ABSTRACT
T he last 15 years have seen the emergence of a political backlash against globalization. This opposition has been most visible in a series of large protests, mostly peaceful but sometimes violent, staged at annual meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Group of Eight (GE), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, and the World Economic Forum. Behind the drama of public protest, however, the antiglobalization movement has articulated a number of criticisms of the global economy. The critique is multifaceted, ranging from the claim that globalization is widening global income inequality to the assertion that it is contributing to the degradation of the natural environment. What binds the many nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and individuals that constitute the antiglobalization movement is opposition to a global economy that they believe prioritizes corporate and commercial interests over other concerns. As one scholar has written, “There is . . . an overarching umbrella uniting the backlash: opposition to corporate control of the global economy” (Broad 2002, 3). What binds the many reforms that the movement has proposed is the desire to shift this perceived balance so that other concerns are placed on equal footing with corporate interests.
