Autonomous Space at ESF: Berlin planning meeting
anon. | 09.06.2004 11:33 | European Social Forum
dear sisters and brothers
we are different groups, collectives and individuals from across europe, calling for a meeting to discuss the organization of an alternative space during the next european social forum, to take place in london, in october.
a social forum should be an open space for all, for groups and organizations who struggle towards a different world. more often than not, however, they become a reproduction of what we fight against, a space for the same exclusive, undemocratic, vertical practices we criticise. the organization of the next esf in london seems to be an even worse example of that, having been dominated from the start by a few groups without any respect to process, diversity or consensus.
this is why we are calling for this meeting, to take place in berlin, on june 18th, before the next european preparatory assembly for the esf (19th-20th).
we want to discuss the organization of an alternative space in london during the next esf. a place where different worlds fit in. a space for living out concrete alternatives and producing another world by bringing together diverse practices and people; a place for building networks, sharing experiences and skills. put together by our collective effort, through a horizontal, self-managed, self-organized, anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-authoritarian process.
the idea of the wsf clearly took its lead from the fact that, in the late 90s, a new generation of activists put politics back in the news. the influence of this new political generation - defined not by its age, but by the fact that it brought new practices and new political actors and actresses to the fore - is transparent in its charter of principles. but in actual fact, these principles are usually distorted by old, authoritarian practices. The forum is part of our history, our history is part of the forum; we want to reclaim the esf and prove that spaces like this can be organized in a different way; another world is possible, but only if we are ready to be the change we want to see.
a call out from the uk will follow soon.
Place:
Verdi-Haus
Köpenicker Straße 55
10179 Berlin
(Destrict Mitte, 50 Meters from Kreuzberg and the famous Köpi-Squat)
Nearest Subway Station:
Heinrich-Heine-Straße
If you arrive with public transport, you can check out the way to go on
this webpage:
http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/fahrinfo/bin/query.exe/en?ld=bvg&
Destination: U Heinrich-Heine-Str.
Date & Time:
Friday, 18.06.2004, 19.30h
Saturday, 19.06.2004, 11.00h (on Saturday many people are going to take part in the "official" ESF-Meeting, but we reserved a room to have the possibility to continue in working groups or such if desired)
Sunday, 20.06.2004, 11.00h
For help with accommodation, email:
info@antifaschistische-aktion.com
we are different groups, collectives and individuals from across europe, calling for a meeting to discuss the organization of an alternative space during the next european social forum, to take place in london, in october.
a social forum should be an open space for all, for groups and organizations who struggle towards a different world. more often than not, however, they become a reproduction of what we fight against, a space for the same exclusive, undemocratic, vertical practices we criticise. the organization of the next esf in london seems to be an even worse example of that, having been dominated from the start by a few groups without any respect to process, diversity or consensus.
this is why we are calling for this meeting, to take place in berlin, on june 18th, before the next european preparatory assembly for the esf (19th-20th).
we want to discuss the organization of an alternative space in london during the next esf. a place where different worlds fit in. a space for living out concrete alternatives and producing another world by bringing together diverse practices and people; a place for building networks, sharing experiences and skills. put together by our collective effort, through a horizontal, self-managed, self-organized, anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-authoritarian process.
the idea of the wsf clearly took its lead from the fact that, in the late 90s, a new generation of activists put politics back in the news. the influence of this new political generation - defined not by its age, but by the fact that it brought new practices and new political actors and actresses to the fore - is transparent in its charter of principles. but in actual fact, these principles are usually distorted by old, authoritarian practices. The forum is part of our history, our history is part of the forum; we want to reclaim the esf and prove that spaces like this can be organized in a different way; another world is possible, but only if we are ready to be the change we want to see.
a call out from the uk will follow soon.
Place:
Verdi-Haus
Köpenicker Straße 55
10179 Berlin
(Destrict Mitte, 50 Meters from Kreuzberg and the famous Köpi-Squat)
Nearest Subway Station:
Heinrich-Heine-Straße
If you arrive with public transport, you can check out the way to go on
this webpage:
http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/fahrinfo/bin/query.exe/en?ld=bvg& Destination: U Heinrich-Heine-Str.
Date & Time:
Friday, 18.06.2004, 19.30h
Saturday, 19.06.2004, 11.00h (on Saturday many people are going to take part in the "official" ESF-Meeting, but we reserved a room to have the possibility to continue in working groups or such if desired)
Sunday, 20.06.2004, 11.00h
For help with accommodation, email:
info@antifaschistische-aktion.com
anon.