resources for crossing borders

Global Policy Forum encourages people to participate in global policy issues by monitoring UN policy-making. The web site provides case studies as well as criteria to measure globalization. www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/index.htm, 212/557-3161

Center for Economic and Policy Research issues regular reports on globalization. Each week, its web site features an Economic Reporting Review that critiques current economic and business articles from the New York Times and the Washington Post. www.cepr.net, 202/293-5380

Global Exchange promotes environmental, political and social justice worldwide. They provide citizens with hand-on tools for creating global partnerships. www.globalexchange.org,415/255-7296

Food First publicizes policies that cause hunger and poverty worldwide and provides action plans for people who want to promote international food justice. Since 1975, Food First has provided books, education materials and a newsletter about international food and human rights issues. www.foodfirst.org, 510/654-4400

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) provides original, non-partisan reporting on trade and sustainable development to citizens worldwide. Publishes Bridges, a monthly newsletter that focuses on the links between trade and sustainable development. www.ictsd.org

International Gender and Trade Network has seven regional offices that work together to educate citizens about the impacts of trade on women. www.igtn.org, 202/635-2757 x128

International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) mobilizes people to fight for child labor rights, rights for workingwomen, and sweatshop monitoring around the globe. Educates consumers about shopping responsibly and holding corporations accountable for unjust actions. www.laborrights.org, 202/347-4100

International Forum on Globalization examines the effects of globalization on indigenous peoples, natural resources and food and agriculture and recommends practices to revitalize local economies. www.ifg.org, 415/561-7650

United Nations Development Program (UNDP), works with governments and citizens in over 160 countries to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Publishes annual Human Development Reports that show the vast differences in human development in countries throughout the world. www.undp.org

Third World Network is an independent information clearinghouse that uses its web site, magazines and books to report on various issues in developing countries, including women's rights, trade policies, and global climate change. www.twnside.org.sg/

No Border Network connects people from around the world working to change or protect migration policies and issues relating to deportation, migration, and border camps. www.noborder.org

Border Ecology Project works with Mexican and U.S. organizations to develop solutions to environmental and health problems along the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout Latin American regions. www.borderecoweb.sdsu.edu/bew/drct_pgs/b/bep.html505/983-4642

consumer campaigns
Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair campaign educates and invites people to challenge unjust international trading practices by providing sample letters to international trade commissioners, a campaigning toolkit for activists and information about how to purchase Fair Trade products. www.maketradefair.com, 617/728-2480

TransFair USA, the only independent U.S. certifier of Fair Trade practices, sells coffee, tea, and chocolate from farmers who have received just payment and treatment. www.transfairusa.org, 510/663-5264

education
The American Forum for Global Education provides an interactive web site for youth and teachers, supports young leaders, and publishes a quarterly magazine. www.globaled.org/ 212/624-1300

Taking It Global connects young people in over 200 countries through a Global Youth Action Network and Service Day. Provides a Youth Action Guide to help young leaders turn their ideas into action. www.takingitglobal.org, 416/977-9363

Global Citizens for Change organizes international volunteer projects for young people and provides resources for teachers who want to bring global issues into their classrooms.www.citizens4change.org

media
The Globalistis a multi-faceted trilingual website about globalization featuring a daily online magazine, e-learning tools for students, business leaders, and consumers, and an online forum. www.theglobalist.com, 202-898-4760

Independent Media Center engages hundreds of independent journalists, filmmakers, and broadcasters in grassroots reporting on globalization, protests, and other community issues. www.indymedia.org

CorpWatch is an on-line magazine on corporate-led globalization. The web site educates and helps to mobilize citizens on human rights, labor rights and environmental justice issues. www.corpwatch.org, 510/271/8080

books
When Corporations Rule the World, by David C. Korten, documents a system of global corporate rule that is creating economic, environmental, and social devastation around the world. Kumarian Press, 2001.

Alternatives to Economic Globalization, provides a comprehensive report by 19 researchers and activists on alternatives to the current corporate model of globalization. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002.

The Case Against the Global Economy And For a Turn Toward the Local, edited by Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith, argues that local economies are a better choice than free trade and economic globalization. Includes reports from 43 leading economic, agricultural, and environmental experts. Sierra Club, 1997.

Shafted: Free Trade and America's Working Poor, edited by Christine Ahn, provides real testimonies of farmers, fishermen, seamstresses and other working Americans whose lives have been worsened by global trade agreements. Stories illustrate the connections between domestic and international environment, economic and labor policies. Food First Books, 2003.

Vanishing Borders: Protecting the Planet in the Age of Globalization, by Hilary French, focuses on the environmental effects of the global economy and includes recommendations for improving corporate and government environmental practices. Provides examples of forward-thinking businesses that have implemented environmental standards. World Watch Books, 2000.

Global Uprising, edited by Neva Welton and Linda Wolf, offers true stories told by activists who are leading the fight against worldwide injustice through direct action. New Society Publishers, 2001.

A Movement of Movements: Is Another World Really Possible?, edited by Tom Mertes, describes current campaigns that are challenging neoliberal globalization; told by the movements' leading activists and theorists such as Right Livelihood Award-Winner Walden Bello and the Zapatistas' Subcomandante Marcos.Verso Books, 2004.

Global Citizen Action Guide, edited by Michael Edwards and John Gaventa, is a diverse collection of case studies examining the lessons from recent social movements and the challenges that lie ahead. Lynne Rienner Press, 2001.

Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild, describes and analyzes the vast migrations of women around the world in search of employment and better lives, and its repercussions, including a global “care drain.” Metropolitan Books, 2003.

Open-Economy Politics: The Political Economy of the World Coffee Trade, by Robert H. Bates, takes readers on a chronological tour of the origins, operations, and collapse of the International Coffee Organization, a world “government of coffee” that was formed in the 1960s. Princeton University Press, 1997.

Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggle in Mexico, by Bill Weinberg, explains the current struggle for land in the Chiapas region of Mexico, outlines the ways in which NAFTA allowed agribusiness giants to control much of its land, and describes recent efforts of local people to shape current policies. Verso Books, 2002.

Tunnel Kids by Lawrence Taylor and Maeve Hickey, offers a glimpse into the lives of young people from Nogoles, Mexico who live in the streets and drainage tunnels that cross the Mexico-U.S. border. The University of Arizona Press's web site offers tips on how to use this book in the classroom. 2001. www.uapress.arizona.edu

Southern Exposure, by Barbara P. Thomas Slayter, shows how inequality and poverty have increased in South America as a result of globalization. Kumarian Press, 2003.

films
Another World is Possible, directed by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young, presents a sampling of real issues and events at the second World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Produced by Moving Images, 2002.

Life: A Series of 30 Programs, edited by Robert Lamb, is a series of thirty 24-minute programs that examine the wide range of issues related to globalization and its effects on ordinary people throughout the world. Produced by Television Trust for the Environment. Bullfrog Films, 2000. www.bullfrogfilms.com/