Ingrid M. Hoofd - Ambiguities of Activism: Alter-globalism and the Imperatives of Speed

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Ambiguities of Activism

Alter-Globalism and the
Imperatives of Speed

Ingrid M. Hoofd

First published 2012
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

2012 Taylor & Francis

The right of Ingrid M. Hoofd to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoofd, Ingrid M.

Ambiguities of activism: alter-globalism and the imperatives of speed / Ingrid M. Hoofd.

p. cm. (Routledge research in cultural and media studies; 43) Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Social movements. 2. Anti-globalization movement. 3. Radicalism. 4. Social mediaPolitical aspects. 5. Internet

Political aspects. I. Title.

HM881.H66 2012

303.484dc23

2012002732

ISBN13: 978-0-415-62207-3 (hbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-203-10633-4 (ebk)

ISBN13: 978-1-136-25754-4 (epub)

Typeset in Sabon by IBT Global.

This book is the culmination of two decades of passionately attemptingby me, but also by many of my dear friends and colleaguesto bring alter-globalist justice to a currently unstable, oppressive, and violent world. I regard such a passion for justice as an important lifeline, especially in light of the growth of inequalities under neo-liberal globalisation, but also in light of the perplexities increasingly encountered in the course of my own alter-globalist activities. After having engaged in a manifold of activist and theoreticaland increasingly mediatedforms of resistance under neo-liberalism, one main perplexity started to foreground itself: how come there are so many good people fighting for a more just world, and yet the world does not appear to become any more just? Dismissing the too-easy answer that there must be greedy forces working against alter-globalism, I started to entertain the possibility that these activist and theoretical forms of resistance are possibly outdated, ineffective, or at least highly ambiguous today. New questions started to emerge: is there a relationship between our alter-globalist passions and the increasing desperation and disenfranchisement under globalisation? What are the intersections of left-wing activism with progressive theoretical work? How do new media technologies figure in this new problematic and in the aforementioned intersections?