The changing face of anti-globalization politics: Two (and a half) tales of globalization and anti-globalization

Abstract

This article argues that two key ‘moments’ can be used to indicate the changing nature of anti-globalization politics. The first was the protests at Seattle in 1999, the ‘coming out’ event for the movement. The second was the ‘war on terror’ in response to the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. I argue that Seattle and the war on terror represent two ways of thinking about contemporary globalization. The first can be linked to notions of transnational capitalism and Empire, the second to notions of imperialism. The paper therefore deconstructs these concepts, relating them to the concrete politics of anti-globalization. The first section critically discusses the transnational capitalism thesis, while the second section examines the concept of imperialism. The third section then attempts to integrate the critical account in the first two sections. It defends the idea that globalization is in some respects a contingent process, but contrary to some accounts (the ‘half tale’) it is also one with dominant centres of power. Finally, the political implications are discussed, where I outline two positions based on globalizing resistance and anti-imperialism. I suggest that these positions are not mutually exclusive, but also that one does not neatly fit into the other, and that progressive politics operates both within and between local, national and global spaces. This argument is addressed in the conclusion in the context of the debate over the war in Iraq, the role of the United Nations, and the principle of cosmopolitanism.

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