1999, Seattle & the WTO

anti-globalization protests kick-off the fourth wave environmentalism + a personal epochal shift & a wicked playlist

On November 30, 1999 roughly 10,000 protesters flooded the streets of Seattle, Washington. Some of them forming a human chain around the Paramount Theatre, while others locked themselves to strategic locations, hosted teach-ins and sit-ins. Ultimately they disrupted the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, which is what they intended. The six days of marches, direct actions, and protests “were some of the first major international mobilizations to be coordinated via the Internet.”  More than 50, 000 people representing labour unions, student groups, nongovernment organizations, media activists, international farm and industrial workers, opposed “everything from specific WTO policies to free trade and the human rights failures of globalization.”

The acts of mass dissension and civil disobedience, coupled with some vandalism, and curfew violations saw a violent response from police forces. Using rubber bullets, batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Leading to the arrest of over 500 protestors.¹

Twenty years later, grassroots organizers like Vandana Shiva and Lori Wallach have continued their work against global trade deals that undermine workers’ right, the environment and Indigenous people globally.

A personal epoch

On the evening of November 30, 1999, I was an angsty fifteen year old in rural Alberta glued to the news coverage.  The images of people dressed in costumes, marching through the streets, holding signs, and forming human chains because they believed in a different future sparked a personal “epochal shift”.  I remember the full body chills as I watched the events unfold over the next five days.  I would lay awake at night thinking about what it would be like on the front lines; united for people and the planet.  

Around the same time, Big Shiny Tunes 4 was released.  A compilation of popular songs that caused line ups outside our small town record store.  The first song on the album, Anthem for the Year 2000, carried the energy of the WTO protestors and I carried it everywhere in my DiscMan.

“We are the youth, we'll take your fascism away

We are the youth, apologize for another day

We are the youth and politicians are so sure

We are the youth and we are knocking on death's door.”

~Silverchair

Often over looked in the historical treatments of the transnational counter-globalization and the climate justice movements is the role of art, music, dance, theatre and culture.  These mediums amplify messages, galvanize the public and act as a healing balm for the anger, fear, and despair found within the radical and reformist protests.

Recalling my fascination with Seattle’s demonstration of mass civil disobedience, got me thinking about how music has long been a personal catalyst for understanding my everyday experiences and emotions while living with and in the contradictions of modern Western society and the climate justice movement.  

Inspired by my teenage taste in music, I curated a small playlist capturing a range emotions and experiences from the 50 year history of the modern sustainability movement.   

“In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have been.”  Ella Baker - Civil rights & Human rights activist.

Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (1964) 

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi (1970)

“Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” by Tracy Chapman (1988)

Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name of (1993)

Seun Kuti - Think Afrika (2007)

The Arkells - The People’s Champ (2018)

John Stea - Shattered Garden feat. Maggie Richardson (2021)

Don’t love this list? Try the Guardian’s Greatest Songs about the Climate Crisis

Think I’m missing an iconic protest song? Tell me in the comments below.

References:

Arkells Music. (2018, May 23). Arkells - People’s Champ. [Video]. Youtube.

Baker, E. (n.d.). The black woman in the Civil Rights Struggle - 1969. Archives of Women’s Political Communication. https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2019/08/09/the-black-woman-in-the-civil-rights-struggle-1969/

Democracy Now. (2019, November 27). 20 Years After The Battle of Seattle: Vandana Shiva & Lori Wallach on Historic 1999 WTO Protests. [Video]. Youtube.

John Stea. (2021, August 13). John Stea - Shattered Garden feat. Maggie Richarson. [Video]. Youtube.

Lange, E. (2023). Lange, E. A. (2023). Transformative sustainability education: Reimagining our future. Taylor & Francis.

Music Video Vault. (2019, November 10). Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi (Isle of Wight Festival 1970) [Restored]. [Video]. Youtube.

Petridis, A. (2021, October 28). The greatest songs about the climate crisis – ranked!. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/28/the-greatest-songs-about-the-climate-crisis-ranked

Rage Aganist the Machine. (2011, March 26). Rage Against The Machine - Killing In the Name (Official HD Video). [Video]. Youtube.

Sam Cooke. (2016, January 22). Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come (Official Lyric Video). [Video]. Youtube.

Sawicki-Casey, K. (2013). Seattle WTO protests of 1999. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Seattle-WTO-protests-of-1999 

Seun Kuti - Topic. (2015, February 10). Think Africa (radio edit). [Video]. Youtube.

Silverchairoffical. (2011, March 6). Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000 (Official Video). [Video]. Youtube.

The Hated One. (2019, September 1). Seattle 1999: The battle of America against the World Trade Organization. [Video]. Youtube.

Tracy Chapman. (2015, November 13). Tracy Chapman - Talkin' About A Revolution (Official Music Video). [Video]. Youtube.

1. Sawicki-Casey, K. (2013). Seattle WTO protests of 1999. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Seattle-WTO-protests-of-1999