One No, Many Yeses: A Journey to the Heart of the Global Resistance Movement - Mixed Media - Book Review

New Internationalist, July, 2003 by Phil England

by Paul Kingsnorth

(The Free Press, ISBN 0-7432-2026-9)

Whatever its proponents tell you to the contrary, the neoliberal model of economic globalization results in a net flow of capital from poor countries to rich. Since the 1970s the gap between the rich and the poor has widened dramatically and poverty and deprivation has become more widespread.

But as the neoliberals turn the screw the poor are fighting back out of necessity and with resourcefulness. In One No, Many Yeses Paul Kingsnorth travels the globe in search of the character of the movement behind the 'anti-capitalist' headlines and uncovers inspirational success stories along the way.

We get to see the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) taking back land for survival and self-sufficiency; guerrilla bands reconnecting electricity in South Africa; citizens making fundamental legal challenges to corporate power in the US; and the West Papua independence movement fighting to stop American mining company Freeport stripping the country of its natural resources.

Kingsnorth tracks the internationalization of these local developments from the Encuentro gathering hosted by the Zapatistas in Chiapas in 1996, through the formation of the organizing force behind the demonstrations - People's Global Action - to the initiation of the World Social Forum. He explodes the myth that 'the movement' is simply against capitalism and has nothing constructive to offer in its place and he expounds the most widely held programme for change.

This gripping, highly personable travelogue is essential reading for anyone who wants to get up to speed with the growing social-justice movement.

Rating *****

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STAR RATING

EXCELLENT  *****
VERY GOOD   ****
GOOD         ***
FAIR          **
POOR           *