infonet-economy

Since Charles Tilly’s path-breaking work on the emergence of the modern pro- test politics during the historical transformation from an old to a new repertoire of contention (Tilly 1984, 1986 and 1995), social movements have been conceptualised as being inherently national or sub-national phenomena. Now, things seem to have changed. Over the past few years, transnational contention has increased considerably and a new collective actor has emerged. This new collective actor – which is defined variously as the no-global movement, anti-globalisation movement, alter-globalisation movement, global justice movement (GJM), movement for a globalisation from below, among other labels – includes a wide range of groups, mobilises various social networks and addresses many different, albeit interrelated issues relating to the struggle against neoliberalism (Sommier 2003). The most salient issues bear on social and economic injustice, North-South inequalities, international trade rules and barriers, fair trade, global environmental problems, sustainable development and so forth.1 We use the label ‘global justice movement’ as we think that what unites the various organisations and groups mobilising on these issues is their willingness to bring about a new world order based on justice.