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Transnational Social Movements and the Globalization Agenda: A Methodological Approach Based on the Analysis of the World Social Forum* * This article was awarded the Edelstein Center Award “Gloobalization Agendas” 2005-2006.

Abstract

Globalization is not merely a competition for market shares and well-timed economic growth initiatives; neither is it just a matter of trade opportunities and liberalization. It has also evolved into a social and political struggle for imposing cultural values and individual preferences. Based on this broader context, this paper adopts the following assumption: transnational networks of social movements are the expression of a new social subject and have shifted their scale of political intervention since the 1990s in order to make their fight for social justice a politically pertinent action. Global social justice has become the motto of transnational social movements in world politics, where political decisions no longer rely exclusively on nation-states. In pursuance of developing this assumption, this paper approaches the discussion in two general parts: firstly, it presents a theoretical and methodological approach for analysing transnational social movements; secondly, it looks into the World Social Forum as one of their key political expressions.

Keywords:
Globalisation; Transnational social movements; Political theory; World Social Forum

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