[Gerakan-gerakan Rakyat Dunia Ketiga (Mass movements in the third world). Noer Fauzi, ed. Resist Book Yogyakarta, September 2005. xvi + 304 pp.]

Nurani Soyomukti, Jakarta – The resistance movement against globalization will become the phenomenon of much focus in any discipline today. The efforts of global capitalists in forcing a neo-liberal system upon the Third World is also facing many protests all over the world. It is clearly understood that such protests are triggered by the unjust outcomes of the Third World's impotence vis-a-vis international institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In the middle of last month, we also witnessed a great number of people gathering in Hong Kong to mark the historical fact that international powers will never stop, in addition to the international oppression of global capitalists. Most of the protesters were peasants from agricultural Third World countries such as Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.

The WTO's policy has been considered beneficial for "rich" countries, as they are winning the trade war on agricultural products against the weaker, poor countries. The protesters from these nations were committed to be in Hong Kong for a peaceful demonstration against the WTO ministerial meeting then taking place – which they considered would only make them suffer more while causing the Third World to lose our sovereignty over food products.

The impact of the WTO on Thai farmers has been even worse, causing production costs to go sky-high so that they are tied down by heavy debts. Many farmers have reportedly committed suicide because they could not repay their debt.

In Indonesia, many children – most of who come from farming families that live in acute poverty – suffer from malnutrition. Agricultural products are sold at such a low price that they cannot cover production costs.

Meanwhile, those of the younger generation are not interested in becoming farmers.

In Japan, for example, the population of young farmers is decreasing at such a rate that Japanese agriculture will eventually disappear – making that country totally dependent on food imports.

While farmers fight to protect farmland and arable land, in the Philippines they also face rights violations such as intimidation, torture, "disappearances" and even outright murder – thus leaving a female head of household to fend for the family and their farmland.

The consequences of international injustice is such that mass movements have been organized by any and all activists who possess ideology, tactics, strategies and programs – even to the extent that they survive with poor resources, including minimal organization and funding.

When governments and the elite in Third World countries do not speak up against the drivers of globalization, their people often end up feeling that they must empower themselves through political movements.

Highlighting the real dynamics of such mass movements in the Third World is the goal of Noer Fauzi, the editor of several articles that have been compiled in Gerakan-gerakan Rakyat Dunia Ketiga (Mass movements in the Third World).

Noer tries to deliver some of his own observations in describing various movements of people in different countries. Knowledge of the profiles of mass movements, which have their own characteristics in each country, enrich our perspective in looking at such movements on a macro scale.

Every mass movement and their organization has their own history, according to Gerakan-gerakan Rakyat Dunia Ketiga, and the way they respond to the oppression of globalization reveals their weaknesses and strengths.

While the essay collection focuses mostly on the movements of people in rural areas that have been marginalized by (capitalistic) development, it is clear that the ideas expressed by the authors all relate to the fact that local politics in the rural Third World is persistently influenced by actors of both national and global processes – which suffer the poor.

They underline that local people tend not to follow the policies of either local or national governments, as these policies often come from bowing down to global capitalistic pressure in pursuit of real economic activity or market expansion.

In most such cases, as the authors illustrate, a group of people react and even organize profound resistance.

This book is highly interesting as it comprises the writing of observers with a sharp analytical view to each movement.

The editor presents a selection that offers a comprehensive and detailed look at the subject in terms of context, anatomy and the dynamics of such movements through nine contemporary cases representing Asia, Latin America and the African continent.

The nine are:

1. Movimento Dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra/Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), Brazil;

2. Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional/Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), Mexico;

3. F"deration der Indigenen Organisationen des Napo/Federation of Napo Indigenous People Organization (FOIN), Ecuador;

4. Landless People's Movement (LPM), South Africa;

5. Land Occupation Movements, Zimbabwe;

6. Narmada Bachao Andolan/Save Narmada Movement (NBA), India;

7. The Assembly of the Poor (AOP), Thailand;

8. Pambansang Ugnayan ng mga Nagsasariling Lokal na Samahang Mamamayan sa Kanayunan/National Coordinator of Autonomous Rural and Local People Organization (UNORKA), the Philippines; and

9. Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara/Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), Indonesia.

Each of these movements and their aims are explained and supported by a clear, in-depth illustration of each organization.

The dynamics of these movements, which are presented chronologically, offers a descriptive account of the historical basis and the different circumstances that have arisen today in reaction to globalization.

The comprehensive selection of resistance movements covered by this book offers readers a look at a range of ideologies, strategies and programs that drive them.

Further, readers are exposed to the challenges faced by such movements and how resistance is still the ideal choice for activists seeking to effect change.

[The reviewer is a freelance writer and research fellow at the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) in Jakarta. She can be contacted at muktidanmedia@yahoo.com.]