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Globalization and Democracy 219

different ways – from environmentalists literally living in trees to prevent
them being pulled down, to encampments at airports to prevent the build-
ing of more runways, to taking over the streets of major cities in protest
against a society built around cars – the protest actions of alternative
globalization are festive, carnivalesque, and actually enact ways of living
outside the mainstream (McKay, 1998 ; Notes from Nowhere, 2003 ).
The first principle of democratic legitimacy underlying alternative glo-

balization is that by demonstrating that attractive alternatives to global
capitalism are possible, global social movements are bringing “ another
world ” closer. In the West, the spirit of these endeavors is largely, though
not exclusively, anarchist. In their purist forms, they seem to demand a
great deal of those who practice them, in terms of living completely
outside the comforts and conventions of mainstream society. However,
alternatives originally invented or popularized by radicals may become
mainstream in some cases, whilst still fostering global justice. It is possible
for people who are employed in mainstream occupations to engage in a
range of activities that contribute to alternative globalization, by growing
their own organic food, buying fair - trade goods, making efforts to reduce
their ecological footprint, and generally trying to live in such a way as to
minimize their personal involvement in neo - liberal globalization.
Furthermore, in other parts of the world, many people, especially in rural
areas, still live in social settings where markets have not penetrated to
anything like the same extent as they have in the West. In such cases,

alternative globalization involves finding ways to improve the conditions
of people ’ s lives without “ market fundamentalism, ” by land reform and
subsidies to help small farmers, for example, by resisting large - scale infra-
structure projects (like the notorious Narmada Dam in India) that will
destroy the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples and the livelihoods of
subsistence farmers, or through grassroots coalitions of peasants and of
shanty - town dwellers who know very precisely what is needed to make
their lives more secure and to help feed and educate their children (see
Kumar et al., 2009 ). Alternative globalization is democratic, then, as a
strategy to civilize neo - liberal globalization because it creates, develops,
and makes public possibilities that would not otherwise be available or
apparent. It attempts to persuade people that “ another world is possible ”
in practice, by presenting alternatives which they may adopt, to their own

benefit and to the benefit of those whose dignity and self - respect, liveli-
hood, and social and physical environment is threatened by expanding
global capitalism.
The second principle of democratic legitimation underlying alternative
globalization is explicitly anarchist. The alternatives it offers are not