Anti-globalization movements and the Battle in Seattle
In 2007, a Canadian movie was produced to tell a story based on a real-
world protest, and the title just simply shows what was happening— Battle in
Seattle. The movie was well made, but it still cannot perfectly restore the true scene.
Thousands of street protesters dressed like green turtles. Marches and groups filled
the street, and they point all their focus on what was planning to proceed in the
Washington State Convention Center— the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999.
Over the course of four days what had begun as a nonviolent protest at the World
Trade Organization Headquarters in 1999 became the Battle in Seattle. Starbucks
windows were smashed, Niketown looted. Seattle Mayor Paul Schell declared a
state of emergency. Reinforcements arrived: the national guard, tear gas, stun
grenades, rubber bullets. So fervid were the riots that Seattle’s police chief called
the protesters “successful.” A week later, he handed in his resignation. (Dwyer, 2013)
The movement was such a success and it was the first time when the world hears
the word “anti-globalization” loud and clear. The Seattle battle raised the curtain of
a series of anti-globalization movements and these movements together, maybe be
in some way the first global movement in the world.
Before studying the anti-globalization movement, we need to understand
what “globalization” is. The term “globalization” is relatively new, first appearing in
print in a 1983 article in The Harvard Business Review. The process of globalization,
however, dates back much further, arguably to the predecessors of Marco Polo and
Christopher Columbus. (Warner, 2005) We now tend to define globalization as a
process of trade, corporation, and interaction between countries and countries.
After the end of the cold world, the fight of ideology ceases, and the economy of
the world develops at an astonishing speed. Probably many part of the
development are contributed by the rapid advance of technology and
communication. More conveniences and more magnitudes of communication have
brought countries and states closer and transnational corporations have more
resources to engage in a huge range of production and consumption in different
countries. the integration of national economies and the expansion of world trade,
