Getting real about Seattle

Following the schema of orthodox IR teaching in Britain, the events in Seattle allow three different narratives: a revolutionist, a rationalist, and a realist one. No retrospective that ignores any one of these is adequate, In particular, a historical perspective shows that a caution needs to be exercised when drawing conclusions about Seattle in regard to the growth in the 1990s and 2000s of 'global civil society'. The paper questions whether, without a clear 'emancipatory' agent, the invoking of a global civil society makes much sense and concludes by outlining how the most important underlying issues at Seattle concern the future of global governance itself.