Increasingly, international environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have linked to local resistance movements. (Rich 1994) The movements are thrust upon the international arena and supported by millions. This internationalization exemplifies the porous nature of states' territorial borders. Both information and funds flow through these borders, demonstrating the state's inability to control all activity within their territory. Also, these transnational alliances are enhancing local identities and thus weakening state nationalism. (Spiro 1995) It is the purpose of this section to illustrate how the internationalization of the Brazilian Rubber Tapper Movement has taken advantage of the fluidity of the borders and has eroded state authority. Thus, it will show how the internationalization and resulting empowerment of the movement challenges state sovereignty.
The Brazilian Rubber Tapper Movement began in 1975 with the formation of the first Tapper Union, in the state of Acre. The rubber tappers, or seringueiros, unionized as a result of increased state supported deforestation. The state wanted to clear forest for more profitable cattle ranching and for road projects. The tappers have successfully and sustainablely tapped rubber from the trees for generations. (Cowell 1990) However, the state sponsored construction of road BR-317 threatened to destroy the trees and therefore the livelihood of the rubber tappers. The Catholic Church actively participated in the construction of the unions. Interestingly, the Brazilian government and the ranchers could not stop the church's participation in the unionization because of the deep entrenchment of Catholicism in Brazilian culture. (Revkin 1990) The unions organized traditional non-violent empates where groups of seringueiros confronted deforesting ranchers. From this early unionization grew the movement's most eloquent and influential leader, Chico Mendes. He later became the international symbol for the movement.
The internationalization of the movement came with the help of Mary Allegretti, an anthropologist from the University of Brasilia. She and Mendes worked to publicize the struggle between the state supported ranching and the tappers in the local newspaper, the Varadouro. This newspaper "soon became the voice of Acre's seringueiro"(Revkin 1990: 166). These reports attracted the attention of Tony Gross, of Oxfam's Brazilian office. The connections to international NGOs grew and eventually many Washington DC based groups became involved with the movement to prevent the destruction of the forest. The groups focused their attention on building of the Road BR-364, which had the potential to cause massive deforestation. The connection between the seringueiro's and the international NGOs spread the local movement around the globe allowing it to gain financial and informational support; in effect empowering the movement. New identities, which linked traditional enemies and undermined state identity, also formed. These transnational relations blurred the lines between domestic and international issues, thus demonstrating the porous nature of territorial and national boundaries and challenging state sovereignty.
The internationalization of the Rubber Tapper Movement led to the transfer of money across geographical borders. These funds were used to support activities that went against state policy.(Rich 1994) For instance, Tony Gross of Oxfam pledged monetary support for the early formation of rubber tapping cooperatives and schools in 1983. Later that year, the Brazilian army raided the school "searching for the evidence of guerrilla activity and subversive literature."(Revkin 1990: 176) Oxfam also funded the first meeting of 120 seringueiro leaders in Brasilia, which ultimately grew into the National Council of Rubber Tappers, a permanent entity. As more international environmental NGOs became involved with the Seringueiro movement more money entered Brazil. The Ford Foundation, "which was eager to foster sustainable development in Brazil," (Revkin 1990: 229) provided grants to the Council for the establishment of extractive reserves. The Gaia Foundation also provided a stipend to the movement. The money flowed into the country from outside forces and funded activities in opposition to the state. The international NGOs directly intervened in the domestic affairs of the state and proved that the state was not able to hold "absolute supremacy over other authorities within that territory or population." (Bull 1977: 8) Instead, the territorial border became worthless and the internationalized movement challenged state sovereignty.
Similar to the transfer of funds, the transfer of information in and out of Brazil illustrates the state's porous borders and the decline of the its sovereignty. Unlike monetary transfer, however, the transfer of information flowed in both directions. In other words, NGOs provided the seringueiros with information and likewise the seringueiros provided the NGOs with information. This two way flow is shown best by the environmentalization of the local movement. Previous to Allegetti's meeting with Washington environmental organizations, the movement had focused on the effects of deforestation on the rubber tapper's livelihood. Allegretti realized, however that the movement "could gain enormous strength," (Revkin 1990: 194) if they emphasized the ecological aspect of its activities. Soon after she arrived in Brazil, Mendes and other seringueiro leaders drew up a manifesto demanding rights for the rubber tappers, declaring that they "were the defenders of the forest."(Revkin 1990: 203) This statement showed that movement wanted to save the rain forest for the sake of the people as well as for the sake of the forest itself. Thus, the transfer of information into the movement gave it strength
Important information also spread from the Rubber Tapper Movement to the northern environmental NGOs. First, the movement allowed Steve Schwartzman and Bruce Rich, of the Environmental Defense Fund, to add a "human" aspect to their campaign to halt development in the rainforest. This aspect strengthened their fight with the international development agencies like the IMF and the World Bank. It gave "them people to fight for not just birds and trees" (Revkin 1990; 193) Northern NGOs fought with the World Bank over the failed Rondonia Road Project for years and increased its ammunition against the development projects with this information. However, the most important information that spread from Amazonia was Chico Mendes plan for the creation of extractive rubber reserves. The plan called for the establishment of protected lands in which seringueiros would be able to sustainablely cultivate rubber to sell. This plan allowed the NGOs to provide the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with a crucial alternative to the old-fashioned, from-the-top-down development of the Amazon.(Revkin 1990) Again the transnational alliances fostered the transfer of information from the South to the North, giving the NGOs more firepower. This plan was successful in stopping IDB funding of the BR-364 road through Acre. In both cases the transnational alliances allowed for the transfer of information across the state borders. The movement and the NGOs used this information to work against the state's plans, again showing the erosion of state sovereignty.
State sovereignty also declines with break up of state identity. Brown argues that the "ability to sustain such sovereign statehood requires substantial cooperation among the people living within the territory." (Brown 1995: 10) The internationalization of the Rubber Tapper Movement created new identities in opposition to the state. The movement’s early connections to Oxfam allowed for the creation of the Council of Rubber Tappers. It was this organization that was approached by the Union of Indigenous Peoples, which proposed establishing relations between the two groups. These two groups had been traditional enemies for many years, yet soon formed the Alliance of People of the Forest. This umbrella organization represented countless groups in opposition to state sponsored ranching and road construction. Mendes later recalled: "People became amazed at the time saying, 'Indians and rubber tappers together? Didn't you fight before? Weren't you enemies?' And we responded, 'We understand today that our fight is the same one." (Revkin 1990: 218) New commonalties also formed between Northern environmentalists and the forest dwellers. These new identities cut across national borders in opposition to the state. The weakening of the state's ability to construct a national identity weakened its maintenance of an inside/outside discourse. (Doty 1996: 122) This inside/outside discourse is needed to set bounds on the state's authority and its ability to decide who belongs and who does not belong to the political community. Doty argues when " the criteria for differentiating the inside of the states form the outside becomes blurred and ambiguous, the foundational premise of state sovereignty becomes shaky." (Doty 1996: 122)
The transnational alliances between Northern NGOs and the Seringueiro movement was successful in changing both World Bank and Brazilian policy. The local movement became empowered with their connection to international environmental NGOs and influenced the states action. Extractive reserves were created to protect the seringueiros and their livelihood. Millions of acres of rainforest were set aside as a result of the porous nature of territorial and national borders. Information and funds passed effortlessly across the geographical borders, showing the state's inability to control all activities within its territory. Also, new identities were created in opposition to the state. The globalization of the movement involved international actors directly intervening in domestic affairs, challenging the tenets of the Peace of Westphalia and thus state sovereignty. A similar challenge to state sovereignty is posed by the internationalization of the Narmada Bachao Andolan in Gujarat, India.