Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 11:48:48 -0400 From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca> Subject: Fwd: Jane's detects anarchist threat -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Jane's detects anarchist threat Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 18:17:20 -0700 >19 October 2000 > >Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor > >New radical anarchism on the march > >THE thousands of protesters who descended upon the World >Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Seattle in December, at >the meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary >Fund (IMF) in Washington, in April, and at the Democratic >and Republican national conventions this summer, represent a >new phenomenon in political activism. > >It marks the first time since the Vietnam War that so many >Americans, particularly young Americans, are willing to go >to jail to make a political point. > >The protesters - who have like-minded allies in Western >Europe - tend to be young, idealistic and concerned about >the environment. In addition to an anti-establishment ethos, >today's social activists voice deep forebodings about the >growing power of global corporations. > >While the protesters have individual concerns - ranging from >workers' rights to protecting the natural resources of >developing countries - they are united in their opposition >to the globalisation that has swept the US and other >countries in recent years. > >Mark Weisbrott, of the left-leaning Centre for Economic and >Policy Research in Washington, summed it up: "We are opposed >to this tremendous concentration of power that is >unaccountable and causes enormous destruction around the >world." > >Corporate power > >Institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF >appear to be perfect foils for a whole variety of >protesters, according to Alexander Bloom, a professor of >American history at Wheaton College. "You have people >concerned with the environment, labour, the anti-sweat shop >movement and the notion that these institutions represent >some kind of invisible corporate power." > >One element of the protests has been the revival of >anarchism. Black-masked anarchists stoned chain stores in >Seattle and protesters with giant A's pasted on their shirts >blocked intersections in Washington during the Republican >National Convention and in Los Angeles for the Democratic >convention. > >Anarchism, it seems, is becoming fashionable. This may be >seen in the way protesters of diverse loyalties - labour, >environmental, and consumer groups among them - have sought >to become a mass but leaderless movement, a collection of >affinity groups that operate by consensus. Many of those who >oppose international capitalism call for a return to local >decision-making, echoing long-time anarchist objections to >the way nation states usurped the power of cities and towns. > >Paul Avrich, a leading historian of anarchism at Queens >College in New York, said: "With the decline of socialism, >you have seen anarchism go through a revival as an easy way >to oppose global capitalism." > >He claims anarchist groups are emerging in every major city, >but whether this radicalism will emerge into a movement is >less than clear. Analysts argue that too many disparate >themes do not make for coherent protest. > >At the Democratic convention in LA, for example, gang >members protesting police brutality joined vegetable-eating >environmentalists protesting about logging. Hippies marched >with welfare mothers. Free trade foes marched with the >self-described "radical anarchist clown bloc". Two banners >displayed signs against the WTO and the North American Free >Trade Agreement. They flanked another banner that included a >discourse on revolution and the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal slogan >(Mumia was convicted in 1981 and sentenced to death row for >shooting a Philadelphia police officer). > >Boycott favoured > >The protest movement's leaders say their next objective is >to spread the anti-globalisation message to religious >organisations, unions and city councils. Many favour a >boycott of World Bank bonds, the main financing tool the >Bank uses to pay for its operations. > >Critics argue that the protesters are advocating policies >that would hurt the very people they seek to help. Professor >Lestor Thurow, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute >of Technology, said: "Globalisation is similar to what >happened a century ago when electricity and things that went >with it (the telegraph, the telephone, the radio) replaced >the local regional economies with a new national economy. >"The difference is that we already had a democratically >elected national government standing by to regulate this new >national economy. Today, there is no democratically elected >global government ready to regulate this new global economy. >While the demonstrators talk about democracy or lack of >democracy at the WTO, the IMF, or the World Bank, they don't >really believe in global democracy." > >For whilst there is much of the 1960s in the tactics of the >protestors, their 'ideology' has more in common with the >19th century questions over burgeoning capitalism - how to >reconcile the demands for growth with the need to preserve >fairness. At present the protestors seem to simply want to >tell the developing countries to stop developing. >
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