Antiglobalization

Globalization—the diverse, complex set of processes that transcend national borders—is not a “natural” or inevitable phenomenon but a historical product and therefore contingent and malleable. Because globalization does not benefit everyone, contrary to popular neoclassical economic assertions that it forms a tide that lifts all boats, globalization often breeds resentment among those who bear its costs but enjoy relatively few of its benefits. For this reason, it may be said that globalization inevitably breeds its own opposition.

Resistance to globalization is as old as globalization itself. Thus, from the beginning, European colonial empires were met with heated opposition, often violent and generally unsuccessful. Examples include the Incan uprisings against the Spanish in the early 16th century, Zulu attacks on Dutch and British pioneers in Southern Africa, ...