Global Battlefields
Memoir of a Legendary Public Intellectual from the Global South
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This absorbing memoir by a legendary public intellectual from the Global South vividly recounts his journey from student activist to a global figure on the international left. It traces Walden Bello's life trajectory from a leader of the movement against the Vietnam War at Princeton to Salvador Allende's Chile, where he provides a startling take on its "peaceful road to socialism". His participation in the US-based movement to cut off US assistance to the Marcos dictatorship led to iconic acts of protest - using Sesame Street's Miss Piggy and Kermit to depict the Filippino leadership; infiltra...
This absorbing memoir by a legendary public intellectual from the Global South vividly recounts his journey from student activist to a global figure on the international left. It traces Walden Bello's life trajectory from a leader of the movement against the Vietnam War at Princeton to Salvador Allende's Chile, where he provides a startling take on its "peaceful road to socialism". His participation in the US-based movement to cut off US assistance to the Marcos dictatorship led to iconic acts of protest - using Sesame Street's Miss Piggy and Kermit to depict the Filippino leadership; infiltrating a Lincoln Center event as officials, greeting Imelda Marcos warmly in English followed by "We're going to get you bastards" in Filippino, as the audience remained oblivious; and a celebrated heist of 6000 pages of confidential documents from the World Bank that were then turned into the best-selling international expose Development Debacle: The World Bank in the Philippines. Bello provides a detailed account and analysis of the anti-dictatorship movement in the Philippines, where the leading National Democratic Front led by the CPP was eventually marginalized following the so-called "EDSA Uprising" that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, Sr, in 1986. He exposes the Reagan administration officials' maneuvering that prevented the Left from coming to power, and the subsequent CPP runaway purge that triggered his departure from it. Bello became one of the leaders of the of the global struggle against neoliberalism and its key institutions, the WTO, IMF, and the World Bank. He captures the din and smoke of the historic street battles of the 2000's--in Seattle, Prague, Genoa, and Cancun--then gives an engaged intellectual's analysis of the anti-globalization and anti-empire movements. While an elected official in the Philippines Congress, Bello engaged in parliamentary battles over family planning and agrarian reform. The New Slave Trade chapter addresses his efforts to assist trapped Filipino domestic workers. He outlines his efforts to make the Philippines steer an independent course between the United States and China. In 2015 he resigned from the Philippine Congress in 2015 after 6 years' service--the only recorded resignation on a matter of principle in the history of the Congress. Truly, a life well lived, with much to offer by way of hope and example. "A thinker and philosopher with the courage to live according to his values, Walden Bello is the only Filipino to resign from Congress because of his principles. In Global Battlefields, he reflects on his lifelong fight for justice and equality, and why some of the movements he helped lead failed. This is not just a feel-good story of activism; it's a raw and honest examination of what it takes to challenge power and money - essential reading for anyone working for a just world." -- Maria Ressa, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize, 2021
