The Milan Agenda
Marcus Sky | 12.10.2001 14:01
this was the questions and workshop groups that participated in the third PGA conference, milan. i thought it will be a good idea to publish and share some of the relevent questions with the indymedia community.
1) Strategies of resistance to multinationals (isn't it more to capitalism in general?)
2) Relationships between Global days of Action, local Action and globally co-ordinated campaigns against specific aspects of the capitalistic power structure (unstable jobs, Deregulation, immigration, borders, privatisation of the planet's resources and of services, etc.)
3) What relation is there…. should there be…between our "stratospheric" practice of demos against WTO/IMF/Davos, etc. (both the big central demos like Prague and the decentralised demos during Global Days of Action) and the local, grassroots struggles, for example, against GMOs or privatisations or for migrants rights or social space (squats), etc.?
4) Preparing European involvement in the worldwide PGA conference in Cochabama, Bolivia in September. this has already happened.
5) More space for 'roundtables' on specific topics beyond action days and evaluations if possible. To ensure that the many and diverse everyday issues of the groups and movements gathered have a chance to be discussed in more depth. Also because we don't want just to attend meetings where we all have to discuss everything about everything!
6) The Increasing attempts by the authoritarian left and the social liberals to capture the energy of the global days and international networks - to impose the correct theory, or to sell their realistic reforms - highlights the usefulness of provisionally clarifying what we will create and the practical expressions we will need to share; also to better understand what we are resisting and where our collective actions are best directed.
7) Form of action: violence/pacifism/civil disobedience. New tactics against the criminalisation of the movement.
This is also a necessary discussion. Hopefully, we will not try to choose for others, but recognise that diversity and autonomy is our greatest strength. If this is the case, it would be possible to try - open-mindedly - to discuss the advantages and weaknesses of all the different forms.
8) How to connect free trade issues with environmental issues; how the groups dealing mostly with environmental issues could also advance free trade movement and other way around.
9) What it means for the network if there is a shift from reactivity to proactivity; is there a need for deeper contacts and coordination?
10) How to boost/help the South in their struggle?
11) The European Union as globalisation agent?
12) The Need to communicate with other FREE-trade movements that are more reformists (workers’ unions, religious groups, farmers, unemployed) ; is it possible to form loose platforms with them?
13) Discussion on intensive farming and agriculture worldwide. On the19th of Feb, 51,000 Indian farmers protested against the import of foodgrain by the WTO. On the 19th March, 105,000 farmers protested and campaigned to have Agriculture removed as a responsibility of the WTO. What can the movement do to assist the problems and issues surrounding Indian farmers in the wake of the WTO?
14) Columbia workshop
15) Free love- triple oppression. What are people’s global actions? - a network to destroy capitalism or a network to destroy every kind of oppression? The second principal of pga is against every kind of oppression and discrimination, like patriachat, racism, religious fundamentalism and for the dignity of all people. If pga want this really, there must be global actions that is not mainly focused on the oppression of rich people and government. The idea to make a global action day for free love - against sexual oppression. That means to protest in many countries against the oppression of man against women, against pornography of children, international sex-business, homosexual oppression, genetical birth- control… .
18) Eastern Europe workshop and networking.
19) water privatisation workshop
i will be interested what people think are the answers to these questions. i think everyone should notice that we stated that the movement was fighting "religious fundamentalism..." and that was in march 2001!
2) Relationships between Global days of Action, local Action and globally co-ordinated campaigns against specific aspects of the capitalistic power structure (unstable jobs, Deregulation, immigration, borders, privatisation of the planet's resources and of services, etc.)
3) What relation is there…. should there be…between our "stratospheric" practice of demos against WTO/IMF/Davos, etc. (both the big central demos like Prague and the decentralised demos during Global Days of Action) and the local, grassroots struggles, for example, against GMOs or privatisations or for migrants rights or social space (squats), etc.?
4) Preparing European involvement in the worldwide PGA conference in Cochabama, Bolivia in September. this has already happened.
5) More space for 'roundtables' on specific topics beyond action days and evaluations if possible. To ensure that the many and diverse everyday issues of the groups and movements gathered have a chance to be discussed in more depth. Also because we don't want just to attend meetings where we all have to discuss everything about everything!
6) The Increasing attempts by the authoritarian left and the social liberals to capture the energy of the global days and international networks - to impose the correct theory, or to sell their realistic reforms - highlights the usefulness of provisionally clarifying what we will create and the practical expressions we will need to share; also to better understand what we are resisting and where our collective actions are best directed.
7) Form of action: violence/pacifism/civil disobedience. New tactics against the criminalisation of the movement.
This is also a necessary discussion. Hopefully, we will not try to choose for others, but recognise that diversity and autonomy is our greatest strength. If this is the case, it would be possible to try - open-mindedly - to discuss the advantages and weaknesses of all the different forms.
8) How to connect free trade issues with environmental issues; how the groups dealing mostly with environmental issues could also advance free trade movement and other way around.
9) What it means for the network if there is a shift from reactivity to proactivity; is there a need for deeper contacts and coordination?
10) How to boost/help the South in their struggle?
11) The European Union as globalisation agent?
12) The Need to communicate with other FREE-trade movements that are more reformists (workers’ unions, religious groups, farmers, unemployed) ; is it possible to form loose platforms with them?
13) Discussion on intensive farming and agriculture worldwide. On the19th of Feb, 51,000 Indian farmers protested against the import of foodgrain by the WTO. On the 19th March, 105,000 farmers protested and campaigned to have Agriculture removed as a responsibility of the WTO. What can the movement do to assist the problems and issues surrounding Indian farmers in the wake of the WTO?
14) Columbia workshop
15) Free love- triple oppression. What are people’s global actions? - a network to destroy capitalism or a network to destroy every kind of oppression? The second principal of pga is against every kind of oppression and discrimination, like patriachat, racism, religious fundamentalism and for the dignity of all people. If pga want this really, there must be global actions that is not mainly focused on the oppression of rich people and government. The idea to make a global action day for free love - against sexual oppression. That means to protest in many countries against the oppression of man against women, against pornography of children, international sex-business, homosexual oppression, genetical birth- control… .
18) Eastern Europe workshop and networking.
19) water privatisation workshop
i will be interested what people think are the answers to these questions. i think everyone should notice that we stated that the movement was fighting "religious fundamentalism..." and that was in march 2001!
Marcus Sky
e-mail:
phreaka@freenetname.co.uk