Penn State

Consortium forSocial Movements and Education
Research and Practice

Globalization and Resistance in the United States and Mexico: The Global Potemkin Village

Globalization and Resistance in the United States and Mexico: The Global Potemkin Village

Robert Rhoads
2003
2003

Abstract

This paper explores resistance to globalization through an analysis of three movements in which university students played pivotal roles: the student strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), global trade protests, and the graduate student union movement in the U.S. Of special interest are the effects of globalization on higher education and the relevance of the neoliberal critique offered by critical theorists and globalization protesters. The author reveals how anti-globalization rhetoric deriving from the three movements seeks to counter the hegemony of corporate globalism. Previous literature on globalization and social movements is called upon to inform the study.

Abstract

This paper explores resistance to globalization through an analysis of three movements in which university students played pivotal roles: the student strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), global trade protests, and the graduate student union movement in the U.S. Of special interest are the effects of globalization on higher education and the relevance of the neoliberal critique offered by critical theorists and globalization protesters. The author reveals how anti-globalization rhetoric deriving from the three movements seeks to counter the hegemony of corporate globalism. Previous literature on globalization and social movements is called upon to inform the study.

Social Movements

Labor Rights, Youth Activism

Keywords

Class, Globalization, Higher Education, Latin America, North America, Policy

Theme

Social Movements Within; Through; and for Public Education