Blackwell Reference Online

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The global justice movement is a transnational social movement, rooted in the confluence of the human rights, labor, environmental, indigenous, peasant, and feminist movements’ shared opposition to neoliberal globalization and vision of a more democratic, equitable, ecologically sustainable world. Neoliberal globalization refers to those structural changes in the global economy being carried out under a discourse of free markets that weaken or eliminate policies that favor grassroots social actors, such as labor unionists, environmental activists, and indigenous peoples, while creating a regulatory apparatus that favors transnational corporations (TNCs). The global justice movement is truly global in scope, with strong constituent movements in western countries, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa; it is weakest in the Middle East, East Asia, and the former Soviet bloc. Constituent organizations range from traditional non-profits and volunteer groups in the global North (first world), to large grassroots labor, peasant, and indigenous organizations in the global South (third world). The global justice movement is a relatively young movement, coalescing in the 1990s and only becoming highly visible with the massive 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle, Washington. Given the movement's newness, sociologists have only recently ... log in or subscribe to read full text