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Book Review: Hubert Vedrine, History Strikes Back: How States, Nations, and Conflicts are Shaping the 21st Century (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2008, 123 pp., $17.90 pbk)

Action. These organisations address problems caused by such things as Third World debt, ‘free’ trade agreements, privatisation of agriculture, environmental degradation, land reform, Structural Adjustment Programmes, American militarism and the power of transnational corporations. Each case study is accompanied by a history of the force against which the organisation struggles, its scale shift from local to global and its relationship to the WSF. These chapters provide useful narratives of each movement and contextualise the protest movements that are so often tossed around in discussions of globalisation, but so rarely focused on in such detail. Conspicuously absent from the book is the kind of self-critique that the author warns about early on (p. 37). Each case is described nicely and success stories are offered where relevant, but rarely does Reitan suggest any real problems with the way these movements operate, except in brief conclusive remarks (pp. 250–7). For instance, while the incoherence of the WSF is mentioned once (p. 47), the author does not seem to take this concern very seriously. The confusing cacophony of interests subsumed under the WSF umbrella contributes to the pejorative label of ‘anti-globalisation’ because of how difficult it is for observers to parse out any positive, coherent politics from this transnational movement. Furthermore, while the innovative use of new forms of independent media is highlighted, missing is a critique of the movements’ self-image as communicated through media: why are these organisations better known for rampant anti-Western rhetoric, smashing windows and wading through tear gas, rather than for the emancipatory agendas they profess and the downtrodden people they represent? Despite possessing these positive attributes, the global Left has an image problem and a credibility shortfall that are unfortunately omitted from Reitan’s discussion. A helpful dose of introspection would have served the book well. These criticisms notwithstanding, Global Activism is to be commended for the depth of its reporting and the level-headedness of its tone. Too often books on this subject descend quickly into polemic and hyperbole, whereas Reitan, self-consciously, maintains the carefully struck balance of scholar-activist. This volume is a valuable resource for students and activists alike seeking to determine the real human effects of neoliberal globalisation and the human rights struggles under way towards democratising geopolitics. The transnational movements spawned by the end of the Cold War and crystallised in the spectacle at Seattle in 1999 remain actively engaged in battles for self-determination and for the capability to define globalisation in their own terms.