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The Battle for Seattle

A summary of the case study

In November 1999, the World Trade Organization planned to have its biennial meeting in

Seattle, Washington. This was in a bid to launch a fresh round of trade negotiations. These

negotiations turned out to be unsuccessful, overshadowed by many controversial protestors in the

streets, convention centers and hotels (Gamson & Sidney, 310-311). The protests were as a result

of people perceiving the WTO as being more geared towards profits and less concerned about

environmental and human rights issues. The WTO policies were deemed as being commercially

oriented to satisfy the interests of multinational companies. These reasons saw the riots being

sparked.

The planning of the demonstrations was effectively done, months before the actual date.

The planning was done by national, local and even international organizations that are concerned

with environmental issues. Other groups were labor unions and anarchists. This is to imply that

their intent and motivations differed significantly. Together, the groups had a Direct Action

Network with the ultimate plan of disrupting the meeting. The plan bore fruits as they blocked

intersections and streets, barring the representatives from reaching the convention and trade

center.

Despite the divergent drives for the protests, the motto of non-violence was underscored.

However, the anarchists later opted for a confrontational strategy, vandalizing properties mostly

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owned by the multinational corporations. In response to this, the police attacked many peaceful

and unarmed protestors as well as bystanders through the use of pepper sprays, rubber bullets,

and jack boots. Brutality and injustices were reported with arrests based on the flimsiest reasons

made. Eventually, the police chief lost his job with the mayor losing his seat in the elections that

followed. A movie was also made to give a reflection of the events that had transpired.

Formal and informal traits of the social movement

Formal organizations have a distinct set of traits, with well-defined regulations and rules.

It also has an organizational structure guided by objectives as well as policies. On the other hand,

informal social movements are characterized by a loose and dispersed link between the

individuals or groups of individuals. This form of the network gives room for the circulation of

information, material resources, and expertise. These two traits of formality and informality are

evident in the case study.

The social movement in the battle for Seattle can be seen as taking a formal organization

perspective at some point. All the groups taking part in the protests had a set out manner of

behaving guided by the “non-violence” slogan. Policies set up were also directed towards a

common goal of making the meeting hit a bar. This, however, did not last to the end as the

anarchists later broke the rules. Non-governmental organizations were part of the movement but

with the formal reasons for participating in the meeting.

On the other hand, the informality trait of the social movement is evident in the loose

manner of protesting among the different groups. Through this organization, the circulation of

information was made successful and somehow coded to make the officers stranded in

containing the demonstration. There is a loose link in the groups that took part in the social

movement with each having a different demand. Non-governmental organizations had the

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intentions of participating in the meeting. Other organizations showed civil disobedience and

disrupted the meeting.

Strategies Used by the Social Movements

The strategies that social movements use are supposed to be actionable enough for

dismissal and very challenging to draw the attention of actors involved. MEYER. The first

strategy evident here is the candlelight vigil. This tactic shows the level of commitment by the

activists and sends a message to bystanders despite being dismissed by political actors. Initially,

the actions the protestors could have been ignored by the police officers until the situation

spiraled out of control for intervention. The advantage of this is that the movement got attention

and could air views on discontentment. The major disadvantage is that it is not effective unless

taken a notch higher because of being looked down upon by the politicians (people to bring the

desired change)

The second strategy that was used was disruption of the identified enemy, demanding

responses from authorities on the burning issues. This was evident in the blockade of streets and

the move by the anarchists to use violence. The advantage of this is that it drew the attention of

the participants of the biennial meeting, and the strength of the social movement could not be

ignored. The major disadvantage is that it may result in the loss of lives and the destruction of

properties.

The effectiveness of the strategies.

The most effective strategy was disruption through candle light would be more preferred

for its peaceful approach. The latter would fail to bear fruits, and it has to take a notch higher

through the use of disruption. Disruption proved to be more effective through the manner in

which the attendees of the meeting were barred from accessing the venue. Efforts by the police

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also proved futile and thus the issues at hand access to the larger audience as a whole. Chances

of their issues being addressed through this means are higher and cannot be ignored to avoid a

repeat of the same.

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Work Cited

Gamson, William A. and Sidney Tarrow. "Power in Movement: Social Movements and

Contentious Politics." Contemporary Sociology 28.3 (1999): 310-311.

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