Abstract

Taking on the Multinationals

Today, opposition to the revised General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) may seem like the last quixotic battle in a futile war against globalizing capital. But the efforts of labor, consumer, environmental and other popular constituencies will be remembered tomorrow as one of the opening shots of an epochal worldwide struggle to reverse the catastrophic effects of globalization. These new institutions of global governance, whether GATT with its "dispute resolution panels" or the IMF and World Bank with their "structural adjustment" and "shock therapy" programs-restrict democratic self-government in the interest of this corporate agenda. Globalization has largely outflanked the efforts of local and national governments, political parties, trade unions and grass-roots organizations to protect popular interests.