Social Movements for Global Democracy » (1st Edition)

Jackie Smith is an associate professor of sociology and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. She is coauthor of Global Democracy and the World Social Forums and coeditor of Coalitions Across Borders: Transnational Protest and the Neoliberal Order, Globalizing Resistance: Transnational Dimensions of Social Movements, and Transnational Social Movements and Global Politics: Solidarity Beyond the State.

This groundbreaking study sheds new light on the struggle to define the course of globalization. Synthesizing extensive research on transnational activism, Social Movements for Global Democracy shows how transnational networks of social movement activists — democratic globalizers — have worked to promote human rights and ecological sustainability over the predominant neoliberal system of economic integration.

Using case studies of recent and ongoing campaigns for global justice, Jackie Smith provides valuable insight into whether and how these activists are succeeding. She argues that democratic globalizers could be more effective if they presented a united front organized around a global vision that places human rights and ecological stability foremost and if they were to directly engage governments and the United Nations.

Illuminating the deep-seated struggles between two visions of globalization, Smith reveals a network of activists who have long been working to democratize the global political system.

List of Tables and Figures     vii
Preface     ix
Foundations
Contested Globalizations     3
Rival Transnational Networks     19
Politics in a Global System     36
Rival Networks Examined
Globalizing Capitalism: The Transnational Neoliberal Network in Action     65
Promoting Multilateralism: Social Movements and the UN System     89
Mobilizing a Transnational Network for Democratic Globalization     108
Struggles for Multilateralism and Global Democracy
Agenda Setting in a Global Polity     133
Domesticating International Human Rights Norms     158
Confronting Contradictions between Multilateral Economic Institutions and the UN System     177
Alternative Political Spaces: The World Social Forum Process and "Globalization from Below"     199
Conclusion: Network Politics and Global Democracy     226
Notes     243
References     255
Index     281