Think globally, act locally is one of a few good cliches. Some folk say the only way to correct the problems involved with the globalization of capital is to build what is often referred to as the ‘global justice movement.’
What’s local is important in terms of de-centralizing power. But where–in my humble opinion—localism is a vice, not a virture, is when people focus so much on it that we lose sight of how our problems and solutions are in many ways part of a global movement.
We might see this narrow use of ‘localism’ with at least some aspects of the local food movement where ‘going local’ can take on a consumerist mentality that romanticizes the past and over-simplifies present and future challenges, while ignoring global justice issues. John Sanbonmatsu cautions a narrow view of localism can feed into xenophobia and racism.
Our face-to-face work in our communities requires local interaction, obviously. But in my humble opinion, our attitude toward our work may be incomplete if we don’t consider ourselves part of a global movement for justice, among people and between people and all the other sentient life on Earth— here, now, and beyond.
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