Contrary to the common view that globalization undermines social agency, ‘alter-globalization activists', that is, those who contest globalization in its neo-liberal form, have developed new ways to become actors in the global age. They propose alternatives to Washington Consensus policies, implement horizontal and participatory organization models and promote a nascent global public space. Rather than being anti-globalization, these activists have built a truly global movement that has gathered citizens, committed intellectuals, indigenous, farmers, dalits and NGOs against neoliberal policies in street demonstrations and Social Forums all over the world, from Bangalore to Seattle and from Porto Alegre to Nairobi. This book analyses this worldwide movement on the bases of extensive field research conducted since 1999. Alter-Globalization provides a comprehensive account of these critical global forces and their attempts to answer one of the major challenges of our time: How can citizens and civil society contribute to the building of a fairer, sustainable and more democratic co-existence of human beings in a global world?

Geoffrey Pleyers' book is an important contribution to a sociology of alter-globalization. It brings a great amount of primary information and analyzes the various trends existing inside this major social actor of the 21st century. Framcois Hantart, International Council of the World Social Forum.

Geoffrey Pleyers' book is an important contribution to a sociology of alter-globalization. It brings a great amount of primary information and analyzes the various trends existing inside this major social actor of the 21st century. Framcois Hantart, International Council of the World Social Forum.

Presenting the first systematic empirical research on the global justice movement, Globalization from Below analyzes a movement from the viewpoints of the activists, organizers, and demonstrators themselves. The authors traveled to Genoa with anti-G8 protesters and collected data from more than 800 participants. They examine the interactions between challengers and elites, and discuss how new models of activism fit into current social movement work.

This book explores the connections between two of the most transformative processes of the twenty-first century, namely climate change and globalization. In this book, Leichenko and O'Brien present a conceptual framework for analyzing the interactions between these two processes, and illustrate, through case studies, how these interactions create situations of "double exposure." Drawing upon prominent recent and current climate-related events -- Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, recurring droughts in India, and the melting of Arctic sea ice -- the case studies each demonstrate a different pathway of interaction between globalization and global environmental change. Through exploration of these pathways of double exposure, the book also shows how broader human security concerns including growing inequalities, growing vulnerabilities, and unsustainable rates of development are integrally connected to both processes of global change. The double exposure framework not only sheds light on the challenges raised by these two global processes, but also reveals possibilities for using the interactions to generate positive opportunities for action.

Are political activists connected to the global justice movement simplistically opposed to neoliberal globalization? Is their political vision ′incoherent′ and their policy proposals ′naïve′ and ′superficial′ as is often claimed by the mainstream media? Drawing on dozens of interviews and rich textual analyses involving nearly fifty global justice organizations linked to the World Social Forum, the authors of this pioneering study challenge this prevailing view. They present a compelling case that the global justice movement has actually fashioned a new political ideology with global reach: ′justice globalism′. Far from being incoherent, justice globalism possesses a rich and nuanced set of core concepts and powerful ideological claims. The book investigates how justice globalists respond to global financial crises, to escalating climate change, and to the global food crisis. It finds justice globalism generating new political agendas and campaigns to address these pressing problems. Justice globalism, the book concludes, has much to contribute to solving the serious global challenges of the 21st century. Justice Globalism will prove a stimulating read for undergraduate and graduate students in the social sciences and humanities who are taking courses on globalization, global studies and global justice.

In "Distant Proximities" one of America's senior scholars presents a work of sweeping vision that addresses the dizzying anxieties of the post-Cold War, post-September 11th world.