As the global economic crisis expands, a rapidly increasing number of people are seeking ways to combat unemployment, marginalization, corruption, repression and other problems. Such challenges have faced millions of Latin Americans for decades, and as a result, many successful grassroots solutions to economic crisis have been developed by people in communities across the continent. In this essay, I propose that strategies from Latin American social movements can be applied elsewhere in the world to build better societies.

Rather than continuing the flow of generally destructive policies, tactics and advice from the north to the south - via entities such as the IMF, World Bank, WTO, US embassies, corporate board rooms and so on - I am suggesting that the flow of knowledge be reversed, from the south to the north. This reversal should focus on liberating, revolutionary strategies and tactics for social change, rather than neoliberal policies focused on looting resources and repressing people.

I am not suggesting that these movements' strategies be copied and applied directly to other communities and countries, or forced onto a situation without considering the very specific conditions of each community. I am suggesting that these strategies and experiences from Latin America be considered and studied by activists elsewhere, as these movements may shed light on new tactics and approaches, and developed upon when moving ahead with community-specific work toward building a new society. While it is important to share tactics and experiences between various movements from around the globe, this essay focuses specifically on Latin America in part because the region has recently been home to some of the most powerful and successful movements in the world.