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Globalization and Democracy 221

a focus for worldwide action against neo - liberal globalization without
which the creativity it generates will be wasted. They created the
“ Manifesto of Porte Alegre ” on this basis in 2005, outlining twelve basic
proposals for change to economic and state structures, and presented it
to the media as an interpretation of the political will of the WSF. The
vast majority of the participants at the meeting of the WSF that year, and
in subsequent discussions, however, agree that a manifesto is fundamen-
tally at odds with the spirit of the WSF as an open space where any
number of different political projects may be formulated (De Sousa Santos,
2006 : 120 – 4; Castells, 2009 : 340 – 1).
As a strategy for resisting capitalist globalization, alternative globaliza-
tion does not appear to require justification, as it makes no attempt to

forestall or to repress any particular possibility. It is, in fact, based on a
valid claim to democratic legitimacy insofar as it attempts to treat all

voices with equal respect, to allow all points of view to flourish, and never
to close down debate prematurely. But avoiding political program and
resisting regulation of all kinds has its limitations. Alternative globaliza-
tion tends to flourish in local and translocal spaces, and the alternatives

it offers are created outside the framework of mainstream politics and
markets. These spaces, too, are affected by policies, laws, and agreements
at the formal political level, and whilst demolishing alternative spaces and
ways of living is resisted at the local level, such a strenuous way of life is
not for everyone. As many, if not most, of those involved in global social
movements would agree, then, although alternative globalization makes
a very important contribution, it can only ever be part of what is needed
to democratize neo - liberal globalization.

Deliberative g lobalization

The principles of deliberative democracy are another important legitima-
tion for the democratic potential of global civil society. The principles of
democratic globalization underlie the activities of NGOs with consultative
status in IGOs, as well as all the many more who try to infl uence their
agendas and the content of what is discussed and agreed in IGO forums
by direct lobbying and publicity. They underpin NGO attempts to repre-
sent “ the public, ” even as they simultaneously try to persuade individuals
and groups in their networks and outside that the ideas they advocate
should be accepted by everyone. That is, they both claim and, at the same

time they try to create a public mandate to influence the policy - making
of international political institutions. Castells, for example, shows how
the environmental movement put climate change on the international