about that unique time in American history when labor, students, environmentalists, and the rest were all fighting against the alphabet soup of oppression: NAFTA, GATT, IMF, WTO, etc...
Ahhh, the good old days.
Remember when people weren't really sure global warming or peak oil would happen?
Ahhh, the good old days.
Remember when people weren't really sure global warming or peak oil would happen?
June 23, 2008
Just finished!! The best part about this book is the fact that it has no bias. The unjust, foolish cops or the ignorant hippies aren't even considered. This book is about the WTO and its effect on the people of Seattle. A truely wonderful novel.
October 11, 2008
Don't expect this book to give a clear vision of the events of the N29 et al, but it's a very interesting look into the politics of the protesters.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews