The ’anti-globalisation movement’ is the most significant proponent of globalisation - but in the interests of people, not concentrations of state-private power.

Chomsky is reframing what is often labeled “anti-globalisation” as a movement against a particular kind of global integration: one driven by alliances of governments and large private corporations. In his view, many activists are not opposed to cross-border cooperation, trade, or international solidarity as such; they oppose rules and institutions that concentrate decision-making and benefits in elite hands while externalizing costs onto workers, poorer countries, and the environment. The line underscores a distinction between “globalisation from above” (managed for power and profit) and “globalisation from below” (organized around human needs, democratic accountability, and social justice).