ABSTRACT
As this book goes to press, it is quite clear that the global political order is in flux, and dramatic changes are on the horizon as the global economy reels from the combination of bank failures, rising energy and food prices, and increasingly urgent environmental challenges. Activists and critical intellectuals attentive to the global expansion of capitalism, particularly those in the global South, predicted most of these crises decades ago. As politicians and financial elites scramble to develop new bailout and economic recovery packages to stem the unfolding catastrophes, it is in these critical communities of activists and scholars where thoughtful, feasible, and sustainable alternatives to globalized capitalism are being developed, discussed, and tested. It is therefore essential that students of social change pay more attention to activism that targets global capitalism, particularly as it is manifested in the World Social Forum process.
