ABSTRACT
A lot has been said about the new social movements, NGOs and global civil society. Among
others, Munck (2007) discusses the anti-globalisation movement and various local transnation-
alisms and transnational political actors as possible carriers of the Polanyian second movement
in the global age. The problem is that most of these actors tend to be re-active rather than proac-
tive, responding neo-liberal initiatives by trying to mobilise resistance against them. When these
civic actors are proactive (pushing e.g. a global financial tax or debt alleviation), they try to
shape the public opinion via mass media, lobby law-makers within national states and influence
negotiators in international organisations. In a few occasions, this proactive road has been suc-
cessful, but usually only after a long delay and in rather exceptional circumstances.
