By LESLIE WAYNE The New York Times NEXT month, international financial and trade officials will gather in two important meetings -- one in Doha, Qatar, and the other in Ottawa -- to resume a series of talks that were scheduled before, but questioned after, the attacks on Sept. 11. As they meet, anti-globalization groups will be holding some type of protests, perhaps candle vigils, perhaps marches, in cities around the world. Their message, protesters say, warns about the ill effects of globalism, capitalism and world trade on poor nations. But how they express that message, even some leaders of the movement say, will probably bear little resemblance to the marches -- often erupting in violence -- that put them on the map in recent years. Strident demonstrations against globalization may occur in Europe, but protesters in the United States are scrambling to see if they can hold together a movement now that their most effective way of getting attention is out of sync with the national mood. "I don't think we are going to be in the spotlight as much as before," said John Sellers, director of the Ruckus Society, a human rights group based in San Francisco that has organized marches against global trade. "There's a strong concern about marches since Sept. 11. What would happen if 10,000 people turned out for a peaceful march and then 4 of them burned a flag?" That is the quandary facing the anti-globalization movement -- which has gained its strength as a confederation of environmental groups and trade unions, anarchists and respected advocacy groups. Many of these organizations remain highly committed to their causes, especially those that have criticized the lending policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But the terrorist attacks have forced them to regroup and, they say, they are not sure how, or if, they can be as effective as before. "A lot of us are in a retreat-and-reflection mode," said Tim Atwater, national organizer for Jubilee USA Network, which advocates the canceling of debt to developing countries. "We are having to walk on tiptoes and communicate very, very carefully. Things are coming back slowly. But we will be singing slower, sadder songs." Yet for all the difficulties facing the movement, it is hard to imagine that it will fade away. The movement has been too long in the building, and it is too well financed and organized. And many of the issues it has raised about global inequities between rich and poor appear to have become more relevant in recent weeks. Even the Bush administration in the last few days has made the link between poverty and the roots of terrorism. "We will definitely be there in Ottawa," said Stephen Kretzmann, an analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies, an advocacy group in Washington. Mr. Kretzmann was arrested at the demonstrations in Seattle in 1999 that thrust the movement into America's consciousness. "We have to be very Ghandian in our approach." To many, the anti-globalization movement has been a bit of a puzzle since it first appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Who are these people? Where did they come from? How are they financed? How are they organized? What do they want? If the perception of the movement is of angry faces and police clashes, the reality is different, members say. The movement has been building quietly for more than 20 years, they said, promoting a message about global economic inequities that does not lend itself to quick sound bites. Some leading foundations -- including the Ford Foundation and one at Unilever -- have supported the movement's efforts financially, along with church groups, organized labor and celebrities like the rock music group U2. THE movement's success in gaining a following, especially since the Seattle demonstrations, has come from a combination of grass-roots organizing, plentiful position papers and clever self-promotion. In the wake of Sept. 11, protesters say that there are still many issues to resolve and that they are more at odds than ever with the Bush administration. While the administration says one way to fight terrorism is by promoting a global policy that is pro-business, protesters say this approach will only make the world less stable. In addition, the administration has used the attacks to justify a new push for "fast track" authority, which would allow trade agreements to be enacted with little Congressional oversight -- another measure long opposed by protesters and organized labor because it allows little debate. This month, at an economic forum in Shanghai, President Bush told business executives that more free trade and greater unrestricted commerce were crucial to fighting terrorism. The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, echoed those thoughts last week, when he said the terrorist attacks have given new urgency to the trade negotiations in Qatar. Mr. Greenspan called the protesters misguided and said they offered no solutions to the "alleged failures" of globalization. The activists say they are upset with the administration's effort to use the terrorist attacks as a way to push a pro-business agenda and fast-track negotiating authority. John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy Studies, said that while Sept. 11 "stopped our movement," it was beginning to come back. "The fight has come back in the form of fast track," he said. "Groups are already gearing up for a big fight." The movement blossomed in the mid-1990's as more multinational corporations, aided by loan policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, went in search of less-costly places to make goods and new markets for their cars, hamburgers and basic commodities like sugar and rice. A catalyst in the United States was the fight against the North American Free Trade Agreement. At the same time, a parallel movement was emerging in Europe. Protest groups there -- with names like Attac and Black Bloc -- shared many of the same views as their American counterparts, but with more militancy. Although demonstrators on both sides of the ocean may look ragtag, they are anything but. European groups are financed in part by the European Union and grants from charitable trusts; American groups receive money from wealthy individuals and foundations that run the gamut from small church-related foundations to the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. One unusual benefactor was the Unilever Corporation, the consumer packaged goods company, which recently gave $5 million to the foundation run by its Ben & Jerry's ice cream subsidiary, a major donor to these groups. "We like to call it caring capitalism" said Liz Bankowski, a trustee of the Ben & Jerry's Foundation. U2 and its lead singer, Bono, are also prominent donors, and they allow groups like Jubilee USA, a church-related group, to set up information tables at concerts. The band also plans to donate part of the proceeds of a new single it has recorded with Destiny's Child and Britney Spears. WHAT gave the movement its strength was this panoply of different groups that came together in a sort of alliance of convenience. Labor unions joined, looking for allies in the fight against Nafta and low-paying jobs overseas; in return, they provided respectability and foot soldiers. Groups like the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington churn out studies that are the movement's intellectual backbone. And organizations like Jubilee USA, 50 Years Is Enough and Global Exchange spread the message through pamphlets and meetings on campuses and in church basements and union halls to religious groups and students. Global Exchange, a human rights group based in San Francisco, has even offered "reality" tours to countries like Cuba, Haiti and Iran and runs a store selling goods from developing nations -- as a way to raise both awareness and cash. Finally, there are those who train the troops, like the Ruckus Society, which teaches nonviolent and creative confrontation techniques at camps held before demonstrations. One had been scheduled at the Virginia estate of a wealthy supporter but was canceled after the terrorist attacks. More recently, the Ruckus camps have been replaced by classes on computer-based organizing skills. "We are all working against the same" corporate establishment, said Kevin Danaher, a founder of Global Exchange, which has a $4 million annual budget, a staff of 50 and a membership list of 12,000. "There is unity in diversity, and diversity is the magic of this movement," Mr. Danaher said. "It's fine to be focused on sea turtles or dolphins or to be a steelworker or a tree hugger. But you are isolated unless you team up." But can this coalition hold? Already, some foot soldiers have fallen away and joined antiwar groups. It is possible that organized labor, which always was uncomfortable with the movement's militancy, will have less tolerance if loud protests break out. Still, some Washington groups continue to meet and are optimistic. "We feel very committed to the issues," said Thea M. Lee, associate director for international economics at the A.F.L.-C.I.O. "I think most folks are committed to keeping the coalition together. But it will be put to the test." If there is a unifying theme behind the groups, it is their message -- one that both the I.M.F. and World Bank say they have been hearing and, depending on the concern, responding to. To the protesters, large nations led by the United States have turned globalism into a form of economic colonialism through the lending policies of the I.M.F. and the World Bank, which make loans to troubled countries. The protesters say poor countries become hurt because, in order to pay off the loans, they lure multinational companies with low wages and relaxed environmental standards. As a result, instead of becoming self-sustaining, these countries become economic captives, making products on the cheap for export, while importing basic goods and necessities from companies in the United States and Europe. More specifically, they object to the fact that many I.M.F. and World Bank meetings are held behind closed doors -- although both institutions have said they are bringing more of their activities into the open. BUT more fundamentally, demonstrators say that the debt facing many countries -- $220 billion by the 40 poorest -- means that many nations spend more on debt service than on education or health care, leading to high mortality rates and rampant disease. One poster shows smiling faces of children in developing countries and says: "Today 19,000 children will DIE as a result of international debt." On its Web site, the World Bank has a section devoted to responding to protesters' demands -- some of which it rejects, others of which it says it is taking steps to address. Merrell Tuck, deputy media director for the bank, says the institution meets often with advocacy groups, so long as they do not espouse violence. "We think we have a lot of areas of common concern with the activist groups," Ms. Tuck said. Thomas Dawson, an I.M.F. spokesman, said the I.M.F. has always had an "open door" policy to many groups. "There are no doubt winners and losers in globalization," Mr. Dawson said. "But we still think that global economic integration offers the best route to lift the poor out of poverty." Still, the movement would not be what it is without its core groups, like 50 Years Is Enough, which was founded in 1994 to oppose I.M.F. and World Bank policies. It serves as the clearinghouse for a coalition of more than 200 other organizations -- and is so named because it was founded on the 50th anniversary of the I.M.F. and World Bank. The group's director, Njoki Njoroge Njehu, was born in the central highlands of Kenya to a family active in the Kenyan struggle for independence. She earned scholarships to come to the United States to study communications and then stayed to work with environmental groups. Fifty Years Is Enough is based in in a low-rent space in Washington, above a neighborhood law office with signs offering "divorce specials" and "walk-in deals on car wrecks." Ms. Njehu runs the group with about $250,000 a year in donations, mostly from foundations, with her husband, Soren Ambrose. After growing up in a middle-class family in Chicago, Mr. Ambrose became interested in the issues facing developing countries when he went to study in Nigeria and found that his counterparts there could not afford to pay for their school books. "We are in an unprecedented place in time," said Mr. Ambrose, the group's senior policy analyst, whose office is at the top of a rickety staircase and decorated in brown paneling. "If the I.M.F. and World Bank are going to hold meetings and do their business, we will be there to go around and expose what they are doing. It will not be confrontational in character." For all the talk of demonstrations, most of the work that Ms. Njehu and Mr. Ambrose do is quiet and behind the scenes -- a constant schedule of travel to enlist support in small groups on campuses and at churches. "We will continue to do the quiet work we have always done," Ms. Njehu said. "It just won't be in front of the cameras," For all the discussion of poverty, the movement is supported by well-endowed foundations, which are concerned about the gap between rich and poor nations. The foundations also view themselves as bulwarks against the excesses of violence, financing only those groups that support nonviolent demonstrations. The Ben & Jerry's Foundation, which has made grants to the Ruckus Society ($100,000 for a year) and Global Exchange ($150,000 for a year), felt so strongly about its liberal brand of philanthropy that when Uniliver acquired the Ben & Jerry's company, it insisted on a provision that Unilever provide the foundation with a one-time, $5 million grant and $1.1 million a year for 10 years. "Unilever gave the gift in the spirit of the founding values of the company," Ms. Bankowski of Ben & Jerry's said. "It's what happens when a large multinational merges with a small, quirky company. I'm sure it's a pain in the neck for them to read stories about our donations. But they are aware of our history and that our business was founded as a way to do social change." The Solidago Foundation, which was founded six years ago from money from the sale of radio and cable properties, gives $3 million from its $48 million endowment to many liberal programs, including anti-globalization efforts like Jobs With Justice and 50 Years Is Enough. Diana Cohn, a spokeswoman for the foundation, said that Solidago's strategy is to give small grants -- $10,000 to $50,000 -- to many groups and to bring advocacy groups and research organizations together to offer new voices in debates about trade and globalization. "Grants are pivotal in terms of this movement," Ms. Cohn said. "Our focus is on groups working on a corporate-driven mode of globalization. We even provide travel grants just so that these groups can meet. There has been a wellspring of activity and groups working together and realizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Even the Ford Foundation, which has given money to the Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Economic and Policy Research, is motivated by the same concerns that many demonstrators have. "Globalization has undeniable benefits," said Bradford K. Smith, vice president for the peace and social justice program at the foundation. "But there are also real and perceived costs. Our grant-making seeks to better understand these costs. The goal is to ensure that economic integration and development proceeds in a way that reduces inequities and increases the shares of benefits going to the poor." The foundations share the view that Sept. 11 will only lead to a pause, not a halt, in the movement. Anannya Bhattacharjee, program officer at the Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, a Unitarian Universalist Foundation in Manhassat, N.Y., said the movement had displayed remarkable creativity in adjusting its tactics. "Everyone is adjusting," Ms. Bhattacharjee said. "One thing social movements are extremely good at is figuring out creative and imaginative ways under extremely difficult circumstances. These movements have faced some of the greatest odds, and no one knows yet what tactics will emerge. But if history has taught us anything, it is that this work will not stop." THE effects of Sept. 11 are being felt in Europe, to a lesser degree. Bernard Cassen, president of Attac, a French group, said the terrorism in the United States had not slowed his movement. "We will continue to fight against globalization," he said. In England, Ashok Sinha, national coordinator of the Jubilee Debt Campaign U.K., said the attacks "have made it difficult to get our voices heard." For now, Mr. Sinha said, he is trying to keep "the issue of debt cancellation on the political agenda, given that most other things are being squeezed out by war." While trade officials are meeting in Qatar, anti-globalization protesters are planning demonstrations in Britain including pamphlet distribution, seminars and work stoppages. Guy Taylor of Globalise Resistance, another British group, said, "We need to say now more than ever that we need a world that is for the people and not for profit." http://www.nytimes.com GRAPHIC: Photos: Thousands of trade protesters marched through the streets of Genoa, Italy, before the July economic summit. (Agence France-Presse); Njoki Njoroge Njehu, left, runs 50 Years Is Enough, a group that opposes International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies. She and her husband, Soren Ambrose, right, work behind the scenes to build support. (Marty Katz for The New York Times)(pg. 14); Anti-globalization protests turned violent in Italy earlier this year, above, as they did in Seattle in 1999. Kevin Danaher, a founder of the human rights group Global Exchange in San Francisco, right, says the strength of the anti-trade movement is in the diversity of the groups involved. (Associated Press); (Peter DaSilva for The New York Times)(pg. 1) Chart: "Financing the Fight" Many groups in the United States oppose the trend toward unfettered global capitalism, including these. JUBILEE USA NETWORK -- Washington A faith-based organization advocating the cancellation of debt to poor countries. More than 60 organizations, largely religious, belong to the group. Revenue: $425,300 Major costs: $118,404 for education and advocacy campaigns, $105,000 for publications, action alerts and educational materials. Major donors: The Ford Foundation, $150,000; the Dominican Sisterhood, $50,000; Presbyterian Church, $36,000 JOBS WITH JUSTICE -- Washington A national committee advocating workers' rights with 43 coalitions in the United States. Revenue: $118,550 Major costs: $41,876 for grants to local chapters to set up workers' rights boards, $38,780 for an educational and training conference for union and religious activists, $21,000 in assistance to local organizations for outreach programs. Donors: $114,243 was raised from undisclosed donors. The largest donation was $30,000. THE RUCKUS SOCIETY -- Berkeley, Calif. A educational group teaching nonviolent techniques to protesters. Revenue: $384,806 Major costs: $158,715 to train more than 300 students in "the use of and philosophy of nonviolent direct action," $81,233 to advise human rights and environmental groups in techniques of peaceful protest. Major donors: Not disclosed, but the group has received money from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, the singer Bonnie Raitt and the actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. GLOBAL EXCHANGE -- San Francisco A human rights organization working on issues of globalization and immigrant rights. Sponsors "reality" tours to developing counties and has a store of crafts made in poor countries. Revenue: $4,384,642 Of the total, $1.6 million comes from donations and grants and $2.1 million comes from the sale of merchandise and reality tours. Major costs: $546,487 for educational and grass-roots campaigns and grants to nongovernmental organizations in developing countries; $335,457 for a speakers bureau, publications, radio campaign and a quarterly newsletter. Major donors: Not disclosed INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES -- Washington A research group specializing in studies of American policy on the world economy and the environment. Revenue: $1,564,875 Major costs: $1,180,281 for studies, a conference and outreach programs. Major donors: Undiclosed, but the two largest were for $200,000 and $102,548. Receives money from the Ford and C.S. Mott Foundations. (Source: Internal Revenue Service filings for 1999 via Guidestar.org):
