[fse-esf] News: Prodemokratia nr 2 - 2008
Ellie Cijvat
ellie.cijvat at gmx.net
Sun Feb 17 18:12:51 CET 2008
Prodemokratia nr 2 - 2008
- on Environmental, Rural, Urban, Global, Social Forum, Movements and
Democracy issues.
Issued by Assembly of Environmental and Alternative Movements.
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List of content
1. Why Prodemokratia
2. Theme One: Make European Social Forum more action oriented
2.1 Workers, farmers, environmenalist and pacifist youth participation
2.2 Inviting the zapatistas from Chiapas to Malmö
2.3 European Peace Action in Malmö
2.4 Finnish fair trade sailing ship Estelle to ESF
2.5 Environmentalist caravans to ESF
2.6 ESF2008 Action Network
2.7 Promoting the US and Latin American social forum caravan idea
2.8 International parallell ESF activities idea
2.9 NOC ESF Mobilisaton tours to Czech Repubc, Hungary, Slovenia,
Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Lavia and Russia.
2.10 Immanuel Wallerstein goes East
2.11 International Campaign for Common Welfare 2008 - 2009
2.12 Environmental and alternative movements network assembly 22.2 in
Berlin
3. General on ESF
3.1 Links
3.2 47 000 Euro ready for use in the Solidarity Fund
3.3 ESF Theme proposals
4. Action:
4.1 Global Action Day 26.1
5. Theme Two: The environmental movement
5.1 The Swedish Environmental movement
5.2 The Global Environmental movement
5.3 FoE Sweden ESF and 2009 follow-up policy
5.4 FoE Sweden content proposals for ESF
5.5 Letter from FoE Denmark, Finland and Sweden to sister organisatons.
5.6 Reactions to FoE initiatives
5.7 Youth FoE Europe
5.8 Presentation of coordinator of European mobilisation group for ESF-5
6. Calender of events and actions
7. Editorial information
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1. Why Prodemokratia?
From the first newsletter 1-2008:
"This nesletter has been initiated to democratize and broaden the
cooperation amng popular movements and the social forum process from
an environmental, ural and urban movement perspective. We see the
need of a continued infrmation and discussion to endorse a renewal of
the social forum process and he political and cultural cooperation
amongmovements.
One emphasis is strengthening of contacts between Western and Cenral
and Eastern Europe including all of Russia. This in a global context
of ecological, social and democratic transformation promoting peace
and equal relationships between North and South. The name of the
newsletter is inspired by the movement Prodemokratia in Finland where
environmentalists, tradeunions and others cooperated against
privatisation and corruption in politics."
In this issue 2-2008 we have two hemes. The first is on making ESF
more action oriented. The other theme is the environmentl movement
with texts on the Swedish environmental movement, on the nucler
issue, Friends of the Earth Sweden policy and proposals for ESF and
other FoE communication and finally a presentation of the personals
experience of an environmentalists and why he is today the
coordinator of European mobilisationto ESF, with the motto: "it is
more simple to start an international campaign than to win a local
struggle."
Endorsing this newsletter so far is Ellie Cijvat and Tord Björk,
Friends of the Earth Sweden, Torgny Östling, Nordbruk - Via Campesina
Sweden, Mirek Prokes, Friends of Nature International/Czech Republic
and Marko Ulvila, Democracy forum Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Finland.
The final preparation of this issue takes place in Prague. Here
different movements plan a series of action on the Global Day against
War and the European-wide Week against Racism. A street party will be
organised on the 14th of March evening with techno music by the
Initiative for Social Fora including Young Greens, youth culture
activists and leftist among the organisers. On the 15th of March
there will be a demonstration at the Prague Castle with a march to
the US embassy against new US military plans including a radar base
in Czech Republic (initiative No to Bases!). When talking about ESF
participation the need for interpretation also from small languages
was addressed and the possiblity of organising collective transport.
With the same interest the support of Youth House activists in
Copenhagen and the need for European-wide action to defend the
pension system was discussed. We also recieved the horrendous news
from Italy telling that 13 trade union activists had been sentenced
for 7 years to prison each for organising anti-war demonstrations in
May 1999, the same trade unionists that organised the one million
demonstration against the war in Florence during the first ESF.
The content is not necessarily the opinion of supporting
organisations. The editor of this issue is Tord Björk who have
written the material if nothing else is stated. Please send us
material for coming newsletters.
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2. Theme One: Make European Social Forum more action oriented
Here are pesented the many initiatives to bring more youth, radical
pacifists and cimate activists, bicycles, sailing ships, caravans,
and whatever you may think of to ESF in Malmö and start tours to get
people there from all corners of Europe and the world. And why not
get inspired by the US for once in a tme, beating the formidable US
Social Forum were the majority of participants nd speakers were
activists, women an men of colour and working class will be a tough
task for organisations in Europe
that many times rather prefer to represent rather than being working
class or non-privileged groups.
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2.1 Workers, farmers, envronmentalists and pacifists youth camps
The German trade union IG Metall will support international
participation by young trade unionists at ESF. The peasant
organisation Via Campesina have plans for making a youth camp.
European Friends f the Earth Youth and Swedish climate activists
Klimax, youth environmental rganisation Fältbiologerna and Friends of
the Earth sweden is in the making of youth partcipation as well and
civil disobedience pacifists are plannng the European Peace Action. A
more youth and action oriented ESF is in the making.
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2.2 Inviting the popular movements from the South to Malmö
Friends of the Earth Sweden and Via Campesina Sweden are planning to
invite the zapatistas to Malmö 17 - 21st of September 2008 when the
ESF takes place. We see the presence of the struggle in Chiapas by
indians and farmers as crucial at a meeting celebrating and promoting
antineoliberal struggle in Europe and the world.
We are planning to bring young environmental and farmers activists
from all of Europe to Malmö and so are also the plans of the trade
unions. We see the need to unite all movements that says no to
neoliberalism and make new generations part of the global justice
movement. We want the zapatistas and other movements from the third
world to share their experience with European popular movements. We
need to build a common visions for making another world possible by
"building alliances for struggles and alternatives" as the programme
for ESF states.
Friends of the Earth Sweden and Finland participated together with
many Via Campesina organisations when Peoples Global Action started i
Geneva 1998 inspired by the international antineoliberal encuentros
initiated by the zapatista movement. During the 1990s the
environmental organisation Ecologistas en Accion in Spain invited
zapatistas as central speakers at the alternative forum at the EU-
Summit in Madrid 1995. We now see a need in renewing the spirit of a
global justice movement that like Peoples global action sees mass
civil disobedience as an important way to change societies, whether
this takes the form of strikes, boycots or blocades as during the G-8
Summit last year in Germany. In very small scale climate activists
did this during the international climate action day 8th of December
last year in Malmö when streets were blocked by activists. Sweden is
a society built on consensus with respect for civil disobedience
when this is carried out by large popular movements. But there is
also strong reactions when civil disobedience turns into riots as
during the EU-Summit in Gothenburg 2001.
Zapatistas are wellknown and respected in the Nordic countries and
seen by all those writing about the global justice movement as key
inspirators. We are in the process of asking a wide range of
organisations to become hosts to their visit. An invitation will be
sent to the Zapatistas soon.
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2.3 European Peace Action in Malmö
"Welcome o the best peace forum in the world!
Join us in the Swedish antimilitaris network Ofog and make the dream
of a just and peaceful and world come tre! Together with you we want
to create a space for direct action and civil disobedience at the
European Social Forum in Malmö, Sweden on the 8th - 21st September 2008.
Our vision is to create European Peace Action, a European
network for direct action and peace. This network wll continue to
coordinate actions, even after the forum.
We believe that it s possible to create the world we want to see, and
that it is best done ith direct action and grassroot organising - so
that's where we want to put he focus for the forum, more than on
lobbying and seminars.
The peace forum will focus on the following issues:
Nato/EU
Nuclear weapons
Mlitarisation of space
Globalisation of militarism
and last and most important... Globalisation of resistance!
At the forum we will gan and spread knowledge about these issues, how
to resist militarism and work for peace share experiences from
actions, give non-violent workshops, express ourseles with political
art and do lots of actions at various sites in the are.
We create the forum together, everyone who share our ideas and
ision are welcome to participate, organise workshops and take part in
ations.
Please contact us about all your ideas for the forum!
Pace, love and resistance
European Peace Action; europeanpeaceaction at ofog.org"
Also other antimilitarist networks onthe nuclear weapon issue might
come to ESF like the European section of Abolition 2000 and the
Global Network Against eapons and Nuclear Power in Space. The anti-
war anmd stop military bases moveent that is strong in countries like
Italy and Czech Republic are already very active in the ESF Anti-
war assmbly preparing for ESF.
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2.4 Finnish fair trade sailig ship Estelle plans to come to ESF
The Finnish solidarity movement used tenyears during the 1980s and
1990s to rebuild the sailing ship Estelle to use it for direct fair
trade import.
Mlmö is one of few fair trade cities in Scandinavia so Estelle would
be rightly placed in the harbour of the city. Now news from Finlan
says that the New Wind organisations that owns the ship plan to make
a our that can include Malmö at ESF. Estelle may also ake a
mobilisation tour on its way to ESF. But the finances are not yet
solved, so if you have some ideas about fundraising, please contact
new Wind. Estelle have friends all over Europe.
For more information on Estelle http://www.estelle.fi/enindex.php
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2.5 Environmentalists bike caravans to EF
The Swedish environmental movements starts to mobilise towards ESF.
At a first meeting 12.1 in Malmö Friends of the Earth Sweden, the
youth environmental organisaion Fältbiologerna, Via Campesina Sweden
and some others discussed what issues are of importance to address at
ESF. Climate, nuclear power and food sovereignity were mentioned. Now
FoE Seden has decided to initiate a meeting in Stockholm for all
organisations interested in the environmental issues at ESF-5. There
is a growing interest for ESF among new activists in the network
Kimax, the Green Youth and others.
Instead of focusing upon seminars with big names ESF is seen as a
unique opportunity for activists to meet which should be used, for
instance for a European climate action meeting addressing the Big Ask
Campaign but also for resistance against infrastructure projects as
motorways. Carfree cities, uranium mining and enrichment resistance
and more general climate issues are also questions to address.
One idea is to organise an ESF bicycle caravan during the summer to
strengthen mobilisation and a youth camp with European cooperation
partners.
From 12.1 meeting report and FoE meeting minutes 10.2 2008
FoE Sweden: www.mjv.se
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2.6 ESF 2008 Action Network
From Facebook (translated from Swedish):
"During the weekend 2-3rd of February ESF 2008 Action Network was
founded in Malmö. The network will mobilise towads European Social
Forum, which will be held in Malmö in September 2008. With this
mobilisation as a basis the idea is to build an autonomous action
network of long duration, which could continue to work the coming
years ....
At ESF the Action network plans to organise so called Radical
assemblies for the non-parliamentarian left and a convergence center
for networking on the European level. The Netowrk will organise an
international anticapitalist block in the big demonstration and plan
lots of mass actions during the days of the meeting. All this will
require an infrastructure which the network now starts to create: a
website, work fourm on the net, international propaganda, preimises
for a convergenmce center, mass accomodation, and a kitchen to serve
meals.
.....
Issues of interest are precarisation/struggle at the workplace,
social centers/urban struggles, womens struggle, antifascism with a
focus towards the East."
/ ESF 2008 Action Network Stockholm
www.esf2008action.net (not yet functioning)
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2.7 Promoting the US and Latin American social forum caravan idea
"1) We need to start addressing soon the "caravan mobilization/
information" strategy inspired by the "freedom caravan" for the first
United Social Forum(USSF) 27 June-1 July 2007. It might be
worthwhile to invite Ruben Solís, from the SouthWestern Union, one of
the key organizers of the "freedom caravan" to join us for the EPA
meeting in Berlin 21-23 February, to share the valuable lessons from
his experience with us. I suggest that the organizers of the Berlin
meeting and the NOC/ESF 2008 take this proposal into serious
consideration.
At least as it deals with the nordic countries. Let me briefly sketch
my vision for the swedish east coast:
1.1) Let us say, that a one-day local social forum is organized in
Umeå (Piteå) around September 14th.
1.2) The east coast caravan could then start travelling south by
buss/ trainon 15th September, making stops along the way, meeting
social movements and local civil society organizations, unions,
etc, along the way, let us say for purposes only of illustration, in
Sundsvall and Gävle, to carry on meetings and dialogues with the
local populations arranged and planned in due time. Like building
"a string of pearls" comprised of mini local social forums and public
meetings with the local people, with as much public visibility as
possible (articulating conventional, alternative and mouth-to-mouth
and phone trees media channels). Solidarity housing should be
available for the "pilgrims" on their way to Malmö.
1.3) Let us say that on 15th September we have a local mini social
forum in Uppsala, to also welcome the northeast caravan and maybe
some folk coming by boat from Finland (baltic countries and even
Russia), along the lines suggested by Laura.
1.4) On 16th September the enlarging/enlarged caravan continues its
way to Malmö, hoping to arrive in Malmö on 17th meet other caravans
coming from the north and west, to be welcomed by our hosts (and lots
of persons whose curiosity has been aroused by then about this
unusual caravan coming from the north and from the east :)
1.5) Similar caravans are envisioned for Norway-Karlstad/Gothenburg-
Lynköping-Malmö...
2) At the program meeting last weekend in Paris, Josu from the Basque
country mentioned his concern that people in that region of Spain may
consider that the distance and cost of travelling to the "North
Pole" (Malmö) might be prohibitive...
And yet, it is worthwhile to recall that a buss travelled all the way
from Brazil to Ciudad Juarez in northern Mexico to attend the USSF,
more than one (or two) weeks journey!!!
Consider the incredible impact of such caravans along the way.
Particularly, taking into account the usual blockade of the
established wrongly-called "free" media."
Azril Bacal, Paulo Friere Association and Uppsala Social Forum
And here from an original US text:
People's Freedom Caravan
"This is a different kind of event that will take on the democracy
divide that exists between races, classes, cultures and regions,"
says Genaro Rendon of SWU. "We want to connect the struggles and
histories of African-Americans, Latinos and Indigenous peoples in the
southern US. The Freedom Caravan is a social movement on wheels,
giving us a chance to share and strategize towards achieving
'another' US."
"The caravan is a rebirth of grassroots politics that will include
hundreds of members from community organizations that share a common
vision for a more just world. This is a world where education and
healthcare are valued over war, incarceration, and corporate welfare;
where worker and human rights are respected; and where families live
in a clean environment.
By bringing together indigenous nations, displaced peoples of New
Orleans,
migrant workers along the border, and youth and civil rights veterans
in Mississippi, the People's Freedom Caravan will break down the
geographic, political, racial and cultural barriers that have been
used to marginalize our communities.
Starting in Albuquerque, the caravan will weave its way across the
country, converging at cities to highlight local struggles for
justice, share cultures and hold media events. The Caravan will
arrive marching into Atlanta, where participants will be met by
thousands of delegates at the first U.S. Social Forum."
From Press Release USSF Caravan 5 - 3- 2007, Posted by Southwest
Workers
Union
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2.8 International parallell ESF activities
Pierre George, a "veteran" from most previous WSFs, who facilitates
the global network of local social forums, visited an ESF meeting in
Paris.
"One extremely provocative suggestion he made is as follows: While
some thousands of participants are expected to join us in Malmö,
more thousands won't be able to do so. Therefore, why not
facilitate the task of organizing parallel tele-forums (via internet
and local gatherings and discussions) in all possible locations in
Europe and abroad, along lines similar to the Global Day of Action on
26th January 2008?"
Warm regards from sunny/cold Uppsala
Azril Bacal, email: bazril (at) gmail.com
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2.9 NOC ESF Mobilisaton tours to Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia,
Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia and Russia.
There is a need to strengthen the mobilisation efforts for the
European Social Forum in Malmö 17 - 21st of September. The Contact
group for Europe and the World in the Nordic Organizing Committee
(NOC) have decided to initiate three tours, The aim is to meet
interested organisations and movements to inform and exchange
experience on issues of importance to those who want to participate
in ESF-5. From Finland Laura Tuominen, board member of NOC, will
coordinate a tour to Estonia and Latvia 8-11.3. From Sweden Tord
Björk, coordinator of the Contact Group for Europe and the World will
visit Czech republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, and
Poland on a fast visit 16-21.2 before the European network meetings
and the European preparatory assembly for ESF in Berlin 22-24.2.
Azril Bacal will make a visit to Malaga, Seville, Madrid and other
cities in Spain and Portugal 18-21.2.
The aim of the tours is:
- Getting in contact with a broad range of groups and movements
interested in ESF-5
- Discussing what kind of issues are important for interested
participants from countries visited on the tour and east-west
exchange of experience.
- Informing practically about ESF participation both concerning how
to influence the program, webb-pages and the Solidarity fund.
- Discussing how to strengthen the role of CEE in ESF and if possible
also WSF and similar cooperation.
- Informing the media.
Also organisations from other countries like Belarus and Bulgaria
have shown interest in hosting NOC ESF mobilisation tour visits.
Contact anyone of the emailaddresses below if you are interested.
For more information: Estonia-Latvia tour; Laura Tuominen,
laura.m.tuominen (at) helsinki.fi
Central European tour; Tord Björk, tord.bjork (at) mjv.se
Iberian tour: Azril Bacal, bazril (at) gmail.com
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2.10 Immanuel Wallerstein goes East
The well-known US academician and world-system theoríst Immanuel
Wallerstein will participate on the NOC tour to Tallin, the capital
of Estonia on the 8th of March. He will speak on the issues of global
capitalism and the future of social forums. Wallerstein is one of the
very few that predicted the downfall of realsocialist regimes in the
CEE countries. The venue is still to be confirmed. For more
information, see Estonia-Latvia tour above.
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2.11 International Campaign for Common Welfare 2008 - 2009
Press release 26th of January 2008
Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänner/Friends of the Earth Sweden and
Nordbruk/Via Campesina Sweden invites, on the Global Day of Action
called by World Social Forum, other popular movements in the Nordic
countries to participate in a joint campaigning for common welfare,
against privatisation, war and environmental destruction. The aim of
the campaign is to unite all popular movements that sees it as
important to put forward common political demands in a time when
neoliberal forces continue their offensive to turn the public sector
and environment into commodities in the Nordic countries and the
world. A political force that also promotees war, occupation and
authorian forms of governance built on undemocratic domination by
experts.
We plan to start on the 17th of April on the International day of
peasant's struggle. The day is called by the international peasant
movement La Via Campesina to commemorate the massacre of 19 farm
workers and peasants killed by police in Eldorado do Carajas in
Amazonia while they were occupying a road to demand land reform.
Before the massacre the chairman of Friends of the Earth Sweden
visited Eldorado do Carajas to support trade union struggle for human
rights in the region. Afterwards a preplanned Euro- Amazonian tour
from Spain to Sweden was organised by Friends of the Earth Sweden and
the rubber tapper union in Amazonia to protect human rights and stop
the killings in Amazonia.
Next step is popular education and participation in the European
Social Forum in Malmö 17-21st of September in Malmö and the World
Social Forum in Amazonia in January 2009. Friends of the Earth Sweden
invites to Malmö active people and representatives from their sister
organisations with 2 million mebers internationally and Via Campesina
Sweden its sister organisations with many more million members in
total in the world.
Through the campaign we wish to improve cooperation with other trade
union, environmental, antiracist, peace, women's, indigenous,
solidarity, rural, urban, cultural and other movements to organise
common activities at social forums to strengthen popular movements
basic work in daily life against neoliberalism.
The last step is to pursue common demands during the Swedish EU-
presidency in the autumn 2009 and the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in
december 2009.
All popular movements in the Nordic countries are invited to a
meeting to prepare the campaign 2nd of March in Gothenburg. The type
of common demands put forward by Friends of the Earth and Via
Campesina Sweden are linked to issues like yes to common welfare - no
to privatisation, yes to peace - not to war and occupation, yes to
food sovereignity and fair trade, yes to sustainable planning of
society - reduce emmissions of green house gases and stop deforestation.
We look forward to cooperation with all popular movments who see it
as important to jointly stop the neoliberal forces and work for
democratic alternatives.
Ellie Cijvat
Chair, Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänner/Friends of the Earth Sweden
Hans Röös
Chair, Nordbruk/Via Campesina Sweden
www.mjv.se, www.nordbruk.se
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2.12 Environmental and alternative movements network assembly 22.2
in Berlin
Dear all,
The environmental and alternative movements network is meeting at the
EPA in Berlin, Friday 22nd of February. Below the proposed agenda.
Agenda for the meeting 22/2
(14.00-16.00, room 3, Berlin, Franz-Mehring-Platz 1 )
1. introduction - presentation of people present
2. short report from previous meetings (Stockholm and Istanbul EPA)
3. ESF:
- what activities are planned? seminars, workshops - can we
cooperate?
- an env./alt. space at the ESF?
- the network: do we want assemblies, and write a call?
- participation from the env./alt. movement in CEE countries
3. next meeting, how to continue
We also have a work space at www.openesf.net .
Best regards,
Ellie
Friends of the Earth Sweden
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3. General on ESF
3.1 Links
All the information you need including how to subscribe for email
lists you can get at the official websites:
www.fse-esf.org
Nordic Organizing Committee/Föreningen ESF Norden 2008:
www.esf2008.se/eng
You can also get more in depth information at the open work space:
www.openesf.net
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3.2 450 000 SEK, ca. 47 000 Euro ready for use in the Solidarity fund
Two major contributions to the Solidarity fund for travels and other
costs primarily for Central- and Eastern Europe are now granted. From
Forum Syd/SIDA 200 000 SEK (Swedish crowns) and from the general
support to ESF from the Malmö municipality 250 000 SEK, in total 450
000 SEK. This makes it now possible to plan and pay in advance for
supporting collective transports and other costs for participation
from CEE-countries. Further efforts to get more funding is also on
its way. The budget goal for the solidarity fund is 1 million SEK.
For more information and requests: Tord Björk, tord.bjork at mjv.se, add
a copy
also to esf2008 at gmail.com
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3.3 Themes proposed by European Programme group to be decided at EPA
in Berlin
Making another Europe possible
– building alliances for struggles and alternatives-
* Working for social inclusion and social rights – welfare, public
services and common goods for all
* Working for a sustainable world, environmental justice and climate
safety
* Building a democratic and right-based Europe for participation,
openness and inclusion
* Working for equality, acknowledging diversities, and for a feminist
perspective
* Building a Europe for a world of justice, peace, and solidarity
* Building labour strategies for decent work and dignity for all
* Economic alternatives based on people’s needs and rights, for a
fair economy
* Full access to knowledge -cultural, educational, and information
rights for all. Shaping alternatives
* Making a Europe of equality and inclusiveness for refugees,
migrants and minorities
Other parts of the minutes from the of the European Programme group
meeting in Paris
Logistics:
NOC:
The forum will mostly take place between the Peoples Park and
Rosengård, from the centrum to the periphery, 25 minutes walking
distance between the 2 places. Malmö is a small town, there will be
no problem of visibility of the forum in town.
...
What about hospitality? Stadiums?
A call to lend sofas and for solidarity accomodations will soon be
sent. For mass accomodations, the municipality is sending a call to
all schools, some schools have already answered positively.
Document 1: Take part in making another Europe possible
Focus on Alliance building, mobilizations, and actions to make the
forum more participatory and diverse. Diversity of gender is already
visible on the form. Aim and type will be facilitators to mergers
We need to start the program process as fast as possible . We can add
the themes later to give the possibility for planning as fast as
possible.
On the end of June, we will hopefully have a program.
Open spaces, meeting rooms after events on the program to continue
the work.
....
Inclusive and positive themes. Focus on central (and Eastern, editors
note that this must be a mistake in the notes) Europe, feminism as
transversal themes: Strategies of the movements should even be visible.
....
A maximum of 5 event proposals for each organisation"
There has been comments in NOC programme group afterwards that
antiracism has been to invisible in the themes due to lack of time
for discussing how to solve this in Paris. The argument was that
migrant issues should not be reduced to antiracism. There is a strong
interest for antiracism in the programme.
FoE Sweden commented on theme proposals before they were decided:
"There has been a discussion going on regarding theme proposals that
will be put on the agenda by the European program group meeting in
Paris 2.2.
In the end it is up to all of us to cooperate and create a program at
ESF that will bring popular movements forward. The exact wording of
the themes may not be the most important. Thus we do not want to put
forward a complete proposal but give some examples on how we think
both in relation to the proposal made by the Nordic Organizing
Committee before EPA i Istanbul and European Attac recently.
We from Friends of the Earth Sweden proposed in the internal
discussions within the Nordic Organizing Committee that themes should
include both what we are against and what we are for, e.g. "Yes to
Common welfare, No to privatisation" or "No to neoliberalism, Yes to
economic alternatives". These our wordings we thought was close to
the core of the WSF declaration.
Instead the result was e.g. "Public Services and Welfare Models" or
only "Economic Alternatives". We also proposed that popular movement
cooperation should be included without success."
FoE Sweden saw problems both with the original NOC proposals made at
EPA in
Istanbul last December and a later proosal from Attac Europe in
January. The NOC proposal was to neutral, the Attac proposal was to
centered on Europe.
Now we see that the theme proposal has taken a great step forward. We
take for granted that our proosal for issues on popular movement
alliances for struggles and building alternatives is something that
is included not as a theme in itself but as a transversal issue.
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4. Actions
4.1 Global Action Day 26.1
The Global Action Day was globally a success with more than 800
actions in 80 countries. In Europe according to estimation made by
the NOC European Contact Group with the help of sometimes uncertain
information on the www.wsf2008.org website action was carried out in
25 countries in approximatly 400 places.
In terms of environmental, urban and rural issues Central and Eastern
Europé were especially strong. In Hungary there were protests against
privatisation of energy and in Russia from Kalingrad at the Baltic
Sea to Sachalin at the Pacific there were protests to protect housing
rights. These kind of issues were less prominent in Western Europe
although at some places i Sweden issues as sustainability and climate
change were addressed in Borlänge and Stockholm and the Northernmost
action in Europé taking place in Rovaniem addressing the issues of
Sami people rights.
Approximatly number of actions on 26:1 in European countries
according to NOC contact group for Europe and world estimations:
Austria WSF 26.1, ca 10
Azerbaijan WSF 26.1, 1
Belgium WSF 26.1, ca 10
Bosnia and Herzegovina WSF 26.1, 2
Czech Republic WSF 26.1, 1
Finland WSF 26.1, 2
France WSF 26.1, ca 50+
Georgia WSF 26.1, 1
Germany WSF 26.1, ca 50
Greece WSF 26.1, 1
Hungary WSF 26.1, 1
Ireland WSF 26.1, 1
Italy WSF 26.1, very many 150+
Netherlands WSF 26.1, very few
Norway WSF 26.1, 2
Portugal WSF 26.1, ca 10
Romania WSF 26.1, some
Russia WSF 26.1, ca 20+
Slovenia WSF 26.1, 1
Spain: WSF 26.1, ca 50+
Sweden WSF 26.1, 5
Switzerland WSF 26.1, 1
Turkey WSF 26.1, some
Ukraine WSF 26.1, 2
United Kingdom WSF 26.1, ca 10
-----------------------
5. Theme Two: The environmental movement
5.1 The Swedish environmental movement
by Jan Wiklund
The Swedish environmental movements can only be understood against a
backdrop of national and global popular politics in general. Sweden
was, and is, an egalitarian society, for a long time dominated by
popular movements and a populist imagery. And an environmental
movement was formed at a time when the global ruling system and the
global ruling class looked weaker than it had done for hundreds of
years. Both these factors explain much of the startling beginning and
the subsequent failures of the Swedish environmental movements.
Sweden was until a hundred years ago a country of independent family
farmers, in an uneasy power balance with a strong bureaucracy. The
modest prosperity of about half of them, together with the nearby
British consumer society, then provided markets to a flurry of
industrialisation, where the less prosperous of the farmers
increasingly were drawn into the small industrial towns as industrial
workers. Memories of egalitarian rural communities induced them to
organise folkrörelser - democratic popular movements, to their own
defence, of which of course the Labour movement was the most
important. Swedish Social Democracy was theoretically heavily
influenced by the German Labour movement, but in reality it was as
much informed by Anglo-Saxon Liberation theology and cross-class
temperance, both giving a quality of cultural self-improvement and
hegemony-seeking to Labour. "We demand our human dignity back" is the
refrain of the most popular Swedish Labour anthem, and "We build the
country" was the catch-phrase of the Labour movement in the 30s.
Organisation in trade unions approached 100% among wage-earners.
Swedish literature in the 30s through the 50s was dominated by
autodidacts writing about their working- class and small farmer
backgrounds. The Labour party ruled the country from 1932 into the
70s, sometimes in coalition with the Farmer party. However, in spite
of these remarkable strengths of the Swedish menu peuple, the
influence of technocratic social engineers of middle-class background
got more
decisive as time went by.
The popular movements had interests in environment from the late
1800s. "Healthy industries" was the number two goal of Stockholm
Trade Union Federation in the 1870s, after the eight hours day. And
like in contemporary Europe and North America, popular health was a
major concern of the liberal middle class, which resulted in
subsidised health care, a national social housing programme, and
sewage treatment into the smallest village already in the 50s, and
the world's first national environment agency. Also, the urbanmiddle
class was as wary of its urban roots as its brethren internationally
and began to organise nature conservation, which was easy in Sweden
since there was so much nature to conserve in a country big as France
with only a sixth of its population.
The beginning of post-war social movements - nuclear fallout and
other poisons
However, these factors were of less direct importance to the birth of
an organised environmental movement in the 60s. The labour tradition
had been stuck in a state administration mould after its successful
thrust in the 30s and 40s, and the nature conservation tradition
seemed quite content with reservations in the far north. None of them
counted any longer with lay people as serious participants in
societal changes.
To find the immediate background of the environmental movement, we
have to look into two other social movements.
The first of these was the surviving milieus of pre-war vegetarian/
health movement people. This one had rather developed into a market
niche of biologically produced food, but there were many once-active
people that were eager participants of the emerging environmental
movement. For them, a mix of personally healthy living and political
responsibility seemed natural, and for the years to come they were
often proponents of new issues (like nuclear power) as well as
financiers of campaigns.
The other was the movement against nuclear armament. This trans-
northern organising was carried out immediately after the second
world war and into the 60s by people from three different social
milieus: Labour party activists who were somewhat removed from the
leading circles, social-christians of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation or Service
International tradition, and young people from the emerging youth
subculture. Although perhaps the British or the German organising is
better known internationally, peace movement organising in Sweden was
much more successful. Labour party activists like Inga Thorsson
succeeded through a combined internal and public tactics to get the
government to abandon a nuclear bomb programme. The biggest peace
movement organisation, Svenska Freds- och Skiljedomsföreningen,
adopted a programme of abandoning the national defence altogether,
and use the saved money for international aid.
From 1965, the peace movement redirected its aims at stopping the
Vietnam war. The Swedish pro-Vietnamese solidarity campaign grew to
the biggest in Europe, and eventually in 1972 all political parties
combined with 2,7 million Swedish signers (out of a population of
eight) to urge the United States to leave Vietnam.
The inheritance from the peace movement to the environmental movement
was twofold.
The social milieus were more or less the same. Many people came
directly from the peace movement to the environmental movement.
Others followed the same kind of itinerary, from youthful opposition
to murky class-ridden society in general, to an idealistic, yet
pragmatic movement for change here and now, just that the issue
changed with the times. One important sector of the peace movements
was however missing in the new environment turn -- the communists,
due to their pro-technological bent.
But more important was perhaps that the social and political imagery
was the same in both the peace and the environmental movement. The
political traditions and repertoire of the peace movement --
demonstrations, signature campaigns, occupations of symbolical sites,
but most important of all: social movement activities in a kind of
opposition and critical solidarity with a sympathetic fly of the
labour movement, and a pragmatic labour division between young
radicals and middle-aged labour reformists -- was taken over rather
uncritically by the environmental movement.
....
You can find the full article at:
http://www.folkrorelser.nu/inenglish/swedishenviron.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 The global environmental movement
Jan Wiklund has also written a history of the global environmental
movement in a chapter on civil society self-defence in a book on the
global history of popular movements. Below you find a quote from the
text:
"In the late eighties, when the arms race had lost some urgency, the
environmental theme returned as a focus for the broad movement for
civil society commons in the North. The mobilization was shallower
than it had been in the seventies, since elitist organisation forms
as NGOs and parties had grown strong in the meantime, and involved
mainly youth. Air pollution, forest death and traffic were the
mainstays at the outset; these were tied together by the European
Youth Forest Action, EYFA, the first organisation to coordinate
struggles in East and West. EYFA used methods like summer camps and
campaigns against industrial pollutions and motorway projects, but
also against the development projects of the World Bank [60].
These three mobilizations were able for a time to, by stigmatizing
the developmental model of the World Bank, put in question the
legitimacy of capital accumulation. It was serious enough to provoke
an attempt from the global rulers to integrate the environmental
critique in the same way as they had tried before to integrate the
critique of the land reform movement: redefinition of the
environmental threats into a technical issue, and cooptation of as
many environmental NGOs as possible in a top-heavy bargaining
machinery without aim. The latter was easy, since few of them had
seen themselves as linked to any popular movement [61].
During the nineties, this counterstrategy has worked well, partly.
The environmental theme has been moved out of focus and the
commitments the states were forced to in Rio de Janeiro have on the
whole never been fulfilled. On the other hand, the southern movements
were never co- opted. There hegemony within the peoples' movement
family has prepared the ground for integrating environmental issues
into a much broader program than northern environmental movements
were able to. This integration of environmental movements into the
broad anti-Washington Consensus movement will be considered in
chapter 10."
Read more: http://www.folkrorelser.nu/demokratins/carriers.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
5.3 FoE Sweden ESF and 2009 follow-up policy
Friends of the Earth Sweden strategy policy for ESF in Malmö 2008 and
WSF in Amazonia, Swedish EU-presidency and Climate Summit in
Copenhagen 2009.
The 5ht European Social Forum will be held in Malmö 17-21st of
September 2008. The first was held in Florence 2002. At this forum
athe intiative to demonstrate against the Iraq war was taken. Later
ESF were took place in Paris 2003, London 2004, and Athens 2006.
Social forums have been held since 1999 in Norway and fpor the whole
world in Porto Alegre and other places since 2001. In Sweden local
social forums have been organised in Norrköping, Lund, Stockholm,
Göteborg, Umeå and Falun. Local environmental groups or FoE Sweden
have been co-organisers of all these forums with the exception of
Umeå. According to a scientific study FoE Sweden is one of the
organisations with most partcipants at these social forum. FoE Sweden
has not participated very actively at earlier ESF. The environmental
issues have been well recieved by ESF but the environmental movment
in Europé has not been strongly engaged sp far. At regional forums on
other continents as Latin America environmental issues has been the
most addressed issue as the struggle against GMO during a continental
forum in Ecuador.
The FoE Sweden stretagy is three-folded:
1. One level is the need to establish a program and processes
together with our sister organisations and like-minded movements at
ESF in limited issues as food sovereignity, climate and nuclear power.
2. The second level is to promote popular movmetn cooperation by
intiating a political campaign maing demands on issues as social
justice, environment, peace and solidarity with activities during ESF
as an element and a follow-up duiring 2009. At this level belong
taking initiatives to jointly organise seminars of interest to all
popular movments and other activities like participating in the big
demonstration.
3. The third level is to support ESF cooperation as a whole.
During 2007 FoE Sweden put most energy into the third level and less
than was wished into the tow other levels. When ESF coms closer
environmental issues will probably be the largest task at least in
quantity while popular movment allaince building behind political
demands may become the most important task in the follow-up of ESF.
We hope by making a good effprt at all three levels to strengten the
combined results of the contribution by FoE Sweden.
All three leevsl are parts of a common strategy making it fun and
interesting for emmebers of FoE sweden and other popualr movments to
participate at ESF. We want to renew ESF by making ESF more
interesting for people in common, green, open, democratic cultural
and political. To make such a broad strategy possible FoE Sweden
builds a close relationship with FoE sister organisations, peasant
organisation as Nordbruk in sweden, meber of Via Campesina and
solidarity organisations promoting global democray and popular
movement cooperation as Democracy Forum Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in
Finland and the Nordic Association for Knowledge on Activism and
Popular movements. Surrounding such a core of closely related
organisations cooperation is promoted with all interested
environmental and other popular movements.
The full policy is available in Swedish
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
5.4 FoE Sweden content for ESF
People active in Friends of the Earth Sweden have suggested the
following ideas for the programme:
Popular movement cooperation and strategy
This theme can include issues like:
- Alter-globalisation movement – yesterday, today, tomorrow,
- Workers, farmers, environemental and womens movement importance for
peoples daily life and global solidarity
And subthemes of interest to all or most movements like:
- The relationship between EU and Russia and other CIS countries and
the Alter-globalisation movement
- Experiences from EU-critical movements in different countries and
protests during EU-presidencies
- Repression against social movements
- Summit protests , the history and future
- Rural and urban movement cooperation and strategies
- Civil disobedience, liberation struggle and antiimperialism
- The relationship between popular movements, NGOs and political
parties.
- Who writes the history? – the memory of movement victories and
experiences
Environment, justice and sustainable societies
1. Climate change is one of the most pressing problems of our times
and in future. However, in order to combat climate change we need to
put forward fair solutions, promoting social justice and involving
many people.
2. It is important to look at how societies can be economically,
socially and environmentally sustainable without exporting problems
to other societies, e.g. working conditions in Vietnam, greenhouse
gas emissions and pollution in China due to consumption patterns in
wealthy countries, and rainforest destruction for biofuels in
Indonesia. But also local social conditions are important, such as
human interaction and neighborhood involvement and empowerment. This
topic thus has a clear local-global perspective.
1 Popular education for change 2. A green and fair welfare state? 3:
Food sucurity versus biofuels?
1. Grassroot participation is nessesary to change the world and
popular education is a tool for popular movements to involve more
people and build strength. The nordic countries have a strong
tradition in popular education with for example folk high schools,
other regions have other similar traditions. 2 Seminars about the
welfare state and how it can be used for todays challenges like
climate change, rasism, gender inequality ...
3 There will be a conflict about land in the near future, with a
rising demand for biofuels. This affects the south but has a lot to
do with policies and lifestyles in europe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
5.5 Letter from FoE Denmark, Finland and Sweden to sister organisations.
Dear all,
FoE Sweden, Denmark and Finland are heavily involved in the
preparations for the 5th European Social Forum taking place in Malmö,
Sweden, september 17-21. The situation for the environmental movement
has never been better:
There is a genuine interest for environmental issues from other
groups involved, not the least for climate change, which increasingly
is connected to global social justice by unions and other more
traditionally leftist groups. Moreover, the public debate on climate
change is very intense, and there are many openings for a radical
position. This means that the FOE network could have a very good
platform at the ESF for issues such as agrofuels, as well as
sustainable energy. Traditionally at the forum issues such as trade,
agriculture and north-south inequality are very visible. We believe
it possible to now also make a broader range of environmental issues
as nuclear power, car traffic and the environmental movement in
general more present in the pogramme.
The Nordic ESF Organizing Committee is a coalition of a broad range
of organizations; We have so far succeeded in working together with
large unions (e.g. the swedish transport union), European Feminist
Initiative, Network against war, Left party student organization, a
Popular Education organization, Attac, Workers Education
Organization, the regional TUC (union coalition), a central america
solidarity organization, and a local migrant issues network. Even
though there are differences in background and viewpoints (of
course), there is a will from all to work together and move forward
with the forum. Moreover, there is a genuine interest to broaden
the participation of the ESF, e.g. to increase eastern europe
participation, and to make the forum more participatory and moving
forward.
FoE Sweden has established contact with Via Campesina (both Sweden
and Europe), and started to discuss cooperation on the issue of food
sovereignty. Moreover, we are working on a coalition to organize
several seminars and workshops on the global justice movement
(history and future), inviting some high-profile global justice
people ...
Locally the FoE group in Malmö would like to work on sustainable
societies, and to link up with the local public service network. Also
climate actions and an environmental forum space are discussed.
FoE Denmark has started to work on agrofuels at the ESF: NOAH (FOE-
Denmark) is proposing an agrofuel project: AGROFUEL IN THE EU – THE
NEW COLONIALISM?
The main goal is to call attention to the responsibility we have in
Europe to change the neo-colonial policies towards the countries of
the South. It is unacceptable that the Global South bear the costs of
emissions reductions in the EU. Join this group at: www.openesf.net
Within the ESF, we have established an Environmental and alternative
movements network, to facilitate cooperation with other environmental
organizations (also this is at www.openesf.net ). This network has
proposed a greening of the ESF, that is, thinking green in practice
with regards to transport and food. The ESF solidarity fund
(possibility for people from poor countries to get support for
travelling expenses and participation) should have a greener aspect.
This network also promotes cooperation with farmers movements and
urban groups.
We want to invite all FoE groups to get involved in the ESF!
Best regards,
Ellie Cijvat
Tord Björk
FoE Sweden - Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänner
Riikka Leskinen
Jarna Pasanen
FoE Finland - Maan Ystävät
Safania Eriksen
NOAH - FoE Denmark
PS Some practical information: deadline for seminar/workshop
proposals is May 1st. For more information see: www.esf2008.org
(under construction), www.fse-esf.org , and www.openesf.net .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
5.6 Reactions to Nordic FoE initiatives
The Nordic FoE organisations have recieved a number of reactions on
their letter and attempts to build alliances with the peasant
organisation Via Campesina (VC) to make ESF more green. Among others
from FoE England and Wales, Milieudefensie in the Netherlands, FoE
Mauritius, FoE Peru, BUND Jugend and YoungFOEE, youth environmental
organisatins in Germany and European-wide as well as Corporate Europe
Observatory.
One of Friends of the Earth Internaionals climate and energy
coordinators, writes that "joint FOEI/ VC activities ... is great
news, especially since we have been weaker in Europe in comparison to
other regions, in forging ties with Via. I agree that this seems like
a strong potential platform for campaigning against agrofuels."
From a member at FoE Europe climate team "Here our web page and our
last action we did in Berlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9OxDdhpGk
http://www.foeeurope.org/youngfoee/index.htm .
We are planning something for the CoP in Posznan and i think it would
be a good opportunity to join the ESF as Young FoEE - to prepare our
action and to give some input from our side.
Furthermore I am part of the German youth movements (Young FoE
Germany - Bundjugend - and FoE Germany - BUND) and part of the Youth
Alliance for Future Energy, a German open network for young people
who like to do things on energy and climate. The last big thing we
did was the organization of the YouPEC (www.youpec.eu) congress in
Berlin in 2007. We are just planning our activities for 2008 and like
to join the ESF as well for mobilizing people for the CoP in Poland
in December and for giving input from the youth perspective."
From the Netherlands: "Fantastisch, wat een goed initiatief!" From
England and Wales Seattle to Brussels Network and the Global Europe
Campaign are mentioned as important. Further cooperation among FoE
groups are in the making inncluding to discuss how to link to FoE
activities at ESF-5 to Friends of the Earth International and World
Social Forum 2009.
From Corporate Europe Observatory: "I very much recognise the
approach you're trying to promote for the ESF in Malmö ....CEO won't
be able to engage that deeply in the preparatory process, but we'll
certainly support your efforts. Our own specific hopes for the ESF
include:
- a major focus on the role of the EU in advancing neoliberal
globalisation (including through the 'Global europe' strategy of
trade talks)
- a strong program on the EU's promotion of dangerous pseudo-
solutions to climate change, particularly (imported) agrofuels
- a strong programme on water privatisation issues, including the
launch of the European Water Network, a pan-european network of
networks resisting water privatisation"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
5.7 What is Young FOEE?
What is Young FoEE?
Young FoEE is a new part of the Friends of the Earth Europe network.
Its aim is to bring together young people and youth organisations
from all over Europe to work together on pressing environmental
issues such as cllimate change in a European context. We want to give
politicians, businesses and the general public the youth perspective
on environmental issues. If you are young and would like to join
Young FoEE to actively work towards a sustainable future, read more
to see what you can do.
A little history
In the summer of 2004, an event called Ecotopia took place in the
Netherlands with young people from all over the world. Some of them
came together to discuss the possibility of starting a European
environmental youth network. These meetings were great and productive
but as time went on not much happened.
More then two years later, in the beginning of 2007 new life started
flowing through this initiative. At the annual general meeting of
Friends of the Earth Europe in Hungary a group of young people
resumed the discussions on how to build up such a sustainable youth
network.
Two months later another meeting was held at the Youth Perspective on
Energy and Climate (YouPEC) and a lot of people there were inspired
to join and do something for this new born initiative.
Now months later, Young FoEE is up and running. One person is working
full-time in the FoEE office in Brussels looking after the practical
needs of this new network and young people and organisations in more
than ten European countries are supporting them and thinking of ways
to work as effectively as possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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5.8 Why and how an environmentalist gets interested in ESF -
Presentation of coordinator of European mobilisation group for ESF-5
By Tord Björk
What makes an environmentalist interested in European Social Forum
and how does he become the coordinator of the European mobilisation?
An environmentalist that not even have participated in any earlier
European or World Social Forum with their hundreds of thousands of
participants.
Contrary to many left-wing organisations, academicians and NGOs I
also do not see social forums as something unique. The whole mytology
of a civil society separate from the state and market is to me
problematic. It lacks a realistic understanding of the power
relations within a process of cooperation between different popular
movements and NGOs and creates an illusion of something new in words
instead of a hope built on experience in daily practice whether this
is in local popular movement cooperation were you live, at national
or transnational level.
In my organisation when we started to become very active in All-
European actions in both Eastern and Western Europe the saying was
that it is more simple to start an international campaign than to win
a local struggle. And so of course it is still, it is easier to
organise an international gathering like ESF than to stop actual
devastating plans or for the matter to establish alternatives that
work i practice. The elitist idea that it is something greater to
organise international talk shops than to struggle locally or
nationally never impressed me.
With this in mind it is of course important to do your duty and if
possible why not also have fun once you have been assigned to a task
by your movement. In my case my chairwomen Ellie Cijvat in Friends of
the Earth Sweden who had been very active with the ESF preparations
from the very start one year ago went to Australia asking me to go to
a prepatory mmeeting in June instead of her. And there I were in the
middle of meddling with all the practical and political work to
establish an organisation capable of hosting and encouraging 20 000
participants.
Mobilisation seemed to be a task that few were interested in and so I
started intiating some work to get it done, especially eager to use
my old experience in cooperation with Central and Eastern Europeans
which was a prioritised issue which seemed as a challenging task. The
prioritised issue to reach out to new groups also seemed interesting.
I had one earlier ESF experience. In 2004 I participated at an
European Preparatory Assembly in Berlin for the 2nd ESF in Paris.
This was quite amusing. I ended up as the delegate for Sweden in back
door negotiations on how to deal with the consensus process in
plenary and make all delegations accepting some kind of solution. The
problem was that the French delegation took up half of the speaking
time in these negotiation using much of it for their internal
disputes. It was quite clear that small countries were marginal in
this formally equal process and that it was, apart from France, Italy
and Germany that counted, all dominated by trade unions with a little
boít of respect also for UK. Environmentalist were quite popular as
long as we kept ourselves within the nisch of environmental issues.
Did we ask for pleanaries were both trade unions, farmers and
environmental movements discussed common general strategy this was
dismissed as well as when proposals came stating the need to address
openly the divergent and maybe sometimes opposing tactics and
strategies within the global justice movement. This was too sensitive
to discuss openly in big plenaries at ESF according to the dominant
organisations. So much for open space or equal cooperation between
movements.
In my report back to Friends of the Earth I concluded that at the
time being ESF was a process were the trade unions tried to come
closer to the global justice movement which was good. Most trade
unions were radical and main stream unions like IG Metall in Germany
were not yet fully involved in the process. Te main problem was that
it was to much centered in its general strategy on issues of
distribution policy and less forward looking on issues of development
critique and equal cooperation between different popular movments
whether they come from small countries or big, work with issues
recognised or unrecognised by the established society, from East or
West, North or South.
This time I look differemt upon the situation. Trade unions have had
their chance and done a quite god job with the campaign against the
Bolkenstein directive on services as a good example on how ESF can
promote political work without deciding upon issues in the name of
all participants. But in general ESF has some less participation than
earlier and is in a transition period together with the trade unions,
left-wing and global justice movement that has been the core of the
mobilisation for ESF earlier.
There is no longer any need to wait for the trade unions, IG Metall
and some other main stream unions are already fully involved and if
they are not they have had their chance. NGOs and academicians only
interested in ESF as an open space for discussions also have had
their chance with the result as during the Danish Social Forum when
participation is diminishing in spite of very broad organizing
committee. It is about time that other more action-oriented movements
with wider perspectives challenge the dominant ESF left-wing-trade
union-NGO alliance with its less fruitful discussion on whether ESF
should be a perfect open space and talk shop organised according to
neoliberal market principles with different points in the programme
competing with each other or a perfect centralistic democratic
decision making on what all partcipants should do next.
The reson why environmentalists at all need to bother is simple.
There is no chance in the long run for the environmental movement to
build sustainable societies without cooperation with feminists,
workers, farmers and other movements. A strategy that builts on
lobbying governments instead of producing political facts by acting
together with people in common is in the long run an illusion. The
environmental movement have nothing to loose. We have our own
international coordination and have no use for another as long as
enviromental issues and development critique are seen as marginal and
only left-wing ideologies and trade unions are considered as self
evidently most important. But utnil we have tried to make ESF more
green we cannot know if it is impoosible. And if ESF did not exist we
had to initiate soemthing similar still with the very same movments
with all tehir limitations and hopefully promising caracters that is
certainly in many aspects the bad and good sides that also the
environmental movement consist of. So lest challenge ESF and make it
greener! Here is my personal experience behind why I see this as
possible:
1969-1970: Bicycle tour
Szczecin-Praha-Salzburg-Trieste-Dubrovnik-Roma-Sicilia-Umbria-Genova-
Avignon-Massif Central-Paris-Friesland-Amsterdam-Göteborg
1971-1972: Active in organizing alternative activities at the UN
Conference on Human Environment, UNCHE in Stockholm.
1971: Participating in international Theosophic Youth Camp at Prades
in France.
1973: Board member of Saltsjöbadens Naturskyddsförening, a local
conservation society, since then active in numerous local
environmental issues.
1974-1980: Co-founder of Action against Nuclear Power and Peoples
Campaign against Atomic Power.
1974-75: Active in local peace and solidarity organisation SNUFF,
Saltsjöbadens och Nackas U-lands och fredsförening.
1976: Bicycle tour through all of Nigeria Lagos-Abeokuta-Kaduna-Jos-
Bauchi game reserve and back.
1979-1984: Active and board member of Future in our hands, an
organisation promoting change of lifestyle, solidarity with the third
world and ecological consciousness.
1980: Contributing to the book "Our road" with a chapter on the
history of the environmental movement and its roots in earlier
popular movements from the first Christians and onwards and the need
to build alliances between the workers movment, environmental and
other popular movements.
1981: Active in the struggle to support the Sami people, local
inhabitants and environmental struggle to stop the Alta river dam
construction in
the Sami areas in Northern Norway. Hosting the escape from Norway by
hungerstriking Sami activists to Stockholm and organising links to UN.
1981-82 Organising the Right Livelihood Award ceremony in Stockholm,
also called the alternative Nobel prize.
1981-1987: Active in organizing Nordic Alternative Campaign with 90
peace, environmental, solidarity, womens and a trade union promoting
(international) solidarity, self-reliance and saving natural
resources and demanding control of flow of capital, peace and support
of local alternatives. The campaign included action days, a future
study -Alternative Future with scientists involved, collection of
practical alternatives presented by a travelling exhibition all over
Sweden and a Nordic school competition.
1981- Board member of Environmental Federation, later Friends of the
Earth Sweden that starts contacts with oppositional movements in CEE
countries. Participating in international antinuclear power movement
meetings.
1982: Initiating Nordic Share equal days on equinox to support the
idea of global equity. The action took place in 50 towns in
Scandinavia. A Swedish subscription was organised in aid of
solidarity (a Folk high school in Chile) and self reliance (a centre
for renewable energy in Tanzania).
1983: Co-founder Popular Movement Study group, www.folkrorelser.nu
1983: Participating in European Nuclear Disarmament Convent in Berlin
promoting the idea of referendum not building the peace movement
strategy only on pressure on political parties and civil
disobedience. Supporting Womens peace movment strategies linking
disarmement demands with financing social needs all over the world
and marching to Paris, Moscow and Washington.
1983: Active in the opposition organised by Environmental federation
against European Roundtable of Industrialists plans for building
motor ways and strengthening corporate interests against democratic,
social and ecological concerns.
1984: Swedish share equal day action with a subscription in aid of
humanitarian aid to guerilla areas in Afghanistan to support
resistance against Soviet imperialism, to Indians in Canada
struggling against Swedish forest corprations spraying the forest
with pesticides forbiddenin Sweden to support resistance against
Swedish imperialism and to the international consumer movement in the
third world to support resistance against corporate imperialism.
1985: Co-founder of European Youth Forest Action initiating links
between the struggle to protect the last large wild forest areas in
Western Europé in Lappland i the North of Sweden with the All-
European struggle against emmisions threatening the survival of the
forests.
1986: Active in organising European Youth Forest Action campaign and
tour from Kiruna to London and crossing the West_East divide going to
Maribor and ending in Budapest.
1986-87: Supporting environmental movements in Poland and having
contacts with half-illegal and illegal ecological groups. Organizing
a subscription campaign to collect the amount the military uses in
one secund (ca 300 000 SEK or 40 000 US dollar at that time) in aid
of cleaning the air in Cracow by buying Western security equipment
for 72 new gas heating small scale plants in the city and Nuclear
free zone activities. The campaign was a succesful cooperation
between the peace and environmental movment and the air in Cracow
became more clean.
1987: Active in Environmental Federation support of mass civil
disobedience to stop the building of a motor way proposed by European
Roundtable of Industrialists at the Swedish West coast. 400 people
was senteced in court in the biggest political trial in modenr tomes
in Sweden, the struggle lost but both in Sweden and in many other
places in Europé victories in the stuggle against other proejtcts
supporting car traffic instead of public transport started to become
more common.
1989-95: Member of Lindsberg commune Lindsberg running a Course
center promoting self-reliance, solidarity and sustainability.
1989-92: Making tours to Latin America to visit 25 local
environmental groups and rubber tappers from South of Chile to
Argentina, Uruguay and the innermost Amazonia in the state of Acre.
1989-92: Initiating Nordic and European Youth Forest Action
alternative activities at the preparatory conference for Europe and
North America in Bergen 1990 for the UN Conference on Environment and
Development. At these activities 500 people participated in SEED
Popular Forum, 150 coming from Central and Eastern European
countries. The result was inspiring A SEED youth activist network,
Action for Solidarity, Equality, Environment and development starting
in 1991 and ANPED, Alliance of Northern People on Environment and
Development both built on strong CEE-participation in their work
towards UNCED in Rio de Janeiro 1992.
1990: Participating in European Nuclear Disarmament in Helsinki and
Tallin and development critique seminar at Viljandi lake in Estonia
organised by Finnish solidarity movements with partcipants from India
and all of Europé.
1991: Participating in Ecotopia in Estonia.
1991-93: Member of the international coordination team of
international climate action days that took place in 70 countries on
500 places.
1993: Participating in Commission on Sustainable Development session
at UN in New York.
1994: Active in referendum campaigns against Swedish and Finnish
membership in the European Union. The camapigns were lost in Finland
and Sweden and succesful in Norway.
1994: Participating in alternative activities at the 50th anniversary
of the Bretton Woods institutions IMF and the World Bank in Madrid.
1995: Participating in alternative activities at the Climate Summit
in Berlin.
1995: Participating in alternative activities at the UN Social Summit
in Copenhagen.
1995: Participating and organising alternative activities at the EU-
Summit in Madrid.
1996: Organising the Euro-Amazonian tour in support of human rights
in Amazonia starting from South of Spain to Northern Sweden as a part
of cooperation between Friends of the Earth Sweden, the rubber tapper
trade union CNS and the human rights organisation SDDH. The
preplanned tour started directly after the massacre of 19 landless
killed by the police on the 17th of April in Eldorado do Carajas in
Amazonia.
1997: Organising European March against Unemployment and social
exclusion through Sweden, a cooperation between Friends of the Earth
Sweden, unemployment groups, Syndicalists central organisation/SAC
and TUC/LO in South of Sweden.
1997: Analysing the Global NGO system from a popular movement
perspective,
http://www.folkrorelser.nu/inenglish/stockholm-rio.html
1997: Participating and organising alternative activities at the EU-
Summit in Amsterdam. Initiating an international protest in 8
countries against the repression at the EU-Summit against 700
demonstrators that were illegally arrested. Later all demonstrators
that appealed were given ca 1 000 euro as compensation for damages.
1998: Active in the unemployment movement Alliance for work.
1998: Participating in the founding meeting of Peoples Global Action
against "Free Trade" and WTO in Geneva,
1999: Organising Nordic summer camp uniting trade unions,
environmental movements, antiracists, EU-critical and other movements.
1999-2000: Active in the Barsebäck Action Network against the nuclear
power plant close to Malmö and Copenhagen organising bicycle marches
from Germany and long walks Lund-Malmö. The plant was closed after 30
years of struggle.
2001: Spokesperson of the Gothenburg action uniting internationally
87 organisations from trade unions, farmers, environmental,
antiracist, peace, EU-critical and many other movments in a coalition
against making public services and nature into commodities, against
EU-militarisation, EMU and the Schengen agreement. Organiser of the
Gothenburg 5 Day Counter Summit and cooperation of 8 indepedent
international popular movement conferences during the EU-Summit in
Gothenburg. Member of the organisational team for international
environmental conference organised by Friends of the Earth Sweden and
Europe. The activities were heavily repressed by the police.
2002: Organising the Democracy net to stop repression against those
prosecuted after the proactive police actions during the EU-Summit.
2002: Organising a seminar one year after the EU-Summit bringing most
researchers that had made reports, popular movements, several
policemen and a representative from the prime minister office
together to discuss the different findings and perspectives on the
Chain of action at the EU- Summit in Gothenburg.
2003: Participant at Asia Social Forum in Hyderabad.
2003: Analysing the Global Justice Movement and World Social forum,
http://www.folkrorelser.nu/socialaforum/globaljustice&WSF.html
2004: Active in the referendum campaign against EMU. The campaign was
succesful.
2005: Initiating activities in Nordic countries in 15 places to
celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Salt March that with Gandhi as
a leader became the beginning of the end of British imperialism and
inspiration to mass civil disobedience in the whole world. The
initiative emerged among participants at an international ecological
work camp at the Solovetsk islands in the White Sea in Russia to
promote whaling tourism.
http://www.folkrorelser.nu/english/saltmarch.html
2005: Participating in Democratising Globally at Helsinki Conference
http://www.demokratiafoorumi.fi/dg.html
2005-: Active in Friends of the Earth Sweden antiprivatisation
working group cooperating in the Network for common welfare together
with trade unions and Attac. http://www.gemensamvalfard.se
2006: Participating in India-Europe Dialogues on Democracy and
Swaraj, Helsinki http://www.demokratiafoorumi.fi/swaraj.html
2007-: Initiating Nordic study on the Youth house conflict in
Copenhagen were more than 2 000 people have been arrested during one
year of struggles.
http://www.aktivism.info/ungdomshuset
2007: Presenting the paper Folkrörelsebegreppet 1797-2007 (The
concept popular movement 1797-2007) at a scientific seminar at Ersta
2007: Co-writing with Marko Ulvila the paper Gandhi and the New
Popular Movements in Europe presented at XXXI Congress of the Indian
Academy of Social Sciences 27-31 December 2007, Mumbai, India.
http://www.demokratiafoorumi.fi/Bjork_Ulvila_ISSA_Gandhi_071229.pdf
2007-: Active in the preparatory process for European Social Forum.
Present popular movement duties:
Coordinator of the Contact group for Europe and the world in the
Nordic Organizing Committee for ESF-5, www.esf2008.se
Coordinator of the European mobilization group set up by European
prepartory Assembly for ESF-5, www.fse-esf.org
Coordinator, Friends of the Earth EU-committee, www.mjv.se
Chair, Association for Knowledge on Activism and Popular Movements,
www.aktivism.info, www.folkrorelser.nu
My profession: Teacher in exhibition design and mass media
Age: 56
Lives in Kristianstad, a small town in South of Sweden 1 hour with
the train from Malmö.
Tord Björk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
6. Calender
2008
21-22.2 EBS-6, European Business Summit Greening the Economy – New
Energy for Business, Brussels, Belgium.
22.2 ESF assemblies for social movement networking, Berlin
23-24.2 EPA, Berlin, Germany for ESF-5
1.3 1 year anniversary of the police storming the Youth house in
Copenhagen
8.3 International Womens´Struggle Day
9.3 Nordic ESF 2008 Organising Committeee meeting for all membership
organisations.
17.4 International Peasant Struggle Day
1.5 International Workers Struggle Day
May-June EPA Kiev, Ukraine for ESF-5, date to be set.
1.7 France, EU-presidency begins
17-21.9 ESF-5, European Social Forum Malmö, Sweden
2009
1.1 Czech EU-presidency begins
2x.1 WSF Belem, Brazil
8.3 International Womens´ Struggle Day
17.4 International Peasant Struggle Day
1.5 International Workers Struggle Day
1.7 Sweden, EU-presidency begins
December Climate Summit, Copenhagen, Denmark
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
7.
Editorial information
Address:
Prodemokratia newsletter,
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, c/o Ulvila,
Mäkipäänkatu 13 as. 6,
33500 Tampere,
Finland.
You can send information and contributions to tord.bjork at mjv.se or
marko.ulvila at kaapeli.fi
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