Various aspects of globalization are seen as harmful by public-interest activists as well as strong state nationalists. Critics claim that the results of globalization have not been what was predicted when the attempt to increase free trade began, and that many institutions involved in the system of globalization have not taken the interests of poorer nations, the working class and the environment into account.

Fair trade theorists claim that unrestricted free trade benefits those with more financial leverage (i.e. the rich) at the expense of the poor.

Many activists see globalization as the promotion of a corporatist agenda, which is intent on constricting the freedoms of individuals in the name of profit.

The Southeast Asian financial crises in 1997, that began in the relatively small economy of Thailand but quickly spread to Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and eventually was felt all around the world, demonstrated the new risks and volatility in rapidly changing globalized markets. The IMF’s subsequent ‘bailout’ money came with conditions of political change (i.e. government spending limits) attached and was viewed by critics as undermining national sovereignty in neo-colonialist fashion.