Alter-globalization

In the wake of the Iraq war, the term Old Europe was appropriated by politicians, civil society and social movement actors alike to rally in defence of supposedly social and civilized values against the perceived predatory forces of American finance.

Against Old Europe sheds light on the social movement politics encapsulated in the protest slogan 'Fight Old Europe'. Within what is broadly labelled the global justice movement, it explores a particular, radical perspective that warns against the identification with European values by movements resisting neoliberalism. Exploring the work of key theorists critical of globalization, including Habermas, Negri, Holloway, Postone and de Benoist, the book examines critical theory approaches to alter-globalization, illustrated with concrete examples of movements within contemporary Europe. In so doing, it invites readers to explore the charges of nationalism, anti-Americanism and antisemitism brought against parts of the alter-globalization movement.

Providing a new perspective on critiques of globalization, Against Old Europe will appeal to sociologists and social and political theorists studying social movements, anti-globalization activism and European politics and identity.

No weakening, but rather an expansion, of statehood can be observed in the contemporary world. This does not, on the other hand, imply that extensive forms of constitutional ordering do not exist outside the realm of states. Instead, the evolution of world society has been characterized by a protracted dual movement where the expansion and densification of statehood and autonomous forms of transnational ordering gradually emerged in a mutually constitutive fashion. One implication of this is that neither the concept of the state nor the concept of nonstate transnational entities is adequately capable of delineating the object of constitutional analysis. Instead, the concept of normative orders has been introduced as an overarching category capable of identifying the contexts within which constitutional ordering emerges.
Subsequently, a distinction between the internal and external dimensions of the law of normative orders has been introduced, specifying them as respectively oriented towards establishing internal condensation of a given normative order and external compatibility between different normative orders. With this background, a framework for the analysis of constitutional frameworks of normative orders is developed. The central element is a distinction among three dimensions: First, a constitution implies a coupling between a constitutional object, in the form of a hierarchical organization of a given normative order capable of reproducing an autonomous source of authority, and a concordant legal framework. Second, constitutionalization implies a coupling between an internal reconstruction of an external constitutional subject within the constitutional object, and the register of legal rights, establishing a framework for exchanges between the constitutional object and the wider world as represented by the constitutional subject. Third, constitutionalism denotes the institutionalization of a double function, in the form of a principle-based and legally fortified striving toward universal inclusion, providing a sense of direction in time through an articulated form of constitutional consciousness.
The insights developed are briefly illustrated by the case of the global Fairtrade Certification System.

Since 2008, the impact of the global financial markets meltdown, often attributed to the downturn in sub-prime mortgage industry in advanced Western economies, have resulted in worldwide deterioration of living standards, mass unemployment and the
collapse of various social programmes. In many developing countries, the crisis has disrupted modest economic gains and continues to undermine various attempts at securing sustainable wealth and jobs. Drawing from a critical reflection of the themes
of governance and capacity development, and the concepts of “sustainable social protection systems” and “social dialogue” advanced by the International Labour Organisation, this paper explores various means by which the public sector could be
strengthened to create wealth and employment amid the current economic crises. The paper challenges policy makers to meet mounting citizens’ expectations and various international and governmental commitments to commit to full employment and
poverty reduction through state-driven interventions. It argues, among others, that without an effective and dynamic public sector that has the capacity to undertake constructive engagements with other private actors, a strong state may be unable to meet the expectations and promises of jobs and income growth. The analysis points to the need to blend traditional administrative tools with innovative techniques revolving around information communication technologies, public-private partnerships and best-fit inclusive governance processes for effective policy making to drive economic
growth and full employment

The paper argues that anarchist spaces of work and organisation in contemporary western society are not in the process of becoming but are to be found everywhere in the here and now. Drawing on evidence from the Time Use Survey and the Household Work Practice Survey reveals the extensive and pervasive existence of non-commodified work practices in ‘capitalist’ society: work characterised by mutual aid, reciprocity, co-operation, collaboration and inclusion. Moving beyond the narrow confines of a "capitalo-centric" reading of economic exchange provides the opportunity to produce more appropriate ways of interpreting and envisioning the economic landscape in a manner that recognises the multiple, vibrant, creative (and contested) economic practices and tendencies in society. The challenge for anarchism is to make these non-commodified spaces (more) visible so as to demonstrate the feasibility of opening up the future to more empowering and inclusive economic modes of production, exchange and consumption.

A new cycle of ideological clashes underpins the economic policy reforms in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and its continuing uncertainties. This article argues that the evolving complexity of the global economic system, especially after the crisis, has been associated with not only the growth of ideological fragmentations but also with the transversalization of ideas, identities, and solidarities among grassroots movements. Rooted in the 1990s-2000s transnational movements for justice, a more practically inclusive mode of ‘cosmopolitanism’, i.e. transversalism, has now evolved, significantly, into a growing number of consolidated demands and multi-issue agendas, in response to the post-crisis social injustices. By focusing on the 2011-2012 Occupy movements as its exemplary case study, the article delineates the features of such an ideological advancement and its implications for social theory.

How does the massive use of social media in contemporary protests affect the character of activist communication? Moving away from the conceptualization of social media as tools, this research explores how activist social media communication is entangled with and shaped by heterogeneous techno-cultural and political economic relations. This exploration is pursued through a case study on the social media reporting efforts of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, which coordinated and facilitated the protests against the 2010 Toronto G-20 summit. The network urged activists to report about the protests on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr, tagging their contributions #g20report. In addition, it set up a Facebook group and used a blog. The investigation, first, traces the hyperlink network in which the protest communication was embedded. The hyperlink analysis provides a window on the online ecology in which this communication unfolded. In addition, the examination interrogates how the particular technological architectures, related user practices, and business models of the various social platforms steered communication. This investigation shows that the use of social media brings about an acceleration of activist communication, and greatly enhances its visual character. Moreover, as activists massively embrace corporate social media, they increasingly lose control over the data they collective produce, as well as over the very architectures of the spaces through which they communicate.

"The workers at the Vio.Me. Factory in Thessaloniki, Greece have quickly grown into a symbol of self-management internationally. After going on strike and occupying their factory, on February 12, 2013 they re-opened the factory and started production under worker’s control. For many, the factory represents a new potential way forward for unemployed workers in Greece – seizing the means of production, running factories without bosses, producing only goods that are needed, and distributing them through solidarity networks.

“Every extra profit we make will be given out to people who need it. Our plan is to offer help to unemployed people or others who are in great need,” says  Dimitrios Koumasiouras, a worker from Vio.Me.

This film tells the story of how the worker’s re-opened the factory under self-management and looks to where the factory is headed now."