It is somewhat ironic that the emergence of a global social movement against the forces of globalization was greatly facilitat

ANTIGLOBALIZATION AND INTERNET: WEB GUIDE.

BY ONUGWAI

The very processes and means of communicating that made globalization possible, are making globalization contestable. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), primarily the Internet, have facilitated new forms of expression and connection among groups and the growth of new public spaces, which are not easily controlled by states and ruling elites

In particular, ICTs are facilitating the growth of what may be described as alternative or counter-publics that are challenging important aspects of globalization, in particular the top-down, state-driven processes of international governance and multilateralism as embodied in the MAI and WTO. Increasingly, as questions of global governance intersect with the state they create new spaces in which citizens may act, contest and inject alternative values into what is becoming a worldwide debate over globalization. This web guide evaluates several web sites that reviews the various activities of the anti-globalization organization and the various protest that has been carried out.

GLOBAL ACTION (http://www.j18.org) shows that the Internet was crucial in bringing the international negotiations on the MAI to an end. Likewise, in the wake of the various anti-globalization protests against the MAI-particularly the "June18" and "November 30" protests in 19996-it was often noted that the Internet played a key role in the galvanizing of the protestors and organization of the protests themselves. Certainly the protests centred in Seattle during the WTO ministerial conference, featured the use of the Internet, including, reportedly, the use of Palm Pilots connected via cell-phone modems to the Internet to direct protestors on the streets.

However, while the anti-MAI and anti-WTO protests offer some evidence that new technologies have changed the face of global social movements, how generalizable are the conclusions we can draw from these cases? While there is widespread recognition of the "digital divide" between those who have access to the communication and information technologies and those who do not, nonetheless, the Internet is, by definition, a globalized technology that creates a virtual political community among all those who are connected to it.

Comparable findings have been reported by those who have examined the case of the MAI. Writing shortly after the demise of the agreement, the capacity of Public Citizen, a public interest group based in Washington, to post the draft of the MAI treaty on the Web was critical for galvanizing opposition

CUPE (http://www.a16.org) this sites deal with the protest against world bank in Washington DC. It call for heavy participation in protest to disrupt the international monetary fund meeting that was schedule for April. This site shows the impact (ICT) have at the level of world politics. It is clear that the major impact is the capacity of social movements to amplify their concerns in crisis situations. Internet technologies have enabled virtual communities to unite to counter government efforts in disrupting the IMF meetings.

It appears that the Internet serves best as a tool of information, giving activists instantaneous access to specific news that they have never been able to use before. Those who do use the 'Net as a means of activism described how they used it to organize meetings or share information, such as different resolutions or legislation that was successful in another local campaign.

NETWORKING DISSENT(http://www.usip.org/oc/vd/vdr/vburma/vburma_xa.html) similar impact of the net has been noted in the case of global social movements mobilizing on behalf of human rights. The analysis of the Burma human rights campaign provides a useful catalogue of the effects of Internet. Internet's capabilities enabled a "relatively insignificant" group of "cyber-activists" in the United States, "backed by a loose coalition of activists around the globe, with the modem as their common thread," not only to influence American foreign policy towards Burma, but also to put the issue of human rights in Burma on the agenda of the World Trade Organization. Burma activists were widely dispersed geographically, but, because of the Internet, action community were created and achieved a successful goal.

MALBOUNE(http://www.s11.org) this website was designed to disrupt the world Economic forum, a club of the world’s richest 1000 corporations. The activist were non violent but appealed to individuals to protest against the violent greed of corporate globalization . Co-ordinating such a campaign via traditional telephone or fax machines would have been impossible because of the need to act quickly and the sheer physical distances involved. Moreover, because the Internet permits them to rapidly exchange messages or send the same information to hundreds of recipients around the world, activists were able to co-ordinate with a greater number of individuals and ideas.