The protest movement of Jawaharlal Nehru University students against indiscriminate fee hikes and reactionary discipline policies for hostels have entered a new stage. The university administration has astronomically increased the fees by 999 percent, meaning hostel room rent has increased from INR10 ($0.14) to INR600 ($8.35). In addition to this, there are newly implemented service charges of INR1700 ($23.67), and the mess fee has increased from INR5000 ($69.61) to INR12000 ($167.07).

The movement against globalisation and the world institutions of capital, which was sparked off by the 4 December 1999 demonstrations against the WTO summit (the so-called Battle of Seattle), made a huge impact on the world political arena. To mark the 20-year anniversary of the clash in Seattle, we republish an in-depth analysis of the anti-globalisation movement by Italian Marxist Roberto Sarti, originally written in 2001.