In the Wake of Madrid, the U.S. Election Turns into a Global Referendum - By Cindy Milstein

The world gets smaller and scarier by the day. This simple fact is the context for my morning routine: a cup of coffee sipped to the latest news of terrorism. It is equally the backdrop for my other media scan: the U.S. presidential race. More and more these two intertwine. The ballot box, as 3/11 in Madrid cruelly announced, is now a front in a borderless war that puts everyone at risk. But as the Spanish people proved, it can also be turned into a referendum--albeit one with a certain degree of ambiguity.

Recovering the Power of the Global Grass Roots in the Antiwar Movement -By Cindy Milstein

The global day of antiwar protests on February 15 was remarkable for several reasons.

First and foremost, of course, was the fact that some 12 million people came out in over 600 cities spanning every continent to express their outrage at a potential preemptive strike on Iraq. So enormous and unprecedented were these demonstrations that even the New York Times was forced to admit, no doubt grudgingly, of “a new power in the streets.”

Anarchism's Promise for Anti-Capitalist Resistance -By Cindy Milstein

For many, a "new anarchism" seemed to have been birthed amid the cold rain and toxic fog that greeted the November 1999 World Trade Organization protest. Yet rather than the bastard child of an emergent social movement, this radical politics of resistance and reconstruction had been transforming itself for decades. Seattle's direct action only succeeded in making it visible again. Anarchism, for its part, supplied a compelling praxis for this historical moment. And in so doing, it not only helped shape the present anti-capitalist movement; it also illuminated principles of freedom that could potentially displace the hegemony of representative democracy and capitalism.

Border Crossings -By Cindy Milstein

That which is avant-garde has always transgressed the boundaries of what is considered decent. Yet after the "shock of the new" has worn off, what was once widely perceived as subversive is often viewed by many as socially acceptable if not desirable. Anarchism, ever bohemian due to its utopian edge—even if anarchists see their principles as eminently applicable to the vast majority of peoples' lives—continually throws itself against the next brick wall as soon as the previous one comes tumbling down. At least to date, then, the praxis of anarchism has voluntarily loitered at the border regions of society, remaining outrageous, but seeing with every new frontier a sense of possibility.

Another World Is Possible . . . But What Kind, and Shaped By Whom? -By Cindy Milstein

During the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting and related demonstrations in New York from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, the Village Voice put its finger to the shifting political winds. That week's cover headline read, “Passing the Torch: Anarchists Pick Up Where Progressives Left Off,” and the corresponding image depicted a middle-aged white male running in a business suit while handing off a Molotov cocktail to the young white male in “anarchistic” attire sprinting along behind him. While this front page could be critiqued for its damaging stereotypethat all anarchists are youthful, violent Caucasian guys— the article inside sympathetically acknowledged that “the anarchist fringe is fast becoming the movement's center.” Anarchists are indeed outstripping progressives because they offer a form of contestation and transformation that speaks to the times — a form in explicit opposition to the world's powerful elites, but one that also acts as a thorn in the side of many social justice activists.

The Same New World: Antiauthoritarian Politics After September 11th - By Cindy Milstein

Most of us will always remember where we were when we first heard the news, first saw the unreal images, on that morning that can only be called, quite inadequately, a tragedy. There is no erasing the memory of what happened, just as there is no bringing back the dead. September 11 will always be a day to be condemned.

Something Did Start in Quebec City:North America's Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Movement -By Cindy Milstein

When thirty-four heads of state gathered behind a chain-link barrier in Quebec City this past April to smile for the television cameras during the Summit of the Americas, it was the tear gassing outside that garnered all the media attention. Those on both sides of the fence jockeyed to put a spin on the meaning of the massive chemical haze that chocked the old city for over two days. The "insiders" claimed that as duly elected leaders of so-called free countries, they were attempting to democratically bring "freedom through free trade," and as such, those on the streets were merely troublemakers without a cause or constituency that needed to be dealt with accordingly. The "outsiders" asserted that those hiding behind the fence were the real source of violence—the tear gas exemplifying what nation-states are willing to do to protect capitalism and the dominant elites—and thus, a certain level of militancy was necessary to tear down the "wall of shame" that many saw as separating the powerful from the powerless.

Going Public -By Cindy Milstein

If antiauthoritarians have helped catalyze a new New Left in the United States, and I believe they have, they now have a responsibility: to provide direction.

This sits uncomfortably with anarchists—and not entirely without justification. Movements aimed at liberating humanity have often ended up forcing people to be “free.” But advancing reconstructive notions isn't inherently authoritarian, nor does it have to be coercive. Indeed without visions and strategies, movements have historically left themselves open to co-optation or, worse, been the exclusive project of an enlightened few.

Toward an Anarchist Politics -By Cindy Milstein

During last fall's televised presidential debates, a curious ad appeared. A semi-scruffy young musician is shown yelling at a boy on a bicycle, “You are all sheep for the capitalist wolves.” Next, flashing ominously across the screen, is the tag line: “This guy votes. Shouldn't you?”

What's in a Name -By Cindy Milstein

The amorphous movement that has appeared on the scene of late—in North America, after Seattle, and around the world several years prior—exhibits an astonishing diversity of tactics, goals, and political beliefs. At the same time, this resurgence of radical politics is united in an equally varied critique of one phenomenon: globalization. Whether understood economically, politically, ideologically, or culturally; as a form of communication or set of new technologies; as an overlapping configuration of these or other factors, globalization provides the umbrella under which hundreds of often life-and-death matters can huddle as one connected whole.

Reclaim the Cities: From Protest to Popular Power -By Cindy Milstein

"Direct action gets the goods," proclaimed the Industrial Workers of the World nearly a century ago. And in the short time since Seattle, this has certainly proven to be the case. Indeed, "the goods" reaped by the new direct action movement here in North America have included creating doubt as to the scope and nature of globalization, shedding light on the nearly unknown workings of international trade and finance bodies, and making anarchism and anticapitalism almost household words. As if that weren't enough, we find ourselves on the streets of twenty-first-century metropolises demonstrating our power to resist in a way that models the good society we envision: a truly democratic one.

Democracy is Direct -By Cindy Milstein

These days, words seem to be thrown around like so much loose change. Democracy is no exception.

We hear demands to "democraticize" the World Bank, IMF, and WTO. Some contend that "democracy" is the standard for good government. Others allege that "more," "better," or even "participatory democracy" is the needed antidote to our woes. At the heart of these well-intentioned but misguided sentiments beats a genuine desire: to gain control over our lives.