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SWP/GR (solitary wanker party) hijacks 2004 ESF (European Social Forum) process

Hamish Campbell | 26.01.2004 14:55 | European Social Forum | Globalisation | Repression | London | Oxford

The European Social Forum is supposed to be a non hierarchical gathering of grass roots alternatives to the traditional political process.



At the London meeting a few days ago the solitary wanker party in bed with the GLA (London assembly) disrupted the organising meeting, as they did with the last one, no discussion or decisions could be made. At the last moment after 1/3 of the meeting called for the amendment of the proposal they were pushing through, and after refusing to read out the list of proposed amendments with out turning it into a SWP/GR/GLA political statement they closed the meeting, handing out a sheet of paper saying if you didn’t sign this, that is agreed to the their proposal, then you wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the formation of their ESF Steering committee. Agree with the solitary wankers party or you will be excluded from the ESF process.

Throughout the whole ESF London organising they have disrupted and controlled the process. The process has been far from “open and accountable” The London ESF is becoming a farce and a disgrace. The majority of people still want it to happen, however, a small group in the shadows are disrupting and polluting the whole ESF movement. The WSF and ESF are forums for the social moments that created the humane globalization movement explicitly not for the old dogmatic left political parties.

It’s hard to say what can be done with this situation as these people have long experiences of packing meetings, manipulating chairs, imposing agendas and telling lies through nit-picking truth. The globalisation movement has no experiences, or stomach, from this kind of behaviour and avoids it by working in very different ways.

Hamish Campbell
ESF practicalities/culture/media working groups
www.undercurrents.org
www.oxford.indymedia.org.uk

Notes: for non alt-ghetto readers the SWP are an authoritarian unreconstructed socialist party. GR (Globalise Resistances is a “front” organisation for the SWP). The GLA is run by Ken Livingston who has recently re-joined the Labour party – that’s Tony Blear and the UK government.

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RESOURCES TO GET INVOLVED

* Mobilise lists  http://lists.mobilise.org.uk/wws/lists/esf (non official organising lists)
* Democratise_the esf list  http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/democratise_the_esf (non official organising list)
* esf_culture homepage  http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/esf_culture (ESF working group)
* esf_media homepage  http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/esf_media (ESF working group)
* Early stage open website  http://www.esf2004.net
* Closed website  http://www.mobilise.org.uk

If the are more resources please add them as comments. A WIKY is needed to facilitate the overall agenda and working groups.

Hamish Campbell
- e-mail: hamish@riseup.net
- Homepage: http://www.undercurrents.org

Comments

Display the following 17 comments

  1. 'packing meetings' — ;-)
  2. very Zen — amused
  3. Random Reader — Robert Carlye
  4. Packing etc — Alphonse Giardella
  5. Enough! — Stephane Popovic. GR steering committee member. [non affiliated]
  6. DON'T DESPAIR; RESIST — ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
  7. These left wing lunatics are ruining it all! — Meccano
  8. Response to stephane — dean
  9. Spot the SWP hacks — Bob the Party Builder
  10. they need to give people a chance — grassroots activist
  11. Rather funny — Sonic
  12. In out, In out, Shake it All About! — Campaigner
  13. some suggestions — kurious
  14. response to Sonic — gnarrg
  15. Reply to Dean (from Stephane) — Stephane - globalise resistance
  16. Clarification? — Stan
  17. no but don't you see Stan? — ;-)