From the Zapatistas to Seattle and beyond, the "anti-globalization movement" has been grabbing headlines and capturing political imaginations worldwide. This book explores the interface between diverse resistances to neo-liberal globalization and a range of critical theories within international relations.
"Critical Theories, International Relations and 'the Anti-Globalization Movement' "provides a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the "anti-globalization" struggles taking place in many different parts of the world. It shows the complexity and diversity of these movements and illustrates this with a number of detailed empirical studies of local, national and transnational resistance in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. The authors introduce a variety of competing theoretical perspectives from international political economy, social movement theory, globalization studies feminism and postmodernism, explaining how activism has influenced theory and how theory can help activists to modify their tactics.
The global protest movement has made a huge impact on world politics and this book is essential reading for students, scholars and activists with an interest in this area.

In recent years, the global justice movement has grabbed headlines and reshaped political imaginations worldwide. Surprisingly, however, feminism is largely absent from accounts of the movement despite the fact that feminists are extensively involved on the ground. Addressing this significant gap in the literature, Eschle and Maiguashca shine a powerful light on what they term "feminist antiglobalization activism." Drawing on their fieldwork at the World Social Forum and European Social Forum, 2003 2005, they begin by outlining the vital role of feminist antiglobalization activism in Forum processes and events while also emphasizing its diversity. The authors then trace the origins of this activism, the critiques and aspirations of those involved, their political practices beyond the Forum, and their efforts to forge a sense of solidarity among themselves and with others. Taking feminism seriously, Eschle and Maiguashca conclude, points us toward a richer and more theoretically nuanced understanding of the global justice movement and its struggle to create other possible worlds. Their book thus offers vital insights not only for feminists, but also for all those interested in contemporary social movements and in global governance and resistance.

This book explores and critically reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. In light of the changing relationship between the state, the market and the society, it seeks to map both theoretically and empirically contemporary forms of global political agency. This book reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. More specifically, it empirically analyses a range of different forms of political agency and explores their significance for understanding and enacting global politics. Reflecting the efforts of scholars from a variety of disciplines from political theory and Sociology to Geography and International Relations, it brings into conversation a wide spectrum of theoretical approaches including Marxism, feminism, post-structuralism and historical institutionalism. The contributors compare a range of forms of political agency; exploring their significance for the theory and practice of global politics; and reflect on the tensions and synergies generated by recent efforts to conceptualise them. Demonstrating an innovative and interdisciplinary approach Contemporary Political Agency will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, sociology, political economy and political theory.

This book explores and critically reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. In light of the changing relationship between the state, the market and the society, it seeks to map both theoretically and empirically contemporary forms of global political agency. This book reflects on the theory and practice of political agency in contemporary global politics. More specifically, it empirically analyses a range of different forms of political agency and explores their significance for understanding and enacting global politics. Reflecting the efforts of scholars from a variety of disciplines from political theory and Sociology to Geography and International Relations, it brings into conversation a wide spectrum of theoretical approaches including Marxism, feminism, post-structuralism and historical institutionalism. The contributors compare a range of forms of political agency; exploring their significance for the theory and practice of global politics; and reflect on the tensions and synergies generated by recent efforts to conceptualise them. Demonstrating an innovative and interdisciplinary approach Contemporary Political Agency will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, sociology, political economy and political theory.

In recent years, the global justice movement has grabbed headlines and reshaped political imaginations worldwide. Surprisingly, however, feminism is largely absent from accounts of the movement-despite the fact that feminists are extensively involved on the ground. Addressing this significant gap in the literature, Eschle and Maiguashca shine a powerful light on what they term "feminist antiglobalization activism." Drawing on their fieldwork at the World Social Forum and European Social Forum, 2003-2005, they begin by outlining the vital role of feminist antiglobalization activism in Forum processes and events while also emphasizing its diversity. The authors then trace the origins of this activism, the critiques and aspirations of those involved, their political practices beyond the Forum, and their efforts to forge a sense of solidarity among themselves and with others. Taking feminism seriously, Eschle and Maiguashca conclude, points us toward a richer and more theoretically nuanced understanding of the global justice movement and its struggle to create other possible worlds. Their book thus offers vital insights not only for feminists, but also for all those interested in contemporary social movements and in global governance and resistance.

This book provides a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the 'anti-globalisation' struggles taking place in many different parts of the world. It shows the complexity and diversity of these movements and illustrates this with a number of detailed empirical studies of local, national and transnational resistance in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. The book also introduces a variety of competing theoretical perspectives from international political economy, social movement theory, globalisation studies, feminism and postmodernism. The contributors delineate how activism has influenced theory and how theory can help activists to modify their tactics. The global protest movement has made a huge impact on world politics and this book is essential reading for students, scholars and activists with an interest in this area.

War is invariably accompanied by debate, if not controversy, over the legitimacy of using force. Alongside the longstanding state practice of justifying use of force is the increasing codification of legal rules on the use of force. In this volume a leading group of international authorities consider the issues surrounding the legitimation of force from several distinct disciplinary perspectives, including political science, law, history and philosophy. In particular, they examine the underlying question of whether and how international society's traditional norms of sovereignty and non-intervention can coexist both with the new norm of humanitarian intervention and with an increasingly hegemonial (if not 'imperial') role played by the United States. What is the difference between 'legality' and 'legitimacy'? Is the latter a truly universal concept or mainly a Western one? Are earlier ideas about 'just war' still relevant?

The emergence of global governance in several key areas calls into question conventional understandings of world politics in terms of conflicts of interests between sovereign states under conditions of anarchy. At the same time the new phenomena of anti-globalisation demonstrations, transnational social movements and an emergent global civil society point to developments in international relations that are both of profound importance and analytically complex. This volume's starting point is the hypothesis that one way of thinking about these processes is in terms of a dichotomy between the politics of governance and the politics of resistance. Leading scholars from several perspectives reflect on the usefulness of this dichotomy and consider its application to several crucial areas of international relations.