Opposing the Globalisation Plans of Corporate Elites

Peoples’ Global Action was the initial linking network that inspired the decentralized Global Action Days and blockades of corporate globalization summit meetings between 1998 and 2005. It began within the social movements of many peoples taking local action around the world to oppose corporate globalisation and elite governance institutions trying to impose ‘free’ (but unfair) trade rules.

The first Global Action Day, was called for the 2nd World Trade Organisation Ministerial conference in Geneva in May 1998, during which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in over 60 countries. People asked, “is this the first flutter of a new global social movement?” After years of saying “It’s no use resisting here, we would have to organize globally”, people thought “Hey, maybe we can!” And did. A “virtuous circle” developed between these decentralized mobilisations and blockades of summits.

Oral History

The Peoples’ Global Action Oral History project began as conversations between activists after the death of fellow organizer, Anne ‘Friday’ Stafford; Like them, Friday had been part of the Peoples’ Global Action (PGA) in Europe. They believed that the stories and lessons from the PGA might be useful and valuable for newer generations of activists. Michael Reinsborough, Olivier de Marcellus, and Lesley Wood (based in the UK, Switzerland, and Canada) volunteered to move the project forward. Over the past decade, the project has built very slowly.