The Bio-Zone at the Anti G8 Villages: Protesting with Alternatives
A SEED Europe | 23.05.2003 16:04
A SEED Europe wants to invite you to the Bio-Zone, one of the barrio's in the Intergalactic Village in Annemasse (France). It will be a place to discuss alternatives for a more social, environmental friendly and non-hierarchical society and a good location to prepare for the actions against the G8 Summit.
The alternative programme will start on the 28th of May and the village will continue until the 3th of June, the end of the G8 summit.
In this text you will find our criticism of the G8, a short description of the Bio-Zone and a draft programme.
G8 - From illegal to redundant
During the first days of June the annual meeting of the G8 will take place in Evian, France. Together with many others, A SEED Europe will be joining the protests and is organising a counter program in the alternative villages built for the occasion. For many people it is intuitively clear that there is something wrong with 8 men from rich, polluting and exploiting countries meeting to discuss decisions about world politics.
Illegitimate world government
Created as an exclusive economics club, the G8 has pushed for a globalisation based on profit, mainly to the benefit of transnational corporations. Although the G8 is supposedly informal, the outcomes of many G8 meetings are enforced by international institutions like the IMF, WB and WTO, where the 7 (excluding Russia) and their friends have a major voice. The G8 can be seen as a kind of world government, as their discussions and decisions influence global markets and the daily lives of people all over the world even when they have no mandate to do so and people have never asked for it. In principal this is unacceptable and makes the G8 totally illegitimate. Although G8 meetings are informal their outcomes are significant, yet the public have no input into these talks and it is unclear what is happening within the protected walls of the G8 meetings. Only a very biased 'positive' story reaches the public.
Recycled, insufficient and broken promises
At the end of the meeting, the G8 will probably hold a press conference to announce their new noble plans to help the people of the world. It's almost certain that most main-stream media will take this seriously. After recent G8 summits they have presented a plan for debt relief in developing countries, making cheap medicines available for the poor or a plan to save Africa. Regardless of how good they may sound, it is often a mere regurgitation of existing policies that have already been agreed on within the IMF or UN. Secondly, nothing ever happens and therefore the g8 results to nothing much but talk and no action. Sometimes the outcomes are the same old promises from previous G8 summit.
These outcomes amount to nothing but a strategy to wash themselves clean and legitimise their meetings. Even if the g8 could come up with new plans and keep their promises they are not the solution to the inequality and injustice between the North and the South, between the rich elite and the majority of people suffering under the current economic system.
"Aren�t we good ?"
In 2000, one of the main outcomes of the G8 in Japan was to 'continue' with the debt cancellation. This was already an old promise and has not been fulfilled, and surprise surprise, the debt issue is on the agenda again this year.
The 'positive' news from Genua in 2001 was a commitment to spend 1.2 billion dollars on prevention of the spreading of AIDS in Africa and other third world countries. Again this amounts to nothing new and has already been decided upon within the World Health Organisation and the United Nations.
This year, France has put access to water on the agenda. An honourable concern in
deed. However, at the same time France is pushing for liberalisation of the 'water market' under WTO, supporting two of its main multinational water corporations Suez and Vivendi.
In 2001 the G8 decided to focus on Africa and 'The New Economic Partnership for African Development" (NEPAD) was created and will be discussed in Evian. Many development organisations like Oxfam see NEPAD as a waste of time and money. Representatives of African civil society are also opposed to NEPAD. First of all, it is totally undemocratic as the presidents who initiated consulted no one in the process yet it was endorsed by the G8. Secondly, NEPAD follows a neo-liberal program. It endorses all IMF and World Bank policies as well as accepting World Trade Organisation policies and all the bilateral agreements. In other words, the G8 supporting NEPAD is a nice present from the western countries to themselves.
New tricks at the 2003 summit.
Big issues this time are the war in Iraq and the reconstruction process, the war against terrorism and the relation between the US and France and Germany. This is a big concern of many protesters; Bush ignores the rest of the world, bombs Iraq, makes sure American corporations can make profits out of it and ensures US oil supply. There are several good reasons to push Bush off a mountain. At A SEED we don't like Bush either, but at smae time we should make sure that the message of the anti-G8 protests doesn't become too simplified. Bush and his government are the only bad guys. All governments in the G8 are equally responsible for the exploitation of people and resources all over the world.
Protests
Hopefully the protests will be strong and denounce the G8 and undermine its legitimacy. This was the shared conclusion from the preparation meetings with people from various movements and big unions, Attac and even a Trotskyist group, all agreeing that the aim should be to block or stop the whole G8. We hope the organised blockades will be effective, but we hope even more that all groups will show solidarity with each other and stick to the fundamental criticisms of the G8 and the way these countries rule the world. Only this will build up the confidence needed to take the next steps towards 'another possible world'.
Build while you break
In the last years we have seen the movement against capitalism and the big international summits growing. Hopefully these mass-protests will continue. The current political and economic system will not change without large scale sustained pressure. At the same time we need to develop and build on the alternatives; non-hierarchical structures and projects that focus on living in a sustainable way with respect for the environment and people everywhere.
Don't just protest the wrongs of the G8. Let's show that they are redundant.
Alternatives
To start with; we don't want the G8 to reform or adopt more socially or environmentally friendly policies. We don't want 8 privileged men to take decisions for the rest of the world. This should be made clear in the protests.
But what do we want and how do we reach our ideals?
At big protests in the past this question has often been too much in the background. But we can't make serious progress just by saying that we are diverse, that there are many different answers and that we don't have a blueprint. To reach a better and more social just world we should start ourselves. Changes should come from the bottom and involve as many people as possible in the process. We have to find a more sustainable and socially supportive way to live. This will have consequences not only for the corporations and big shareholders but for everyone in rich developed countries. It will not be easy, it will take time and people and groups have to start on a small scale. Showing that there are better alternatives is the best way to keep the protests growing and bring about a change in society.
A SEED is currently working on food and agriculture issues. We try to explore and promote non-hierarchical, socially and environmentally friendly ways of producing and distributing food. (not saying there is only one good way to do this!) This is a basic and important part of an alternative society, but obviously there are more concerns to deal with and projects to start. Our initiatives must support each other and combine in strength and impact.
The BioZone
We're sending you this invitation because we hope people and groups coming to the G8 want to join our barrio and our programme in the BioZone. This is one of the Barrios in the Intergalactic Village close to Annemasse in France. We are focusing on the food issue - e.g. biotechnology companies; the WTO; lobby groups; greenwashing; supermarkets; farming methods; local food chains; organic methods; permaculture; food aid; CAP; patenting.....
Our aim is to raise the profile of food issues among the people who come to the protests. Many people who are concerned about the G8 and globalisation aren't necessarily concerned about how food is produced and consumed. We want to make the connections which show that food is a social issue as well as an environmental issue and that the problems surrounding it go right to the heart of concerns about economic globalisation. The Biozone will also be a useful place for networking for grassroots activists working on food issues around Europe.
Beside the presentations and discussions on food issues we want to expose the way we work and how we would like to organise a better world; non-hierarchical and with basic democracy. Also on those issues there will be workshops and discussions in the Bio-Zone. And for the rest good organic food, a nice bar and relaxing video programme in the evenings.
See you all in the Bio-Zone.
Draft Program for BioZone in Intergalactic Village.
Proposed times:
Breakfast - 8.30
Morning Barrio Gathering - 9.15 - 10.15
Morning sessions: 10.30 - 12.30
Lunch - 13.00 - 15.00
Afternoon sessions: 15.00 - 16.30 & 17.00-18.30
Dinner - 19.00 - 20.30
Evening and Night sessions 20.30 - 24.00
Wednesday 28
Morning
Barrio meeting
All Day
Exhibitions introducing BioZone and ASEED. Videos, Pictures, Banners. Creative space for anyone.
Samba practice
Evening
BioZone Presentation - A SEED, other groups and the program
Video
Food Film
Thursday 29
Morning
Presentations of the environmental activist camp Ecotopia 2003 in the Ukraine. (EYFA)
Early Afternoon
Patents - Joshua (German campaign against Biopiracy),
Late Afternoon
Agriculture, Permaculture, Food and Alternatives: Starhawk?, Lucy (CorporateWatch)
Evening
Video - Genespotting in Belgium with CAGE ?, the Angry Harvest, GE Actions in UK
Food Film
Friday 30
Demonstration in Geneva against international institutions, WTO, WIPO, IOM?
Morning
Food Globalisation and Supermarkets and Corporate Lobbying - Hector (FoE Spain), Lucy (CorporateWatch), Peter (ASEED)
Early Afternoon
World Bank and Socially Responsible Investment - World Bank Boycott (ASEED)
Late Afternoon
Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Science - Pat Mooney (ETC Group), Andrew (science academic), Rod Harbinson (FoE I)
Evening
Video - Message to the 7th Generation and presentation by film maker, Max Pugh
Food Film -
Saturday 31st
Morning
Basic Democracy - Marco and Stella. (Eurodusnie)
Early Afternoon (Action preparation?)
Agriculture Session Agreement on Agriculture North South differences, Cancun - Short Introductions
Late Afternoon
General Discussion and Debate on Food, Patents, Biotechnology and Strategies - Introductions by different groups and presentations of experiences and future plans.
Evening
Video G8 Genoa and more - Berlusconi's mousetrap - the Lord of the Rings
Films
Drop the Debt concert.
Lake off fire around lake Geneva.
Sunday 1st
Actions and Blockades
General demonstration in Geneve and Annemasse
Evening
Video or Open Program
Monday 2nd
Actions and Blockades
Evening
Video - Message from the 7th Generation
Film -
Discussion - Apres g8 (towards Thesalonki and Cancun)- future discussion, strategies and actions.
Tuesday 3rd
Actions and Blockades
Evening
Party
In this text you will find our criticism of the G8, a short description of the Bio-Zone and a draft programme.
G8 - From illegal to redundant
During the first days of June the annual meeting of the G8 will take place in Evian, France. Together with many others, A SEED Europe will be joining the protests and is organising a counter program in the alternative villages built for the occasion. For many people it is intuitively clear that there is something wrong with 8 men from rich, polluting and exploiting countries meeting to discuss decisions about world politics.
Illegitimate world government
Created as an exclusive economics club, the G8 has pushed for a globalisation based on profit, mainly to the benefit of transnational corporations. Although the G8 is supposedly informal, the outcomes of many G8 meetings are enforced by international institutions like the IMF, WB and WTO, where the 7 (excluding Russia) and their friends have a major voice. The G8 can be seen as a kind of world government, as their discussions and decisions influence global markets and the daily lives of people all over the world even when they have no mandate to do so and people have never asked for it. In principal this is unacceptable and makes the G8 totally illegitimate. Although G8 meetings are informal their outcomes are significant, yet the public have no input into these talks and it is unclear what is happening within the protected walls of the G8 meetings. Only a very biased 'positive' story reaches the public.
Recycled, insufficient and broken promises
At the end of the meeting, the G8 will probably hold a press conference to announce their new noble plans to help the people of the world. It's almost certain that most main-stream media will take this seriously. After recent G8 summits they have presented a plan for debt relief in developing countries, making cheap medicines available for the poor or a plan to save Africa. Regardless of how good they may sound, it is often a mere regurgitation of existing policies that have already been agreed on within the IMF or UN. Secondly, nothing ever happens and therefore the g8 results to nothing much but talk and no action. Sometimes the outcomes are the same old promises from previous G8 summit.
These outcomes amount to nothing but a strategy to wash themselves clean and legitimise their meetings. Even if the g8 could come up with new plans and keep their promises they are not the solution to the inequality and injustice between the North and the South, between the rich elite and the majority of people suffering under the current economic system.
"Aren�t we good ?"
In 2000, one of the main outcomes of the G8 in Japan was to 'continue' with the debt cancellation. This was already an old promise and has not been fulfilled, and surprise surprise, the debt issue is on the agenda again this year.
The 'positive' news from Genua in 2001 was a commitment to spend 1.2 billion dollars on prevention of the spreading of AIDS in Africa and other third world countries. Again this amounts to nothing new and has already been decided upon within the World Health Organisation and the United Nations.
This year, France has put access to water on the agenda. An honourable concern in
deed. However, at the same time France is pushing for liberalisation of the 'water market' under WTO, supporting two of its main multinational water corporations Suez and Vivendi.
In 2001 the G8 decided to focus on Africa and 'The New Economic Partnership for African Development" (NEPAD) was created and will be discussed in Evian. Many development organisations like Oxfam see NEPAD as a waste of time and money. Representatives of African civil society are also opposed to NEPAD. First of all, it is totally undemocratic as the presidents who initiated consulted no one in the process yet it was endorsed by the G8. Secondly, NEPAD follows a neo-liberal program. It endorses all IMF and World Bank policies as well as accepting World Trade Organisation policies and all the bilateral agreements. In other words, the G8 supporting NEPAD is a nice present from the western countries to themselves.
New tricks at the 2003 summit.
Big issues this time are the war in Iraq and the reconstruction process, the war against terrorism and the relation between the US and France and Germany. This is a big concern of many protesters; Bush ignores the rest of the world, bombs Iraq, makes sure American corporations can make profits out of it and ensures US oil supply. There are several good reasons to push Bush off a mountain. At A SEED we don't like Bush either, but at smae time we should make sure that the message of the anti-G8 protests doesn't become too simplified. Bush and his government are the only bad guys. All governments in the G8 are equally responsible for the exploitation of people and resources all over the world.
Protests
Hopefully the protests will be strong and denounce the G8 and undermine its legitimacy. This was the shared conclusion from the preparation meetings with people from various movements and big unions, Attac and even a Trotskyist group, all agreeing that the aim should be to block or stop the whole G8. We hope the organised blockades will be effective, but we hope even more that all groups will show solidarity with each other and stick to the fundamental criticisms of the G8 and the way these countries rule the world. Only this will build up the confidence needed to take the next steps towards 'another possible world'.
Build while you break
In the last years we have seen the movement against capitalism and the big international summits growing. Hopefully these mass-protests will continue. The current political and economic system will not change without large scale sustained pressure. At the same time we need to develop and build on the alternatives; non-hierarchical structures and projects that focus on living in a sustainable way with respect for the environment and people everywhere.
Don't just protest the wrongs of the G8. Let's show that they are redundant.
Alternatives
To start with; we don't want the G8 to reform or adopt more socially or environmentally friendly policies. We don't want 8 privileged men to take decisions for the rest of the world. This should be made clear in the protests.
But what do we want and how do we reach our ideals?
At big protests in the past this question has often been too much in the background. But we can't make serious progress just by saying that we are diverse, that there are many different answers and that we don't have a blueprint. To reach a better and more social just world we should start ourselves. Changes should come from the bottom and involve as many people as possible in the process. We have to find a more sustainable and socially supportive way to live. This will have consequences not only for the corporations and big shareholders but for everyone in rich developed countries. It will not be easy, it will take time and people and groups have to start on a small scale. Showing that there are better alternatives is the best way to keep the protests growing and bring about a change in society.
A SEED is currently working on food and agriculture issues. We try to explore and promote non-hierarchical, socially and environmentally friendly ways of producing and distributing food. (not saying there is only one good way to do this!) This is a basic and important part of an alternative society, but obviously there are more concerns to deal with and projects to start. Our initiatives must support each other and combine in strength and impact.
The BioZone
We're sending you this invitation because we hope people and groups coming to the G8 want to join our barrio and our programme in the BioZone. This is one of the Barrios in the Intergalactic Village close to Annemasse in France. We are focusing on the food issue - e.g. biotechnology companies; the WTO; lobby groups; greenwashing; supermarkets; farming methods; local food chains; organic methods; permaculture; food aid; CAP; patenting.....
Our aim is to raise the profile of food issues among the people who come to the protests. Many people who are concerned about the G8 and globalisation aren't necessarily concerned about how food is produced and consumed. We want to make the connections which show that food is a social issue as well as an environmental issue and that the problems surrounding it go right to the heart of concerns about economic globalisation. The Biozone will also be a useful place for networking for grassroots activists working on food issues around Europe.
Beside the presentations and discussions on food issues we want to expose the way we work and how we would like to organise a better world; non-hierarchical and with basic democracy. Also on those issues there will be workshops and discussions in the Bio-Zone. And for the rest good organic food, a nice bar and relaxing video programme in the evenings.
See you all in the Bio-Zone.
Draft Program for BioZone in Intergalactic Village.
Proposed times:
Breakfast - 8.30
Morning Barrio Gathering - 9.15 - 10.15
Morning sessions: 10.30 - 12.30
Lunch - 13.00 - 15.00
Afternoon sessions: 15.00 - 16.30 & 17.00-18.30
Dinner - 19.00 - 20.30
Evening and Night sessions 20.30 - 24.00
Wednesday 28
Morning
Barrio meeting
All Day
Exhibitions introducing BioZone and ASEED. Videos, Pictures, Banners. Creative space for anyone.
Samba practice
Evening
BioZone Presentation - A SEED, other groups and the program
Video
Food Film
Thursday 29
Morning
Presentations of the environmental activist camp Ecotopia 2003 in the Ukraine. (EYFA)
Early Afternoon
Patents - Joshua (German campaign against Biopiracy),
Late Afternoon
Agriculture, Permaculture, Food and Alternatives: Starhawk?, Lucy (CorporateWatch)
Evening
Video - Genespotting in Belgium with CAGE ?, the Angry Harvest, GE Actions in UK
Food Film
Friday 30
Demonstration in Geneva against international institutions, WTO, WIPO, IOM?
Morning
Food Globalisation and Supermarkets and Corporate Lobbying - Hector (FoE Spain), Lucy (CorporateWatch), Peter (ASEED)
Early Afternoon
World Bank and Socially Responsible Investment - World Bank Boycott (ASEED)
Late Afternoon
Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Science - Pat Mooney (ETC Group), Andrew (science academic), Rod Harbinson (FoE I)
Evening
Video - Message to the 7th Generation and presentation by film maker, Max Pugh
Food Film -
Saturday 31st
Morning
Basic Democracy - Marco and Stella. (Eurodusnie)
Early Afternoon (Action preparation?)
Agriculture Session Agreement on Agriculture North South differences, Cancun - Short Introductions
Late Afternoon
General Discussion and Debate on Food, Patents, Biotechnology and Strategies - Introductions by different groups and presentations of experiences and future plans.
Evening
Video G8 Genoa and more - Berlusconi's mousetrap - the Lord of the Rings
Films
Drop the Debt concert.
Lake off fire around lake Geneva.
Sunday 1st
Actions and Blockades
General demonstration in Geneve and Annemasse
Evening
Video or Open Program
Monday 2nd
Actions and Blockades
Evening
Video - Message from the 7th Generation
Film -
Discussion - Apres g8 (towards Thesalonki and Cancun)- future discussion, strategies and actions.
Tuesday 3rd
Actions and Blockades
Evening
Party
A SEED Europe
Homepage:
http://www.aseed.antenna.nl/agrocadabra/G8
