Justice Globalism

Book excerpt: Are political activists connected to the global justice movement simplistically opposed to neoliberal globalization? Is their political vision ′incoherent′ and their policy proposals ′naïve′ and ′superficial′ as is often claimed by the mainstream media? Drawing on dozens of interviews and rich textual analyses involving nearly fifty global justice organizations linked to the World Social Forum, the authors of this pioneering study challenge this prevailing view. They present a compelling case that the global justice movement has actually fashioned a new political ideology with global reach: ′justice globalism′. Far from being incoherent, justice globalism possesses a rich and nuanced set of core concepts and powerful ideological claims. The book investigates how justice globalists respond to global financial crises, to escalating climate change, and to the global food crisis. It finds justice globalism generating new political agendas and campaigns to address these pressing problems. Justice globalism, the book concludes, has much to contribute to solving the serious global challenges of the 21st century. Justice Globalism will prove a stimulating read for undergraduate and graduate students in the social sciences and humanities who are taking courses on globalization, global studies and global justice.