Protest and Globalisation: Prospects for Transnational Solidarity

By Edited By James Goodman, Annandale: Pluto Press, 2002, 275 pages, paperback, $39.95. Reviewed by Melissa Gregg in the November 2002 issue.

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Hefty terms abound in the title of this informative new collection. Contributor Ronaldo Munck sums it up nicely when he writes that globalisation is 'a contested discursive terrain par excellence' (p 143). How right he is. The problem of how to approach the complex, protracted process of cultural upheaval distinguishing the current historical juncture remains an unresolved dimension of this text. In terms of its 'prospects for transnational solidarity', globalisation is shown to be at once invigorating and perplexing for our established modes of thinking and acting.

Addressing the issues for editor James Goodman are thankfully not the usual suspects (unless you're an Arena adherent, perhaps, which may in fact be likely), but a diverse array of Australian and international writers, many of whom problematise the very concepts and notions that others cling to for support. Paul James presents a headstrong critique of abstract categories for political thought; Rowan Ireland, Leanne Reinke, Patricia Ranald and Rosemary Sales provide engaged instances of research which make clear the need for grounded analysis in the face of celebratory or hasty political interpretations. Miriam Solomon provides a prescription for the stasis of binarist thinking, while Josee Johnston's animated and urgent piece worries our sense of empowered citizenship in a consumer society. Still other accounts dive head first into the intricately layered political situations of different countries, including South Korea, Latin America, the new States of Central and Eastern Europe, England, and, of course, North America.

It's a fascinating bunch of essays, not the least because of the way the papers provoke each other. Terms and useful solutions appear in one context, only to be renounced elsewhere. Our assumptions about appropriate strategies and resources are equally dispelled: the hope we might reasonably confer on NGOs, for example, is questioned, while the alleged redundancy of union power world-wide is ably disputed. There are no simple anti-McDonalds postures here, just as there are no empty appeals to regionalism as the easy solution for all our academic theory or government policy dead-ends. The adamant contrast and interweaving of local, regional and international emphases at work throughout leaves the reader in little doubt that there is no one picture of globalisation, or of those who craftily resist it. The maxim of many of the essays is the need for analytic layering, for texture, for creative, indeed 'cacophonous' tension in our varied perspectives on politics.

With a couple of exceptions, it's pretty dry writing. But then, these are serious issues under discussion. I'm reminded of the sobering tone of Reinke, warning of the ultimate irrelevance of communicative technology innovation, when traditional communities such as the Zapatistas want only to protect the face-to-face culture they've always had. In the west (or, as this collection maintains, the north) we have the option of closing the laptop on others' suffering, but for those faced with cultural oppression every day, there is no such reprieve.

As a resource for the kinds of protest methods enacted in recent times, and a sophisticated assessment of their success, the collection is a valuable historical document -- albeit something of a belated one. There are few references past 1999, which is strange for a collection aiming to offer 'prospects' for the future. The Australian examples are indicative of the problem. John Wiseman wheels out the MUA dispute of 1998, while Damian Grenfell intelligently re-reads the Jabiluka protests and the uproar over French nuclear testing back in 1995. The dangers of narrating events too soon after they occur is often a problem in the publishing world, but here the opposite seems to apply. Is it simply a matter of slow turnaround on the printing presses? Is the delay in publishing itself symptomatic of globalisation trends?

Given more recent events, we can appreciate the foresight of Rosemary Sales' comments on migrant women, and for that matter, Ruth Phillips' take on corporate accountability. But as the book stands, its careful reconstructions of past actions tend to lead to safe conclusions, and too often, a hesitancy to wager future prospects at all (see Phillips' frustrating 'time will tell' summary, p 169, and Goodman's own 'we are yet to see full implications', p 228). Given the title, some more considered speculation from the writers isn't too much to ask. From what is provided in the articles constituting this impressively researched collection, these thinkers -- unlike so many other self-appointed diagnosticians of our time -- are surely in some of the best positions to know.

Citation

• Melissa Gregg. 'Review: Protest and Globalisation: Prospects for Transnational Solidarity by edited by James Goodman' [online]. Network Review of Books (Perth, Australian Public Intellectual Network), November 2002. Availability: <please cite the web address here> ISSN 1833-0932. [accessed 09 February 2010].

Back Cover Blurb

• Subversive new protest movements are challenging globalisation.
  
  Military and corporate power and the claims of free market globalisers are contested. Campaigners work across borders to demand a different global order which will serve workers, women, indigenous and colonised peoples, and bring about social and environmental justice. What are the prospects for this 'globalisation from below'?
  
  Protest and Globalisation describes the formation of transnational strategies, particularly between 'First' and 'Third' Worlds, offering insights into the process of democratising 'globalisation'.
  
  This book develops theoretical perspectives and examines conceptual that are encountered as protest movements challenge corporate globalisation. The combination of clear analysis and informed speculation both provides a deeper understanding of the role of protest movements in global politics and suggests models for these transnational movements.
  
  James Goodman lectures on issues of globalisation at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. He is actively involved in several organisations including the Minerals Policy Institute and AidWatch. Previous publications include Stopping the Juggernaut: Public Interests versus the MAI (1999) and Moving Mountains: Communities Confront Mining and Globalisation (2001). His latest study is a valuable contribution to an emerging field of knowledge.

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