Steger’s Globalisms unmask the neutrality of globalization, pointing out that it refers specifically to the ideology of the market globalists. When we see the dominant view of globalization as the ideology of capitalism, we have the space to look at other possible global futures. Perhaps your utopia does not look like my utopia, or Walt Disney’s utopia for that matter. The power of seeing an ideology instead of what is natural and inherent is that we can reject, alter or bolster its view.

The Name of this Trashcan is Idealogy

What is ideology? For a great primer on ideology we turn to Slovo Zizek’s analysis of the film They Live.  Zizek states, “We think that ideology is something that is blurring or confusing our straight view. Ideology should be glasses which distort our view and the critique of ideology should be the opposite, like, you take off the glasses to see how things really are…This precisely is the ultimate illusion. Ideology is not simply imposed on ourselves, ideology is our spontaneous relationship to our social world, how we perceive it’s meaning and so on and so on. We enjoy our ideology.”

We can think of ideology as a trash can we are all eating from, the point is to be able to recognize ideology when we see it. Sometimes this means taking the glasses off, sometimes it means finding new ones.

Alter-Globalism

“Brothers and sisters, there is dissent over the projects of globalisation all over the world. Those above, who globalise conformism, cynicism, stupidity, war, destruction and death. And those below who globalise rebellion, hope, creativity, intelligence, imagination, life, memory and the construction of a world that we can all fit in, a world with democracy, liberty and justice.” – Subcomandante Marcos, a leader of the Zapatista justice-globalist movement, outside the 2003 WTO global trade negotiations in Cancun.

The full statement can be read here.