Global Justice Activism and Policy Reform in Europe: Understanding When Change Happens

Civil society activism around issues of global justice has proliferated in Europe during the past two decades. Has such contestation and advocacy made a difference? This book examines whether and how the organizations, networks and campaigns involved have attained their policy objectives in the areas of debt relief, international trade, international taxation and corporate accountability. The analysis also considers the relationship between national and transnational activism. By comparing variations in the "activism-policy nexus" in France, Italy and the United Kingdom, it seeks to understand how such interaction and policy outcomes vary in different institutional and political contexts.

"Research on the effects of social movements is still rare. This volume is a valuable exception presenting fresh ideas and data on the conditions under which social movement campaigns succeed or fail in changing national policies in Europe." -- Donatella della Porta, European University Institute, Italy.

"Anyone interested in whether, when and how activists can bring about fairer global policies should read this book. It departs from the common practice of focusing on a few successful cases, and instead offers a systematic survey of a range of important policy areas in several wealthy democracies. The result is a more nuanced and realistic assessment of both the potential and the limits of civil society involvement in global public policy making." -- Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.

Contents
Introduction: Understanding the Activism-Policy Nexus, Anne Ellersiek, Mario Pianta and Peter Utting

Part I: Actors, Institutions and Networks
1. Elite Business Power and Activist Responses, Peter Utting
2. National Policy Regimes: Implications for the Activism-Policy Nexus, Daniela Barrier
3. The Potential and Practice of Civic Networks, Jem Bendell and Anne Ellersiek
4. Global Social Movement Networks and the Politics of Change, Raffaele Marchetti and Mario Pianta

Part II: The Activism-Policy Nexus in Practice
5. Global Networks on Trade Policy: The Case of the WTO Conference in Cancun, Federico Silva
6. Advocacy for Corporate Accountability and Trade Justice: The Role of 'Noble Networks' in the United Kingdom, Jem Bendell and Anne Ellersiek
7. Reforming Agricultural and Trade Policy in France: The Limits of Multi-Actor Coalitions, Benoit Daviron and Tancrède Voituriez
8. Debt Relief and Trade Justice in Italy, Paolo Gerbaudo and Mario Pianta
9. Dropping the Debt? British Anti-Debt Campaigns and International Development Policy, Clare Saunders and Tasos Papadimitriou
10. The Struggle for Third World Debt Relief in France, Rodrigo Conteras Osorio
11. Global Justice and/as Global Democracy: The UK Campaign for a Tobin Tax, James Brassett
12. Campaign or ‘Movement of Movements’? Attac France and the Currency Transaction Tax (CTT), Edouard Morena
13. How Can Activism Make Change Happen?, Mario Pianta, Anne Ellersiek and Peter Utting

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