Expose, oppose, propose: alternative policy groups and the struggle for global justice

247 Pages·2016·4.98 MB·English

by  Carroll, William K

EXPOSE
OPPOSE
PROPOSE
About the Author
William K. Carroll’s research interests are in the areas of social movements and
social change, the political economy of corporate capitalism, and critical social
theory and method. His books include The Making of a Transnational Capitalist
Class (2010, Zed Books), Corporate Power in a Globalizing World (revised edition
2010), Remaking Media (2006, with Bob Hackett) and Organizing Dissent (1997).
EXPOSE
OPPOSE
PROPOSE
Alternative Policy Groups
and the Struggle for Global Justice
WILLIAM K. CARROLL
Zed Books
LONDON
FERNWOOD PUBLISHING
HALIFAX & WINNIPEG
Expose, Oppose, Propose: Alternative Policy Groups and the Struggle for Global Justice was
first published in Canada in 2016 by Fernwood Publishing, 32 Oceanvista Lane, Black
Point, Nova Scotia, B0J 1B0 and 748 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3G 0X3.
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
Published in the rest of the world by Zed Books Ltd,
The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR, UK.
www.zedbooks.net
Copyright © William K. Carroll 2016.
The right of William K. Carroll to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Editing by Nancy Sixsmith
Cover design by www.burgessandbeech.co.uk
All rights reserved. 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 or otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.
Fernwood Publishing Company Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial support of
the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Manitoba Department
of Culture, Heritage and Tourism under the Manitoba Publishers Marketing Assistance
Program and the Province of Manitoba, through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, for
our publishing program. We are pleased to work in partnership with the Province of
Nova Scotia to develop and promote our creative industries for the benefit of all Nova
Scotians. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last
year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Carroll, William K., author
Expose, oppose, propose : alternative policy groups and
the struggle for global justice / William K. Carroll.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55266-834-4 (paperback)
1. Social justice. 2. Social action. 3. Social movements.
4. Globalization. 5. Neoliberalism. 6. Research institutes.
7. Pressure groups. I. Title.
HM671.C37 2016 303.3’72 C2015-908516-0
British CIP available from the British Library.
978-1-78360-604-7 Zed Books hb
978-1-78360-603-0 Zed Books pb
978-1-55266-834-4 Fernwood Publishing pb
Contents
Abbreviations vi
Acknowledgements ix
Preface 1
1. Hegemony, Counter-hegemony and Organic Crisis 6
2. Alternative Knowledge Projects and Cognitive Praxis 40
with Elaine Coburn
3. Networks of Cognitive Praxis: Embedding Postcapitalist
Alternatives? with J.P. Sapinski 65
4. Challenges and Responses 86
5. The Challenge of NGOization with J.P. Sapinski 118
6. The Repertoire of alt KPM: Modes of Cognitive Praxis 140
7. The Repertoire of alt KPM: Key Practices 166
8. Convergent Visions: The Ends of Alternative Knowledge 192
References 215
Index 230
Abbreviations
aa ActionAid
akf Aga Khan Foundation
alt kpm alternative knowledge production and mobilization
brics Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
ca Christian Aid
cacim India Institute for Critical Action: Centre in Movement
cash Campaign Against Sexual Harassment
ccs Centre for Civil Society
cetri Tricontinental Centre
cim Centro Internacional Miranda
cjn Climate Justice Now!
crid Centre de Recherche et d’Information pour le Développement
csmf Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
cso civil society organization
dawn Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era
dhf Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
ean EarthAction Network
ec European Community
ec1 European Commission
ecosoc U.N. Economic and Social Council
ejolt Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade
fao Food and Agricultural Organization (U.N.)
foei Friends of the Earth International
gcap Global Campaign Against Poverty
geej Gender, Economic and Ecological Justice
gei Gender Equity Index
hwmt Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust
idrc International Development Research Centre
ifg International Forum on Globalization
igo intergovernmental organization
imf International Monetary Fund
ingo international ngo
ips Inter Press Service
item Third World Institute
ituc International Trade Union Confederation
kpm knowledge production and mobilization
mai Multilateral Agreement on Investment
mps Mont Pèlerin Society
nafta North American Free Trade Agreement
ngo nongovernmental organization
nigd Network Institute for Global Democratization
ntt neoliberal think tank
oecd Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
owif One World International Foundation
par participatory action research
parecon participatory economics
pip Practice in Participation
pp21 People’s Plan for the 21st Century
ppsg People’s Plan Study Group
pria Participatory Research in Asia
sdc Swiss Development Corporation
sida Swedish International Development Agency
smo social movement organization
sw Social Watch
tapg transnational alternative policy group
tdh Terre des Hommes
tnc trans-national corporation
tni Transnational Institute
twf Third World Forum
twn Third World Network
uk-dfid U.K. Department for International Development
unccd U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (secretariat)
unctad U.N. Conference on Trade and Development
undp U.N. Development Programme
unfccc U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (secretariat)
unicef United Nations Children’s Fund
un-Women U.N. Women
wb World Bank
wow War on Want
wsf World Social Forum
wto World Trade Organization
yio Yearbook of International Organizations

Acknowledgements
This book is based on a research program funded by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada. Without Janet Laxton’s tireless
transcription efforts and research assistance from J.P. Sapinski, Brendan Harry,
Nick Graham and David Huxtable, this book would never have been written. I also
appreciate Mitsuki Fukasawa’s assistance as interpreter during several interviews in
Tokyo, and similar assistance graciously provided by Ana Zeballos in Montevideo.
This project has four international collaborators: Elaine Coburn (Centre d’Analyse
et d’Intervention Sociologiques, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales,
Paris); Christopher Chase-Dunn (Department of Sociology and Institute for
Research on World-Systems, University of California at Riverside); Vishwas
Satgar (Department of International Relations, University of Witwatersrand and
Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center, Johannesburg); and Yahiro Unno
(Professor Emeritus of Economics, Kanazawa State University, Japan). Elaine
Coburn conducted the French-language interviews and did a considerable part
of the transcribing and translating of them. Many thanks to all.
I am also grateful for permission to incorporate previously published mate-
rial. Chapter 3 draws upon “Embedding Post-Capitalist Alternatives? The Global
Network of Alternative Knowledge Production and Mobilization” (in Journal
of World-Systems Research, 2013, 19, 2, 211–240; with J.P. Sapinski as second
author). Chapter 4 draws upon “Activist Understandings of the Crisis of 2008”
(in Vishwas Satgar [ed.], Capitalism’s Crises, 2015, Johannesburg: WITs University
Press). Chapter 5 draws upon “Transnational Alternative Policy Groups in Global
Civil Society: Enablers of Post-Capitalist Alternatives or Carriers of ngoization?”
(in Critical Sociology, 2015, 41; with J.P. Sapinski as coauthor). Chapter 6 draws
upon “Modes of Cognitive Praxis in Transnational Alternative Policy Groups” (in
Globalizations, 2015, 12, 710–727). Chapter 7 draws upon “Alter-globalisation
ix