Transnational Social Movements and the Globalization Agenda: a methodological approach based on the analysis of the World Social Forum

globalization is not merely a competition for market shares and well-timed economic growth initiatives; neither is it just a matter of trade opportunities and liberalization. it has also evolved into a social and political struggle for imposing cultural values and individual preferences. based on this broader context, this paper adopts the following assumption: transnational networks of social movements are the expression of a new social subject and have shifted their scale of political intervention since the 1990s in order to make their fight for social justice a politically pertinent action. global social justice has become the motto of transnational social movements in world politics, where political decisions no longer rely exclusively on nation-states. in pursuance of developing this assumption, this paper approaches the discussion in two general parts: firstly, it presents a theoretical and methodological approach for analysing transnational social movements; secondly, it looks into the world social forum as one of their key political expressions.