ABSTRACT
In April 2001, as representatives from 34 states gathered in a conference center in Québec City for the annual meeting of the Summit of the Americas, activists from similarly diverse places gathered on the streets of the city. Summit delegates were in Québec City to discuss details of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would extend NAFTA over the space of the entire hemisphere (save for Cuba). Before leaving for the Summit, newly elected President George W. Bush noted that when implemented, the FTAA would create “the largest free trade area in the world, encompassing 34 countries and 800 million people” (Edwords 2001). More prosaically, Bush sounded a theme that would subsequently become much more prominent. “Our goal in Québec,” he said, “is to build a hemisphere of liberty” (Edwords 2001).
