Vol.10, No.2 | [Article] Alter-globalization in Southern Europe The Case of a Social Movement that Does Not Move

This paper introduces the politics of the Alter-globalization movement in Greece, Spain, and Italy through a series of interviews and vignettes from the field, and locates the movement within the broader socio-political spectrum. The movement is found to have an uneasy relationship to power due to a paradox between its rhetoric and the actual material interests of its adherents. The paper also explores the relationship between activists and society and finds that the movement occupies a ritualistic and liminal space. It is concluded that this dynamic risks undermining civic participation in democratic processes.


Keyword : Alter-globalization, Ethnography, Class Conflict, Social Protest, Political Identity