ABSTRACT
The vast majority of (anti-)globalization actions and activists embody a non-violent approach to protest and activism: either in the mass marches that form the visible edge of altermondialisation; or in the disobediences and direct actions of the myriad microresistances enacted by groups and individuals protesting the character of contemporary globalization processes. Nevertheless, the quoted words ‘Viva Nihilism!’ in the title of this chapter distil a protest ethos embodied by some activists and in some contexts. This graffiti was scrawled on the walls of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, where protesters were squatting during the EU summit which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, in June 2003. As shown in Figure 11.1, the running black paint of the words and the symbolic encircled reverse ‘N’ capture a mood tangible amongst some militant activists: a mood which fetishizes the destruction of existing structures, emphasizes the display of anger in protest, and which manifests as violence towards the physical symbols of capitalism and as a preparedness for violent confrontation with police.
