Commentary

Outsourcing protests

A wonderfully tounge-in-cheek editorial from the Economist points out that the anarchist anti-globalization movement is in the doldrums. The kind editors suggest that the anarchists might employ some modern turnaround management techniques, like outsourcing, to revive their movement. Given that the anti-globalisation movement has lent ideas to capitalismââ?¬â??at the mushier end of corporate social responsibility, for instance, where fear and conscience meet to try to placate the mobââ?¬â??capitalism should surely return the favour in anti-globalisation’s dark days. There are plenty of modern management techniques which the movement could employ to reinvigorate itself. Has, it, for instance, tried benchmarking itself against comparable movements? If street protest is too arduous for the membership, should it not think of outsourcing its more strenuous activities to the immigrants who already do most of Britain’s tougher jobs? Taking that argument further, if domestic apathy is the problem, perhaps the answer is offshoring. A Mayday protest organised in, say, Libya or North Korea would really make a splash.