Who Are The Real Anti-Globalists?
by Erik Valencic
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It seems, that the so-called 'anti-globalist'
movement is once again getting much of the mainstream
media attention due to many events happening around
the world this autumn. Massive peace protests from
Florence to London and Washington, etc; demonstrations
during the NATO Summit in Prague; anti-WTO protests
in Australia with solidarity actions going on
everywhere, etc, etc... The list goes on and on. Makes
you feel like the world is on fire. We are witnessing
and taking part in a worldwide rebellion against the
military ideology and capitalist globalization of the
new world (dis)order.
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The corporate media reports about the mass
demonstrations as always - superficially, ignorantly and
in most cases plain wrong. Hollow phrases are often
used: "Many anti-globalists were demonstrating on
the streets today..." or "The police has tightened
its measures this week due to expected protests by
anti-globalists..." and let's not forget "...young
anti-globalists announced that the demonstrations
will be peaceful. City authorities stay highly
alert...". The mark 'anti-globalist', which is
completely inappropriate and superfluous, was invented
by the corporate media and the ruling elites to
deliberately discredit our movement, which struggles
for global justice. The label 'anti-globalist' has
namely a negative conotation from the start. Corporate
media are at all times using various patterns of
manipulation that serve precisely the appointed
'higher goals' - the ones of the guarddogs of
capitalist new world (dis)order. These goals can basically
be classified into two groups: those that discredit
opponents of the system, and those that provide all the
necessary legitimacy for the system itself.
We're fighting against capitalism. Who do you think
owns the mainstream media? Capital. I remember one
specific example: while the corporate media is
describing Palestinian fighters as 'extremists', it
shows a lot more understanding for their occupiers.
When some time ago the Israeli army was massively killing
Palestinian activists in ambushes, BBC forbid its
journalists to use the word 'assassination' in their
reports. 'Directed kill', if I remember
corectly the phrase used, sounds more
civilized. Not in my eyes or your eyes, but most of
the manipulated public buys this bullshit.
Back to 'anti-globalists'. At this point we should
ask ourselves, who are the people, that truly deserve
this label. Definition of anti-globalism presumes
antagonism to all inclusions in any global social
processes, setting local homogeneity above global
heterogeneity, opposition to multicultural society and
from that, defence of so called national interests.
And these are the characteristics that above all
reflect the image of European populist neo-nazism and
neo-fascism. Typical anti-globalists are for example
Haider's FPO, Le Pen's Frontal National and similar
extreme Right parties.
"As the frantic pace of
European harmonization transforms the nation state,
exacerbates existing regional disparities and breaks
up working class communities and culture, two breeds
of populist, extreme Right parties are emerging to
enjoy a success unprecedented in post-war period.
While the first type, epitomised by the Front National
in France, seeks to exploit the insecurities of
globalization's (white) loosers, the second,
represented most clearly by Italy's Northern League,
espouses the greed and selfishness of it's winners.
Both populisms share a desire to challenge the
existing nation state, with the issue of sovereignity
key." (Restructuring and Resistance, chapter 16 -
Popular Racism in Corporate Europe, page 118)
Both types of extreme Right form most of their political
platforms through populist protectionism of national
economy and thus through non-compromising attacks on
the migrant workers. In the eyes of their voters,
Heider, Le Pen, Fini and similar politicians, are seen
as the protectors of homeland's workforce and
national/regional identity, which continues to
disappear.
Front National launched a Campaign Against
Globalization in the mid-1990s, through which it has
denounced "the technocratic power of the European
Commission" and called for the "repeal of the Maastricht
treaty and for Europe's withdrawal from the GATT
agreements and the World Trade Organisation". The
foundation of the campaign was in FN's rejection of
global state and in elevation of national sovereignity
and superiority. According to FN (among other things),
the mission of global state is to "transform the world
into a single cosmopolitan space and to impose 'la
culture Anglo Saxon' on the French speaking world"'.
A similar campaign under slogan "Austria First" was
launched by Haider's FPO. "The Austrian Economic
Research Institute estimated that 80 per cent of
foreign investment in Austria in 1996 was German".
This was described as "Deutschmark imperialism" and
working class discontent has focused on "a series of
German industrial take-overs, in particular the
closure of factories in Austria in favour of sites in
eastern Europe where labour costs are cheaper". Still,
"anti-EU, 'the Austria First' campaign concentrates
not on the activities of German multinationals, but on
xenophobic attacks against Austria's eastern
neighbours and particularly its migrant workforce".
Renewed rise of real anti-globalism is aggressively
challenging the European Union's 'unity' and world's
political stability. NATO bosses were talking about
global security while holding their Summit in a
country where 30 per cent of police officers are
extreme Right voters (chapter 75, Open rebellion in
Prague, page 529). Neo-fascist and neo-nazis parties
are crawling back into the representative bodies of
the state and with every new election - it seems -
they have more influence on political decisions and
matters. Europe is getting occupied by racism and
hate. Welcome to 1922, again.
On the other side it's us - the movement of people
that oppose and reject the capitalist new world
(dis)order, which is based on exploitation,
imperialism, militarisation and polution. This
movement has never been anti-globalist, because it
(a) exists worldwide and because (b) it struggles for
peace and prosperity for ALL peoples of this world.
There is, of course, no doubt that inside the
movement we have certain groups, that are strictly
anti-global, but they don't have much influence on
the whole movement, that is - the "movement for global
justice".
Don't fall for media's dirty tricks, we are
not anti-globalists, we are alter-globalists.
Remember that. It will be good to know the difference
on the day when the global revolution starts and one
will have to choose a side to be with.
- – Erik Valencic
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