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Dawn of the Cosmopolitan: The Hope of a Global Citizens Movement
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Kriegman et al.
a unified struggle for social transformation would result in replicating oppression, silencing deviant minorities for the sake of “victory”.
1
In this vein, NSMs criticize the “old left” for
attempting to subsume all efforts under the single banner of class struggle, without concern for the multiplicity of issues involving gender, race, or the environment (Wood, 2005).
Fear of tyranny of the majority and oppressive hierarchies dominates NSM strategies. There is
an on-going debate about the role of leadership versus faith in “spontaneous self-organization”. Leadership implies an organizational hierarchy that can be anti-egalitarian and limit the autonomy of factions within an organized structure—an oft-cited cause of the collapse of the bureaucratized socialist parties of the old left (Rowbotham, 1980). Many of today’s activists argue we are moving into an era where self-organizing networks of relatively independent, loosely connected actors will be increasingly important (Wood, 2005). While this claim has been around since the 1960s, recent examples abound, from the Internet (blogosphere, open source movement), to protests (1999 Battle of Seattle, Critical Mass bike rides), to the activity at the World Social Forum. However, others note that this rhetoric generally obscures very real mechanisms of authority, and a lack of transparency reduces accountability (Waterman, 2005). Ironically, for some, the anti-leadership orientation has become yet another ideological rigidity.
An antecedent of the contemporary call for unity around a shared vision is the writing of
Antonio Gramsci, an Italian social theorist jailed in the 1930s for his anti-fascist organizing, who critiqued the fatalism of Marxists who believed in the inevitability of socialist revolution. Gramsci argued that the capitalist system did not maintain its dominance simply through economic power and coercion, but that it also manufactured ideological and cultural consent.
2
While Gramsci underscored the importance of a shared identity and vision in social transformation, he did not believe this could be authentically articulated by top-down leadership, but rather would have to be articulated by those immersed in the social conditions being contested.
There is no one rallying point (e.g., climate change, poverty, imperialism, justice, etc.) that will
galvanize a GCM—as Foucault warned, all other struggles should not be subordinated to a superordinate cause.
3
Still, the problems we face are interconnected and cannot be solved in a
piecemeal fashion. Those fighting for human rights, and those fighting for ecosystem protections, those seeking to forestall global warming, and those struggling to escape from poverty must all recognize that they are addressing different aspects of a unitary challenge of building a just and sustainable global future and their success is interdependent and requires a systemic shift. It is important to understand how each effort is part of a larger framework for analysis and action.
A shared framework need not be thought of as a static blueprint created by elite leadership.
Instead, an effective and legitimate framework would need to be iteratively articulated through a dynamic process of dialogue rooted in the diverse experiences of participants. An effective process would require transparent and accountable leadership to facilitate the involvement of diverse peoples, and ensure the participation of historically marginalized voices. Instead of pretending there are no leaders, or no need for them, it is important to acknowledge that what it
1
Although events are still unfolding, the socialist governments’ disregard for indigenous community concerns in
Venezuela and Bolivia are perhaps good illustrations of this point.
2
His argument that power must be contested in the cultural realm, ironically, has resonated strongly with the neo-
conservatives and those active in the resurgence of the political right in the US (Epstein, 1991). Interestingly, some of the most prominent neo-conservative intellectuals had been active in the New Left during the 1960s, where Gramsci’s ideas had a large influence.
3
Efforts such as the Apollo Alliance, which seeks to link labor, business, social justice and environmental concerns
by focusing on the agenda of energy independence, fall into this trap.
15
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| | Authors: Kriegman, Orion. |
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Kriegman et al.
a unified struggle for social transformation would result in replicating oppression, silencing
deviant minorities for the sake of “victory”.
In this vein, NSMs criticize the “old left” for
attempting to subsume all efforts under the single banner of class struggle, without concern for
the multiplicity of issues involving gender, race, or the environment (Wood, 2005).
Fear of tyranny of the majority and oppressive hierarchies dominates NSM strategies. There is
an on-going debate about the role of leadership versus faith in “spontaneous self-organization”.
Leadership implies an organizational hierarchy that can be anti-egalitarian and limit the
autonomy of factions within an organized structure—an oft-cited cause of the collapse of the
bureaucratized socialist parties of the old left (Rowbotham, 1980). Many of today’s activists
argue we are moving into an era where self-organizing networks of relatively independent,
loosely connected actors will be increasingly important (Wood, 2005). While this claim has been
around since the 1960s, recent examples abound, from the Internet (blogosphere, open source
movement), to protests (1999 Battle of Seattle, Critical Mass bike rides), to the activity at the
World Social Forum. However, others note that this rhetoric generally obscures very real
mechanisms of authority, and a lack of transparency reduces accountability (Waterman, 2005).
Ironically, for some, the anti-leadership orientation has become yet another ideological rigidity.
An antecedent of the contemporary call for unity around a shared vision is the writing of
Antonio Gramsci, an Italian social theorist jailed in the 1930s for his anti-fascist organizing, who
critiqued the fatalism of Marxists who believed in the inevitability of socialist revolution.
Gramsci argued that the capitalist system did not maintain its dominance simply through
economic power and coercion, but that it also manufactured ideological and cultural consent.
While Gramsci underscored the importance of a shared identity and vision in social
transformation, he did not believe this could be authentically articulated by top-down leadership,
but rather would have to be articulated by those immersed in the social conditions being
contested.
There is no one rallying point (e.g., climate change, poverty, imperialism, justice, etc.) that will
galvanize a GCM—as Foucault warned, all other struggles should not be subordinated to a
superordinate cause.
Still, the problems we face are interconnected and cannot be solved in a
piecemeal fashion. Those fighting for human rights, and those fighting for ecosystem
protections, those seeking to forestall global warming, and those struggling to escape from
poverty must all recognize that they are addressing different aspects of a unitary challenge of
building a just and sustainable global future and their success is interdependent and requires a
systemic shift. It is important to understand how each effort is part of a larger framework for
analysis and action.
A shared framework need not be thought of as a static blueprint created by elite leadership.
Instead, an effective and legitimate framework would need to be iteratively articulated through a
dynamic process of dialogue rooted in the diverse experiences of participants. An effective
process would require transparent and accountable leadership to facilitate the involvement of
diverse peoples, and ensure the participation of historically marginalized voices. Instead of
pretending there are no leaders, or no need for them, it is important to acknowledge that what it
1
Although events are still unfolding, the socialist governments’ disregard for indigenous community concerns in
Venezuela and Bolivia are perhaps good illustrations of this point.
2
His argument that power must be contested in the cultural realm, ironically, has resonated strongly with the neo-
conservatives and those active in the resurgence of the political right in the US (Epstein, 1991). Interestingly, some
of the most prominent neo-conservative intellectuals had been active in the New Left during the 1960s, where
Gramsci’s ideas had a large influence.
3
Efforts such as the Apollo Alliance, which seeks to link labor, business, social justice and environmental concerns
by focusing on the agenda of energy independence, fall into this trap.
15
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