Abstract:
This thesis examines the trajectory of the Global Justice Movement (GJM) in Australia
and the impact of the 9/11 attacks, in particular focusing on the period 1999- 2002. The
questions of the dramatic rise and, as many argue, fall of the movement are assessed.
While some have argued 9/11 was the death of the Australian GJM, others believe it
didn’t constitute a significant setback. This thesis therefore inquires into the extent to
which these arguments about a ‘setback’ provide an accurate account of conditions and
circumstances of the GJM in Australia post 9/11. In this sense, the research is at once
concerned with the question of the development of the movement in Australia and the
wider neoliberal global context the movement was a part of.
This thesis considers the complexity of factors that shaped the trajectory of the GJM in
Australia and argues against the simplistic notion that the 9/11 attacks caused the collapse
of the movement. Rather, it argues there are key internal and external factors that
negatively impacted on the movement and fundamentally altered its shape in the period
after the attacks. While these factors are not in practice separate, and are part of the global
environment the movement found itself in, it is useful to delineate them analytically so
their particular shape and impact can be clarified.
Significant attention is paid to the activities and insights of the activists interviewed for
this research, and their understanding of the course of the movement. It is argued that
although there was a spread of views amongst the activists, their understanding of the
impact of 9/11 crystallised as two tendencies (to be called Campaigners and Networkers).
It is argued that the particular reflexive activity, or praxis, of the Networkers, provided
them with a more holistic appreciation of the movement and the impact of the attacks.
The thesis uses the work of Antonio Gramsci to analyse these two tendencies, arguing
that his concept of an organic intellectual offers a useful way for understanding how such
differentiation developed and its significance.
