Page 22 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

ANTI-GLOBALISATION

offshore product manufacturing in areas where labour was less
expensive and where industrial laws were lax or non-existent. This
concern waned, however, and it became apparent that forces other
than globalisation were largely responsible for unemployment
(Castells, 2000). A newgroup of activists took up the anti-
globalisation banner, this time out of concern for workers and
communities experiencing economic inequality and political disen-
franchisement as a result of globalisation.
Much of the movement’s initial attention was focused on the
‘sweatshop’ issue that gained prominence in the mid-1990s and singled
out the Nike brand as being hypocritical in its marketing strategies
(that promoted freedom and agency) and its exploitative manufactur-
ing practices. The movement escalated in 1995 around a separate issue,
when Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian writer and environmental leader
was imprisoned by the Nigerian military government for leading a
campaign against Royal Dutch Shell’s oil drilling in Niger Delta. Saro-
Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were executed by the military
later that year. In both instances, the unethical alliances formed
between multinational corporations and oppressive regimes were seen
to be a central negative consequence of globalisation (Klein, 2000:
331).
These specific protests, designed to expose the practices of some
as an example to the world, later joined together in a more generalist
campaign through a series of large demonstrations. Gathering outside
the conventions of the world’s political and business leaders in Seattle
(1999), Melbourne (2000), Prague (2000), Quebec City (2001) and
Genoa (2001), groups ranging from anti-capitalists, environmentalists,
anarchists and human rights campaigners brought the anti-globalisation
movement to the global stage.
In many respects, the ‘anti-globalisation’ tag of this particular social
movement is misleading. If there is a key demand from the activists it is
to see the establishment of international laws, democratically organised
institutions capable of regulating the global capital, and for some
international trade union solutions to rectify the inequality of
distribution. The concerns of the movement are not so much about
stopping globalisation, but finding more equitable solutions for a
globalised society. And, as the champion of the anti-globalisation
movement, Naomi Klein, has pointed out, ‘the triumph of economic
globalisation has inspired a wave of techno-savvy investigative activists
who are as globally minded as the corporations they track’ (Klein,
2000: 327). Indymedia (www.indymedia.org) is one such network of

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