Framing Collective Action Against Neoliberalism: The Case of the “Anti-Globalization” Movement

Abstract

The rise of the protest movement against neoliberal globalization represents one of the most signi?cant illustrations of social con?ict and contentious political behavior of the past several decades. This paper contends that central to the movement’s rise and evolution has been the active mobilization of meanings or interpretations critical of neoliberal policies and institutions. In e?ect, the so-called “anti-globalization movement” has bene?ted particularly from a transnationally-shared diagnosis, which implicates neoliberalism for a host of global social ills. However, civil society activists, especially after the Seattle World Trade Organization protests in 1999, have had a dif?cult time generating agreed upon strategic responses to neoliberal policies. In particular, the political environment for frame dissemination has become a much more contested one in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, as regional and tactical di?erences within the protest move-ment have become much more apparent. The di?cult experiences of civil society groups committed to sustaining protest against neo-liberal globalization are not unusual, but consistent with the history of other protest movements. These movements similarly matured and positioned themselves as genuine forces for substantial political and social change.