The World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle not only drew trade officials from 135 countries but also tens of thousands of protesters representing non-governmental organizations, labor unions, environmental groups, farmers and citizen activists. The demonstrators shook the streets and rocked the corporate suites. The WTO ministers couldn't decide on anything, and the talks collapsed. Was the outpouring of dissent in Seattle a flash in the pan or the nascence of a new movement for social change? Can the energy of the streets be channeled into politics? What is to be done?

Robin Hahnel
Robin Hahnel, professor of economics at American University, is a leading theorist of alternative economic models. He is a regular contributor to Z magazine. He is the author of Panic Rules.