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From the Occupy protests to the Black Lives Matter movement and school strikes for climate action, the twenty-first century has been rife with activism. Although very different from one another, each of these movements has created alliances across borders, with activists stressing that their concerns are not confined to individual nation states.In this book, Daniel Laqua shows that global efforts of this kind are not a recent phenomenon, and that as long as there have been borders, activists have sought to cross them. Activism Across Borders since 1870 explores how individuals, groups and organisations have fostered bonds in their quest for political and social change, and considers the impact of national and ideological boundaries on their efforts. Focusing on Europe but with a global outlook, the book acknowledges the importance of imperial and postcolonial settings for groups and individuals that expressed far-reaching ambitions.From feminism and socialism to anti-war campaigns and green politics, this book approaches transnational activism with an emphasis on four features: connectedness, ambivalence, transience and marginality. In doing so, it demonstrates the intertwined nature of different movements, problematizes transnational action, discusses the temporary nature of some alliances, and shows how transnationalism has been used by those marginalized at the national level. With a broad chronological perspective and thematic chapters, it provides historical context, clarifies terms and concepts, and offers an alternative history of modern Europe through the lens of activists, movements and campaigns.

From the Sons of Liberty to British reformers, Irish patriots, French Jacobins, Haitian revolutionaries and American Democrats, the greatest social movements of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions grew as part of a common, interrelated pattern. In this new transnational history, Micah Alpaugh demonstrates the connections between the most prominent causes of the era, as they drew upon each other's models to seek unprecedented changes in government. As Friends of Freedom, activists shared ideas and strategies internationally, creating a chain of broad-based campaigns that mobilized the American Revolution, British Parliamentary Reform, Irish nationalism, movements for religious freedom, abolitionism, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and American party politics. Rather than a series of distinct national histories, Alpaugh shows how these movements jointly responded to the Atlantic trends of their era to create a new way to alter or overthrow governments: mobilizing massive social movements.

'Della Porta has assembled a distinguished group of scholars who have made great strides in illuminating the early phases of the movement. The book includes especially keen analyses of the movement against global capitalism, particularly in its European manifestations.'John D. McCarthy, Pennsylvania State University'Della Porta has skillfully coordinated a comparative study in six European countries and the US. Renowned scholars give testimony of the movement in their countries. [This is] the first attempt to document a genuine transnational movement.'Bert Klandermans, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam You G-8, we 6 billion!'So went the chant at the international parade leading into the summit in Genoa, Italy. The global justice movement has led to a new wave of protest, building up transnational networks, inventing new strategies of action, constructing new images of democracy, and boldly asserting that'another world is possible'. This book examines all this and more with case studies drawn from seven different countries, covering transnational networks and making cross-national comparisons. Leading European and American scholars analyze more than 300 organizations and 5,000 activists, looking at mobilizations that bridge old and new movements and bring politics back to the street. Contributors include: Massimiliano Andretta, Angel Calle, Helene Combes, Donatella della Porta, Nina Eggert, Marco Giugni, Jennifer Hadden, Manuel Jimenez, Raffaele Marchetti, Lorenzo Mosca, Mario Pianta, Herbert Reiter, Christopher Rootes, Dieter Rucht, Clare Saunders, Isabelle Sommier, Sidney Tarrow, Simon Teune, Mundo Yang.

The World Social Forum quickly became the largest political gathering in human history and continues to offer a direct challenge to the extreme inequities of corporate-led globalisation. It has expanded its presence and continues to be an exciting experiment in global and participatory democracy. The book's contributors have participated in World Social Forums around the globe. Recounting dozens of dramatic firsthand experiences, they draw on their knowledge of global politics to introduce the process, its foundations and relevance to ongoing transnational efforts toward democracy. This second edition of Global Democracy shows how the Forums have developed since their inception in 2001 and how they are now connected with other global movements including Occupy, the Arab Spring and beyond.

Social movements throughout the world have been central to history, politics, society, and culture. Observing Protest froma Place examines the impact of one such campaign, the global justice movement, as seen from the southern hemisphere. Drawing upon a collective survey from the 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar, the essays explore a number of vital issues, including the methodological problems of studying international activist gatherings and how scholars can overcome those challenges. Bydemonstrating the importance of the global justice movement and the role of nongovernmental organizations for participantsin the southern hemisphere, this volume is an important addition to the literature on community action.

The World Social Forum quickly became the largest political gathering in human history and continues to offer a direct challenge to the extreme inequities of corporate-led globalization. It has expanded beyond a single event to spin-offs in a variety of countries including the United States. The forums are an experiment in global and participatory democracy, bringing together networks, organizations, and activists from around the world to create visions of a just and liberated global society. All of the authors involved in this book have participated in World Social Forums around the globe. Recounting dozens of dramatic firsthand experiences from their attendance, these authors draw on their knowledge of global politics to introduce the World Social Forum process, explain its foundations, and discuss its relevance to ongoing transnational efforts toward freedom, peace, and democracy. In the new edition, Global Democracy shows how the World Social Forums have grown and developed since their inception in 2001 and how they are now connected with other global movements including Occupy, the Arab Spring, and beyond.

This book focuses on global activism and uses a power perspective to provide an in-depth and coherent analysis of both the possibilities and limitations of global activism. Bringing together scholars from IR, sociology, and political science, this book offers new and critical insights on global activism and power. It features case studies on the following social and political issues: China and Tibet, HIV/AIDS, climate change, child labour, the WTO, women and the UN, the global public sphere, regional integration, national power, world social forums, policing, media power and global civil society.It will be of interest to students and scholars of globalization, global sociology and international politics.

The World Social Forum (WSF) has become the focus for a diverse array of movements advancing alternative visions of globalisation. The numerous WSF's have helped to connect activists in an increasingly dense network of advocates for radical social change. They have mobilised hundreds of thousands of people and may be one of the most important political developments of our time. The Handbook of World Social Forum Activism brings together leading scholars of the social forum process from North America and Europe. The collection contributes to the ongoing process of reflection from the WSF experience, and is accessible to activists, students and scholars alike.

The WSF/USSF is an expression of the people's struggles to advance alternatives to the world-as-we-know-it. Since its first convening in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, it has captured the imagination of all who have come within its orbit and caught up by its vast and growing networks. It provides a large space for groups to mobilize, voice their oppression, exchange ideas, and express their desire for hope and another world. Central in the founding principles of the World Social Forum are: the advance of peoples'rights (including women's rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, the rights of minorities, the rights of peasant farmers, and, generally, the rights and dignity of all peoples now oppressed), participatory democracy, social and cultural pluralism, and the end of market tyranny. This volume captures the full range of topics dealing with the WSF/USSF. It is a fresh treatment of materials for the'insider'and provides ample background for someone who would like to attend.Originally published, in part, as Volume 3, No. 1 (2008) of Brill's journal Societies Without Borders

This comprehensive study traces the transnationalization of activist networks, analyzing their changing compositions and characters and examining the roles played by the World Social Forum in this process. Comparing four of the largest global networks targeting the'neoliberal triumvirate'of the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organization: the Jubilee anti-debt campaigners Via Campesina peasant farmers Our World Is Not For Sale and the anarchistic Peoples'Global Action. Written by a scholar-activist, the book highlights that despite their diversity, these collective actors follow a similar globalizing path and that networks in which solidarity is based on a shared identity perceived as threatened by neoliberal change are gaining strength. Social forums are depicted as a fertile ground to strengthen networks and a common ground for cooperative action among them, but also a battleground over the future of the forum process, the global anti-neoliberal struggle, and'other possible worlds'in the making.Global Activism will appeal to students and scholars interested in globalization, international relations, IPE and social movements.

Globalization is undoubtedly the great overarching paradigm of our era. However, there is still little agreement on what globalization actually ‘is'and some do not accept that it ‘is'anything at all. This new book addresses the contestation of globalization by the anti- or counter-globalization movement. To contest means to challenge, to call into question, to doubt, to oppose and to litigate. This study shows how globalization is ‘contestable'in many different ways and how the counter-movements we have seen emerging over the last decade also ‘bear witness'on behalf of an alternative human future. Ronaldo Munck presents an overarching framework that allows us to understand how globalization and its contestation are inextricably bound up with one another. This volume insightfully explores a number of case studies, including: the battle of Seattle in 1999 the World Social Forum peasant internationalism environmental movements and reactionary movements including: the US Patriot's movement, Islamic fundamentalist movements and other nationalist movements. Globalization and Contestation will be of great interest to all students and scholars of international relations, politics and of globalization and global governance in particular.

Visions of Solidarity is currently the only study of peace activist's transformation from an anti-war struggle to an anti-globalization struggle. It explores the power dynamics between citizen activists in the Global North and South, examining efforts at reframing issues of social justice over time, and highlighting transnational feminist politics and agency at the local level. This book focuses on the way that transnational activists strategies are negotiated across boundaries. Through a comparative ethnographic study of the U.S.-based Witness for Peace and the Wisconsin Coordination Council on Nicaragua, the author, Clare Weber, explores how the organizations came to have very different responses over time to the neoliberal development project imposed on Nicaragua by the United States. Weber skillfully links studies of transnational social movements, women's grassroot activism, and the Central America Peace movement in this unique book.

In this book, two titans of social movement scholarship bring together the best current research on the nexus between the local and the global in translating the global justice movement into action at the grass roots, and vice versa. Using recent cases of transnational contention_from the European Social Forum in Florence to the Argentinean human rights movement and British environmentalists, from movement networks in Bristol and Glasgow to the Zapatistas_the original chapters by distinguished scholars presented in this volume adapt current social movement theory to what appears to be a new cycle of protest developing around the globe.

This collection explores transnational peace and social-justice movements, their implications for international relations, and their potential for democratizing global governance. Contributors examine case studies on issue areas including human rights, security, environments and social/economic justice.

This book provides new perspectives on transnational activism with a specific regional focus on Asia. By offering an innovative approach, its theoretical chapters and empirical case studies examine macro as well as micro aspects of power and how cross-border activities of civil society groups are related to problems of democracy.

Coalitions across Borders shows how social movements have cooperated and conflicted as they work to develop a transnational civil society in response to perceived threats of neoliberalism—free trade, privatization, structural adjustment, and unbridled corporate power. The authors explore the processes of transnational mobilization, discussing the motivations and methods of cross-border cooperation as well as the conflicts that have affected movement abilities to promote social change. The original case studies included in this volume represent a diverse cross section of transnational movement coalitions—from various regions and nations, representing different movement interests, and addressing a range of economic injustices. Coalitions across Borders reveals the many social conditions that enable and constrain the formation of transnational civil societies and the ways in which movement actors manage conflicts as they work toward common goals.

'Informative and useful.'Development and Change Until recently, most civil society organizations (CSOs) operated at national or local levels. However, new global organizations and networks are increasingly emerging. This book examines what CSOs can achieve, and the barriers they face, when they break national boundaries and sectoral moulds and work with others in global networks. A series of case studies of CSO initiatives reveal how transnational action can yield impressive results in changing policies and public attitudes. The diverse range of CSOs studied includes consumer groups, trade unions, the anti-globalization protest movement, the World Social Forum, Jubilee 2000 and others. All reveal a remarkably similar array of practical challenges, from structure and leadership issues to governance dilemmas. The book offers practical guidance to those engaged with CSOs and contributes to academic enquiry about civil society.