ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the rise of what might be called global citizenship as characterized by broad coalitions of groups using campaigns against corporations, along with other tactics, to press for greater public accountability in trade regimes, labor practices, human rights, environmental quality, and other areas of corporate social responsibility. It explores general properties of a new global activism that is centered on these networked, lifestyle-oriented political communication campaigns. Combining the low cost and global reach of the Internet with the public salience of logo campaigns, sustainable activist networks have developed successful political strategies based on targeting companies and their brands. Microsoft, by contrast, is an example of a network of players seeking various kinds of standards with governmental enforcement. The organizational impact of the Internet may be limited to extending or amplifying existing organizational routines, when e-communication is adapted to conventional organizations such as unions or political parties, or to established political processes such as election campaigns.
