[fse-esf] Transversal cooperation

[Tord Bj ö rk]

Cooperation on transversal seminars.

There is a growing interest in the ESF preparatory process among different
movements for cooperation on issues of interest for all popular movements.
Via Campesina Europe have proposed that different social movments jointly
organises a seminar on how different issues are linked. Arci in Italy have
taken the lead in a number of issues as the future of the alterglobalist
movement, the new phase of neoliberal globalization and the future of the
social forum process with the perspective of asking members of the
International Council for WSF to introduce a partcipatory discussions with a
presentation of the IC debates on these issues. We would like to add som
proposals to this list, proposals that might be integrated with others or
might become complementary were we would like to get cooperation oartners.

Friends of the Earth Sweden together with Via Campesina Sweden, Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam and other like minded organisations have started a multilayered
cooperation to promote multissue cooperation between different movements.
This is both based on cooperation on some strategic seminars, a political
campaign that started 17.4 for common welfare, peace, fair trade, food
sovereignity, climate justice and sustainable planning of society against
privatisation, war and occupation and environmental destruction. It includes
popular education efforts through means like a common newspaper to be
distributed before and during ESF, hopefully in English and Swedish. The
cooperation is intended to continue towards 2009 incuding both WSF, Swedish
EU-presidency and Climate Summit in Copenhagen.

Some seminars we are involved with have very broad backing already like ...

What we also see as transversal issues of interest to many popular movements
are (some of these may be placed in other cathegories than the transversal):

1. Can Popular Movements Make a Difference to our Lives

2. The Global justice movement yesterday, today and tomorrow.

3. Popular movements and NGOs.

4. Repression of social/popular movements.

5. Who writes our history?

6. EU-Russian relationships and the global justice/alterglobalization
movement.

1. Can Popular Movements Make a Difference to our Lives

The theme of the seminar is intoduced by a panel with of representatives
from five major international movements, the peasant movement, the worker´s
movement, the environmental movement, the indigenous peoples movment and the
feminist movement. There will be four issues addressed by a panel and
a following discussion with the audience.

1. What is the most important experiences in the history of your
movement?

2. How can your movement cooperate with other movements to support
people in common in their daily struggle?

3. What is the opinion of your movement on cooperation among
movements in Europe both outside and inside the EU?

4. How can your movement alone and together with other movements best
cooperate to struggle for global solidarity?

The seminar will take three hours giving room for the audience to
interact and a pause. We ask each panelist to answer each question
in three minutes and comment the other panelists in 1 minute to give
interaction with the audience as much time as possible.

2. The Global justice movement yesterday, today and tomorrow.

What are the experiences, the present situation and the future for the
global justice/alterglobalisation/antiglobalisation movement? A panel from
Europe, Africa, Asia and Americas are asked to answer the following
questions:

1. What are the most important lessons learned in the history of the global
justice movement?

2. What is the most important issue for the global justice movement today
and how do we do to win that struggle?

3. What is the most important goals beyond the most immediate issues and
what do we do to win that long term struggle.

4. What is the relationship between the global justice movment and political
parties, governments or companies?

5. How can unity and clarity be developed in the global justice movment?

Proposed panel

Europe: Boris Kagarlitsky, Institute of Globalization Studies, Russia, nn G8
resistance Germnany
Africa: Wahu Kaara, Kenya Debt Relief Network (KENDREN)
Asia: Medha Patkar or Aruna Roy, both Narmada movement och National Alliance
of Peoples Movements
Americas: The Zapatistas has been invited but there is probably visa
hinderances, MAS indiegenous movement from Bolivia is an alternative.

The seminar will take three hours giving room for the audience to
interfere and a pause. We ask each panelist to answer each question
in three minutes and comment the other panelists in 1 minute to give
interaction with the audience as much time as possible.

3. Popular movements and NGOs.

Proposed under the title NGOs and WGOs by Left International Forum in Sweden
in collabroation with the Nordic Association Aktivism.info. The idea is to
focus on 1) What are NGOs with some examples in pratcice of the problems
concering e.g. donor dependency, US state interest in so called democracy
promotion etc. 2) How to address issues of professionalism, donor dependency
etc. in our own organisations? 3) How to address the issue of
professionalism versus lay activism within the social forum process, hwhat
is demanded from popular movments in tghe global justice movement.

4. Repression of social/popular movements.

Seminar on the repression of the global justice movment with examples from
Summits, åpeace dem,onstrations and the general development. Disccussed as a
cooperation in the antirepression assembly.

5. Who writes our history?

A proposal to be disccused with others to focus upon the attempts by the
state and neoliberal institutions to rewrite history and limit expression of
freedom in such a way that popular movements and utopian ideas going beyond
the preesent world order are presented as terrorism and criminal. Examples
are the European council decision on putting communism at the side of nazism
to be adressed for its cirmes in similar fashion while liberalism is
presented as inherently democratic and never oppressivein principle, EU
attempts att criminalise freedom of expression concerning understanding of
why people might use armed resistance against state terrorism and different
national intiatives in the same direction in all parts of Europé. To
confront this antiutopian and eurocentric making of history we need a global
history with a popular movment perspectives making people subjects and not
victims of history.

6. EU-Russian relationships and the global justice/alterglobalization
movement.

Discussed with Russian Social Forum delegate at EPA meeting but needs
forther elobaration.