ABSTRACT
On the morning of November 30, 1999, 50,000 people packed downtown Seattle, as leaders of 135 governments gathered for the third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a diverse group, including environmentalists, proponents of social justice, students, teachers, and workers. All were there to protest the WTO’s free trade policies. Some demanded fair trade that does not exploit the world’s poorest populations or its nonrenewable environmental resources. Others protested the loss of American jobs that they attributed to free trade. Hoping to halt the meeting, some engaged in civil disobedience, trying to block delegates from reaching the convention center. A few smashed store windows and started fires. Officials ordered the streets cleared and established a no-protest zone in the downtown area. Thousands of riot police moved in with tear gas, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades. They were followed by the National Guard. Armored vehicles and police helicopters patrolled the city streets around the Seattle convention center. In the end, over 500 people were arrested, though most were soon released, and downtown Seattle sustained over $2.5 million in property damage. The WTO meeting lasted the week, but delegates left without reaching agreement. Many attributed this failure, in large part, to the anti-globalization protestors.1
