Anti-Globalization or Alter-Globalization? Mapping the Political Ideology of the Global Justice Movement

Steger, Manfred B. and Erin K. Wilson. (2012) Anti-Globalization or Alter-Globalization? Mapping the Political Ideology of the Global Justice Movement. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2478.2012.00740.x?(c) 2012 International Studies Association Globalization has unsettled conventional, nationally based political belief systems, opening the door to emerging new global political ideologies. While much analytic focus has been on ideational transformations related to market globalism (neoliberalism), little attention has been given to its growing number of ideological challengers. Drawing on data collected from 45 organizations connected to the World Social Forum, this article examines the political ideas of the global justice movement, the key antagonist to market globalism from the political Left. Employing morphological discourse analysis and quantitative content analysis, the article assesses the ideological coherence of justice globalism against Michael Freedens (1996) three criteria of distinctiveness, context-bound responsiveness, and effective decontestation. We find that justice globalism displays ideological coherence and should be considered a maturing political alter-ideology of global significance. The evidence presented in this article suggests the ongoing globalization of the twenty-first-century ideological landscape.