Alter-globalization: becoming actors in the global age

336 Pages·2011·2.205 MB·English

by  Touraine, Alain;Pleyers, Geoffrey

Alter-Globalization

Alter-Globalization
Becoming Actors in
the Global Age
Geoffrey Pleyers
polity
Copyright © Geoffrey Pleyers 2010
The right of Geoffrey Pleyers to be identifi ed as Author of this Work has been
asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2010 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4675-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4676-3(pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 11 on 13 pt Sabon
by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Group Limited, Bodmin,
Cornwall
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external
websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press.
However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no
guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been
inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits
in any subsequent reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com
This book has been published with the support of the FNRS-FRS.
To my parents, Marie-Louise and Joseph Pleyers-Siebertz,
for their devotion and their example.

Contents
Foreword by Alain Touraine xi
Acknowledgements xvii
Part 1 Alter-Globalization – Becoming Actors
in the Global Age 1
Introduction 3
From the fi rst uprisings to the global crisis 7
A global movement 10
1 The Will to Become an Actor 16
An actor against neoliberal ideology 16
Social agency in the global age 23
Part 2 The Way of Subjectivity 33
2 The Experience of Another World 35
Resisting through subjectivity 35
Spaces of experience 37
Diversions of experience 54
3 From the Mountains of Chiapas to Urban
Neighbourhoods 58
The Zapatistas 58
Barricade social and cultural centre 68
Alter-activist youth 73
From the Zapatistas to alter-activists 88
viii Contents
4 Expressive Movements and Anti-Power 90
A concept of social change 90
A social and subjective engagement 95
Illusions of anti-power and diversions of spaces
of experience 96
Facing the political 100
Conclusion 104
Part 3 The Way of Reason 107
5 Expertise for Another World 109
Resisting through reason 109
Spaces of expertise 112
The ambivalence of expertise 123
Conclusion 128
6 Citizens, Experts and Intellectuals 130
Introduction 130
A citizen movement 131
Committed intellectuals 135
Theories of another world and practices of expertise 142
Conclusion 152
7 Reason, Democracy and Counter-Power 154
A movement against neoliberal ideology 154
Rationality at stake 157
Democracy at stake 163
A concept of social change 169
Conclusion 177
Part 4 Confl uence of the Two Paths 179
8 Tensions and Collaborations 181
Common problematics 181
Dichotomization: from tension to opposition 185
Absorption: tension erased by hegemony 191
Combination: tensions and complementarities 193
Conclusion 200
9 The Main Debates 201
Think local and global, act local and global 202
The movement-internal organization 210
Rethinking social change 216
Conclusion 226