Just Doing It Popular Collective Action in the Americas

Massive protests have disrupted global summit meetings from Seattle to Quebec City and from Gothenburg to Genoa. These demonstrations let the world know that resistance to globalization remains strong and vibrant. Not as clearly heard, though, are accounts of local communities organizing popular collective actions to resist those same institutions and policies of globalization.Focusing on four countries -- Mexico, Guatemala, United States, and Canada -- the narratives in this volume tell of peoples' collective struggles for environmental, economic and social justice. They deal with: indigenous peoples struggles against violence and coercion in Guatemala; Guatemalan refugees mobilizing in exile; environmental education for sustainable agriculture in Mexico; organizing waste pickers of Mexico; the resistance efforts to better working conditions of telemarketing operators; improving seniors housing; and the ways people of color have taken community actions to change oppressive environments in New York City.In all cases the focus is on the meaning and usefulness of individual acts of resistance and their relationship to collective action: the ways people cope with difficult working conditions and how these acts help to change, not only the working conditions, but the workers themselves.Desfor, Gene is the author of 'Just Doing It Popular Collective Action in the Americas' with ISBN 9781551642017 and ISBN 1551642018.