ABSTRACT
On 1 January 1994, media vectors around the world carried the dramatic news that ski masked guerrillas had captured the town of San Cristobal de las Casas and declared war on the Mexican state. The ideology of neoliberalism articulates an overarching commitment to ‘free market’ principles of free trade, flexible labour and active individualism. It privileges lean government, privatization and deregulation, while undermining or foreclosing alternative development models based upon social redistribution, economic rights or public investment. Grassroots globalization involves the creation of networks: of communication, solidarity, information sharing and mutual support. In order to materialize collective struggle, grassroots globalization networks attempt to prosecute transnational collective political action, exemplified by the aforementioned global days of action. Grassroots globalization involves a variety of political actors as well as strategic foci. Struggles against privatization are now taking place in many countries in the global North and global South.
