Demonstrators carry a giant effigy through
Seattle
(EPA/EMPICS)
Battle of Seattle
One of the key dates in the activist history books is 30 November
1999. This was the day the World Trade Organisation (WTO) met
in Seattle, USA, to launch a new round of trade negotiations for
the millennium – and nearly 100,000 direct action activists turned
out to give them grief.
This was the moment at which the anti-globalisation movement
really showed it was a force to reckoned with. Groups like Direct
Action Network disrupted meetings by blocking streets and crossroads.
Others hurled themselves at the premises of multinational corporations
like Nike and Starbucks.
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators,
creating dramatic confrontations. Eventually the meeting ground
to a halt. But what was the real pay-off of this huge action?
There seem to have been no long-term impacts on WTO policies –
except where and how it hosts its meetings.
In the end, what Seattle demonstrated most of all was the spectacular
potential of acting outside the usual democratic arena. To see
that homebrew tactics could bring an organisation like the WTO
to its knees was in itself a huge source of inspiration.
Direct action anti-globalisation, it's no exaggeration to say,
begins right here.
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