Networked Activisms and Regionalism

Book excerpt: Networked Activisms and the Making of Regionalismsdraws renewed attention to the role that citizens across borders have played to advance more democratic and socially sustainable alternatives to contemporary market-led regionalisms. Icaza looks at cross-border joint campaigns and mobilizations undertaken by networks and coalitions of ngos, think tanks, and social movements’ organizations based in Mexico to influence the decision-making processes and the content of regionalist agendas. She argues that social movements; organizations are the makers of regionalisms and that their interventions are paradoxical expressions of both resistance and power in the age of globalization. Icaza draws on Mexican case studies of networked opposition to significant examples of North-South and South-South regionalisms, identifying these groups’ contributions to overcome social and democratic deficits connected to these regionalist projects as well as their setbacks and limitations.