Archive for ‘global revolution’

15 maja, 2014

International Blockupy coalition Press release “Europe: not only elections, but actions for solidarity and democracy from below!”

day of action

Before the election of the European Parliament social movement activists, altermondialists, migrants, precarious and industry workers, party members and unionists and many more people call for European days of action from 15th to 25th with the slogan “solidarity beyond borders – building democracy from below”.
Activities in dozens of cities in nine different European countries have been announced already.

+ Europeanwide days of action from 15th to 25th of May

+ International press conference at blockades of “Business Europe” Summit – Brussels, May 15th, 10 am, Petit Sablon

“The EU-crisis regime is dismantling democracy and social rights by authoritarian austerity measures and the transatlantic free trade agreement TTIP. The international Blockupy coalition resists these policies during the week of action with actions of civil disobedience. We struggle in solidarity to take over the commons and to build democracy from below.”, states Hanno Bruchmann of the International Blockupy coalition.

On the 15th of may the International Blockupy coalition will take part in the blockade of the “Business Europe summit” as kick-off for ten days of action. As umbrella organization of single national business federations, this is the biggest continental lobbying group which permanently tries to influence and condition European institutions to continue hard neoliberal politics that force the people to pay the highest price of crisis.

All over Europe we will reaffirm the widespread social opposition to the austerity policies conducted by the Troika, and indicate which financial oligarchies are instigators of these policies.
The real alternatives to the present situation are: self-governance of commons, strengthening of social rights for a more equitable redistribution of wealth. Democracy in Europe can only be built from below by the direct initiative of millions women and men, against all authoritarian and excluding measures. In the may of solidarity we will therefore fight racism and fascism, nationalism and xenophobia fueled by right-wing politicians.

In this situation migrants and refugees are among the most affected by the crisis, also because EU border regime threatens their lives by detentions and deportations, while at the same time wealth is extracted from them by extreme exploitation.
During the May of Solidarity migrants and non migrants will struggle for their livelihood, for their rights, on the working places, against institutional racism that creates hierarchies and divisions as in the “March for Freedom” of the refugees.

Moreover, coordinated transnational actions in front of many Apple-stores will protest against unsustainable working conditions and the global chain of exploitation which links workers in Western Europe with Foxconn factories in Eastern Europe and China, which are the biggest suppliers of Apple.

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For further information see: mayofsolidarity website

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Selection of activities during the European week of action

Belgium:
15th May – Blockade the European Business Summit in Brussels, 8 am, Palais d’Egmont

Press point next to the blockade action:
international press conference 10:00 am at Petit Sablon

Alliance D19-20 website

Spain:
15th and 17th May – Assemblies on Puerta del Sol, Madrid

http://mayofsolidarity.org/where/spain/

Germany:
17th May, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart – Blockupy-Demonstrations.
blockupy.org

France:
17th May, Paris – European day of action and alternatives, Demonstration starting 14h at Ópera.

http://www.collectif-lesengraineurs.com/

Italy:
17th May, Rome – National demo against austerity and privatisation, for public water, commons, social rights, democracy in Italy and Europe.
www.globalproject.info

18th May, Bologna – Rally against the re-opening of the deportation centre for migrants.

http://www.connessioniprecarie.org/2014/04/22/practicing-dissent-solidarity-beyond-borders-stop-the-re-opening-of-the-detention-center-in-bologna/

International:

Actions in front of Apple stores, in solidarity with the struggles of thousands of rural migrants and other young Chinese workers against the transnational exploitation chain that links the main global technology companies with Foxconn and other factories.

March for Freedom starting 17th May and concludes in a week of action in Brussels 20th – 28th June

http://freedomnotfrontex.noblogs.org/

PresenceCounts-15o-OccupyLjubljana

11 aprila, 2014

NI ŠE GOTOVO! // NIJE JOŠ GOTOVO! // IT’S NOT OVER YET!

NiSeGotovo

NI ŠE GOTOVO! – TRANSNACIONALNO SREČANJE VSTAJNIKOV IN VSTAJNIC IZ BiH, SLOVENIJE (IN OD DRUGOD)

11. – 13. APRIL 2014
SOCIALNI CENTER ROG, TRUBARJEVA 72, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIJA

Bosna in Hercegovina se je pred kratkim pridružila vse daljšemu seznamu držav, ki so izkusile val splošnega ljudskega besa zaradi že dolgo nevzdržnih pogojev življenja za vse večji del družbe. Podobno kot prej v Grčiji, Turčiji ali Sloveniji je tisto, kar se je v Tuzli začelo kot še en protest v “tranziciji” okradenih in opeharjenih delavcev, bliskovito preraslo v splošno zavračanje vladajoče politične elite in njenih politik na ulicah številnih mest širom države. Hkrati z uličnimi protesti in zasedbami sedežev lokalnih oblasti ter drugimi izrazi ogorčenja so ljudje v številnih mestih vzpostavili plenume kot prostore direktno demokratične razprave in odločanja. Sredi razvejanega in mnogoterega družbenega vrenja so bili eden od najlepših in najbolj navdihujočih momentov nedvomno pričevanja o tem, da je bil nacionalizem končno na ulicah in plenumih po vsej Bosni in Hercegovini zavrnjen, kot še eno orodje elite za deljenje ljudi in njihovo neomejeno izkoriščanje. Vstaja v Bosni je odplaknila vodstva nekaterih kantonalnih oblasti, predvsem pa je s svojim eksplicitno antinacionalističnim in samoorganiziranim nabojem poslala jasno sporočilo vladajoči eliti: ne boste nas več nekaznovano ropali in delili – stvari ne bodo več takšne, kot so bile. Sredi opustošenja tranzicijske Bosne in Hercegovine je vstajniško vrenje odprlo možnost nove in drugačne prihodnosti, v kateri ljudje in njihove potrebe ne bi bili lahek plen kapitalističnih mogotcev in trgovcev z ideologijo.

Vstaja v Bosni in Hercegovini je v Sloveniji številne v marsičem spomnila na burne dogodke pozimi 2012-13, katerih del smo bili tudi sami, ter na ostale podobne primere drugod po svetu: Španija, Grčija, Bolgarija, Turčija, Brazilija, če naj omenimo zgolj nekatere. Vstajniški momenti povsod izhajajo iz istih stremljenj, iz iste izpostavljenosti režimu opustošenja, iz iste prepuščenosti življenj večine upraviteljem kapitala in države. Prav nič presenetljivo torej ni, da vstaje, svojim specifikam navkljub, prinašajo precej skupnih oziroma podobnih izkušenj, porajajo podobne upe in dileme, vznikajo pa tudi podobna razočaranja in šibkosti. V vstajniških situacijah se vsepovsod porajajo enaka vprašanja: Kako misliti spontane množične proteste? Kako misliti odnos med ulico, plenumi in ostalimi praksami, ki vzniknejo v času vstaj? Kako se zoperstaviti roki represije? Kako vstaje ohranjati kot odprt in vključujoč prostor? Kako graditi politiko mimo in onkraj političnih strank, nevladni organizacij in ostalih orodij ohranjanja obstoječega stanja?

Z namenom gradnje skupnega prostora refleksije in delovanja onkraj državnih meja vabimo na transnacionalno srečanje vstajnikov in vstajnic iz BiH in Slovenije (in drugod). Ustvariti želimo prostor neposredne komunikacije med vstajniki in vstajnicami iz Slovenije in BiH in ga uporabiti za vzajemno refleksijo in izmenjavo izkušenj o vstajniških procesih v obeh državah, vključno z izmenjavo praktičnih znanj, praks, idej kot tudi analiz, stremljenj in razočaranj. Želimo si, da bi se na njem srečali tisti, ki smo v vstaje vstopili iz potrebe po razvijanju samonikle politike in ki se tudi v bolj mirnih časih ne nameravamo odreči delovanju mimo in izven političnih strank ali nevladnega sektorja. Hkrati želimo vzpostaviti oziroma utrditi aktivne kontakte med BiH in Slovenijo ter preko tega poglobiti povezovanje onkraj nacionalnih držav. Predvsem pa se želimo v neposredni komunikaciji učiti drug od drugega ter iznajti načine medsebojne podpore v naših prihodnjih bojih.

Srečanje bo trajalo tri dni in bo potekalo na način plenumov in tematskih delavnic. Predlagamo tri osnovne delavnice:
Na delavnici o plenumih kot orodju antiavtoritarne samoorganizacije bomo delili izkušnje o plenumskem delovanju, tako o težavah kot o pozitivnih momentih, pa tudi o tehničnih vidikih njihovega izvajanja, vse s ciljem iskanja načinov za krepitev plenuma kot orodja antiavtoritarne samoorganizacije.
Na delavnici o kriminalizaciji upora in življenja bomo delili skupno izkušnjo policijskega nasilja, ki mu sledijo sodni postopki in ostale oblike kriminalizacije, v katerih so ljudje še dolgo po zatonu protestov soočeni s postopki, pogosto pa tudi z drakonskimi kaznimi. Pogovarjali se bomo o tem, kako držati skupaj s tistimi, ki so najbolj zadeti od kriminalizacije, kako nuditi konkretno podporo in ne pustiti, da to razkroji solidarnost in zmožnost za prihodnje politično delovanje.
Na delavnici o transnacionalnem povezovanju vstaj bomo razmišljali o širšem evropskem kontekstu vstaj in se na podlagi izkušenj od drugod, skušali razmišljati o tem, kaj početi oziroma kako delovati po vstajah in kako se povezovati na transnacionalni ravni.

Srečanje bo potekalo med 11. in 13. aprilom 2014 v Ljubljani v prostorih Socialnega centra Rog. Za hrano in prenočišče bo preskrbljeno, v okviru skromnih možnosti se bo poskušalo zbrati tudi nekaj denarja za vsaj delno povrnitev potnih stroškov za vstajnike iz vstajnice iz BiH. Srečanje bo delovno, a tudi večere bomo nedvomno znali izkoristiti na bolj sproščene in sproščujoče načine. 

Vsi in vse, ki bi se želeli udeležiti srečanja, pišite na soc.center.rog@gmail.com za dodatne informacije.

Proti kapitalističnemu in nacionalističnemu opustošenju gradimo solidarnost in upor!

Antikapitalistični blok 
20. marec 2014

Sprintaj plakat in ga nalepi v svojem lokalnem socialnem prostoru:
http:// www.a-federacija.org/2014/ 03/20/ni-se-gotovo/ plakat_nisegotovo_srecanjeb ih-slo/

PROGRAM

Prvi dan, petek, 11. april

  • 19h: Otvoritvena skupščina
    Namen skupščine je predstavitev udeležencev in njihovih pričakovanj, ki jih imajo glede srečanja. Poseben prostor bo namenjen predstavitvi vstajniške izkušnje iz BiH (povzetek dogajanja, aktualno stanje, osnovna analiza).
  • 21h: Večerja in druženje

Drugi dan, sobota, 12. april

  • 9h: Zajtrk
  • 10h – 20h: Delavnice, kosilo
    Koordinatorji delavnic naj poskrbijo za njihove povzetke, ki bodo na koncu služili za oblikovanje skupne izjave. 
  • Prva delavnica, 10h – 12h: »Plenumi kot direktnodemokratično orodje organiziranja« 
    Na prvi delavnici se bomo pogovarjali o plenumih kot direktnodemokratičnem orodju organiziranja znotraj vstaj in širše. Pri tem se bomo spraševali, kako naj bodo uporabljeni v konfliktnih situacijah, kako naj zagotovimo njihovo inkluzivnost in hkrati zavrnemo vse izključevalne artikulacije, kako naj formo plenuma prenesemo v odločevalske strukture vsakdana, prav tako pa bomo analizirali uspehe in pomanjkljivosti tovrstnega organiziranja.
  • Kosilo
  • Druga delavnica, 14h – 16h: »Kontravstajniške sile kriminalizacije« 
    Druga delavnica bo namenjena vprašanju, kaj vse je delovalo »proti« moči vstaj. Pri tem ne bomo govorili le o specifičnih primerih kriminalizacije, ampak bomo vsebino razširili na razmislek o kriminalizaciji upora na splošno. Govorili bomo tudi o zaprtosti upiranja v nacionalne okvirje in o vlogi delovanja različnih družbenih akterjev (policije in drugih vej oblasti, medijev, strank, nevladnega sektorja, vstajniških skupin samih itn.), ki je jemalo moč vstajam.
  • Tretja delavnica, 18h – 20h: »Nova evropska konstitucija«
    Če se bomo na prvi in drugi delavnici ukvarjali z orodji organiziranja in procesi kriminalizacije, pa bo tretja delavnica namenjena vprašanju, kaj in kako po vstajah. Izkušnje iz bosanskih, slovenskih in vstaj drugod kažejo, da vstajništvo vedno nosi močan trenutek destitucije, na nas pa je, da ga nadgradimo v prostor konstitucije. Horizont, ki si ga pri tem postavljamo, je transnacionalen. Tako se bomo na delavnici pogovarjali o možnostih za procese nadaljnjega skupnega grajenja aktivističnih mrež, ki skozi boj oblikujejo našo Evropo.
  • 21h: Večerno druženje

Tretji dan, nedelja, 13. april

  • 11h – 14h: Zaključna skupščina
    Namen skupščine je povzeti diskusije prejšnjega dne in skozi oblikovanje kratkega skupnega dokumenta začrtati prihodnje delovanje.
  • 15h: Kosilo

Povezave:

Facebook dogodek:

https://www.facebook.com/events/727832880580306/

Plakat:

http:// www.a-federacija.org/2014/ 03/20/ni-se-gotovo/ plakat_nisegotovo_srecanjeb ih-slo/


NIJE JOŠ GOTOVO! – TRANSNACIONALNI SUSRET DEMONSTRANATA I DEMONSTRANTKINJA IZ BIH, SLOVENIJE (I DRUGIH ZEMALJA)

11. – 13. APRIL 2014
SOCIJALNI CENTAR ROG, TRUBARJEVA 72, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIJA

Bosna i Hercegovina se odnedavno dodala na duži spisak zemalja koje su iskusile val generalnog ljudskog bjesa zbog već dugo nepodnošljivih životnih uvjeta za sve veći dio društva. Slično kao i u Grčkoj, Turskoj ili Sloveniji je ono, što je u Tuzli počelo kao još jedan protest u „tranziciji“ pokradenih i prevaranih radnika, munjevito preraslo u generalno odbijanje vladajuće politične elite i njene politike na ulicama brojnih gradova širom države.Istovremeno sa uličnim prosvjedima i zauzimanjem sjedišta lokalnih vlasti te ostalim izrazima ogorčenosti, ljudi su u brojnim gradovima uspostavili plenume kao prostore direktno demokratskih rasprava i odlučivanja. Usred razgranatog i viševrstnog društvenog vrenja su bili jedan od najljepših i najinspirativnijih momenata oni, u kojima je bio nacionalizam na ulicama i plenumima po cjeloj Bosni i Hercegovini konačno odbijen kao još jedno oruđe elite za dijeljenje ljudi i njihovo neograničeno iskorištavanje.

Ustanak u Bosni doveo je do smjenjivanja nekih od vodstava kantonalnih vlasti ali ono, štaj je najvažnije je, da je svojim eksplicitno antinacionalističkim i samoorganizovanim nabojem poslana je jasna poruka vladajučoj eliti: nećete nas više nekažnjeno pljaćkati i djeliti – stvari neće više biti takve, kao što su bile! Usred opustošenja tranzicijske Bosne i Hercegovine ustanak je otvorio mogućnost nove i drugačije budućnosti, u kojoj ljudi i njihove potrebe nisu lak plijen kapitalističkih divova i trgovaca ideologijom.

Ustanak u Bosni i Hercegovini je mnoge u Sloveniji podsjetio na burne događaje na prelazu iz 2012. u 2013. godinu, čiji dio smo i sami bili. Može se povući i paralela sa sličnim događajima u svijetu, kao što su primjeri: Španjolske, Grčke, Bugarske, Turske i Brazila. Momenti ustanka svugdje izviru iz istih težnji, iz iste izloženosti režimu opustošenja, iz iste zavisnosti života većine od upravitelja kapitalom i države. Baš ništa ne iznenađuje, da ustanci, uprkos svojim specifičnostima, sa sobom nose mnogo istih ili sličnih iskustava, iste ili slične nade i dileme. Susrećemo se i sa sličnim razočarenjima i slabostima. 
U situacijama ustanka svugdje se otvaraju ista pitanja: Kako promišljati spontane masovne proteste? Kako promišljati odnos između ulice, plenuma i ostalih praksi koje se otvaraju u vremenu ustanka? Kako se usprotiviti ruci represije? Kako sačuvati ustanak kao otvoren prostor? Kako graditi politiku pored i preko političkih stranaka, nevladnih organizacija i ostalih oruđa koji čuvaju postojeće stanje?

Sa namjerom, da gradimo zajednički prostor refleksije i djelovanja iznad državnih granica, pozivamo na transnacionalni susret demonstranata i demonstrantkinja iz BiH, Slovenije i drugih zemalja. Ostvariti želimo prostor neposredne komunikacije među nama, koji ćemo upotrijebiti za refleksiju i razmjenu iskustva procesa ustanaka uključujući i razmjenu praktičnih znanja, praksi, ideja, analiza, težnji i razočarenja. Želimo, da bi se sreli oni, koji smo na ulice došli zaradi potrebe po razvijanju samonikle politike, i oni, koji se i u mirnim vremenima ne namjeravamo odreći djelovanju mimo i izvan političkih stranaka ili nevladnog sektora. Zapravo želimo povezati aktivne kontakte između BiH i Slovenije te preko toga produbiti povezivanje iznad nacionalnih država. Želimo u neposrednoj komunikaciji učiti jedni od drugih i naći načine međusobne podrške u našim budućim borbama.

Susret će trajati tri dana i održaće se u formi plenuma i tematskih radionica. Predložene teme radionaca sa kratkim opisima: 
Na radionici o plenumu kao oruđu antiautoritativne samoorganizacije podijelićemo iskustva o plenumskom djelovanju, o problemima kao i o pozitivnim momentima, ali i o tehničkim vidicima njihovog izvođenja. Krajnji cilj je definisanje načina za jačanje plenuma kao oruđa antiautoritarne samoorganizacije. 
Na radionici o kriminalizaciji pobune i života podijelićemo skupna iskustva policijskog nasilja, kojim slijede sudski postupci i ostali oblici kriminalizacije zbog kojih su ljudi i dugo poslje prosvjeda suočeni sa sudskim postupcima. Optužbe i izrečene kazne su nerijetko previsoke. Govorit ćemo o tome, kako pružiti podršku onima, na koje se najviše odnosi kriminalizacija, te kako pojačati solidarnost i vještine za buduće političko djelovanje. 
Na radionici o transnacionalnom povezivanju ustanaka razmišljaćemo o širem evropskom kontekstu ustanaka i na osnovu iskustava razmišljati šta raditi, odnosno kako djelovati i kako se povezivati na transnacionalnom nivou.

Susret će se održati od 11. do 13. aprila 2014 u Ljubljani u prostorima Socialnog centra Rog. Hrana i smještaj biće obezbjeđeni u okviru skromnih mogućnosti. Susret će biti radni, a večernje sate iskoristit’ ćemo na opušteniji i društven način.

Svi i sve, koji bi željeli prisustvovati, za dodatne informacije pišite na soc.center.rog@gmail.com.

Protiv kapitalizma i nacionalizma gradimo solidarnost i otpor!

Antikapitalistički blok 
20. mart 2014

PROGRAM

Prvi dan, petak, 11. april

  • 19h: Uvodna skupština
    Skupština je namenjena upoznavanju učesnica i učesnika i deljenju njihovih očekivanja od susreta. Poseban prostor je namenjen prezentaciji ustaničkog iskustva iz BiH (presek događanja, aktuelno stanje, osnovna analiza).
  • 21h: Večera i druženje

Drugi dan, subota, 12. april

  • 9h: Doručak
  • 10h – 20h: Radionice, ručak
    Koordinatori/ke radionica se pobrinu za njihove sažetke koji će na kraju služiti za oblikovanje zajedničke izjave. 
  • Prva radionica, 10h – 12h: »Plenumi kot direktnodemokratično oruđe organizovanja«.
    Na prvoj radionici razgovaramo o plenumima kao o direktnodemokratskom oruđu organizovanja unutar ustanaka i šire. Pri tome pokušavamo odgovoriti na pitanja: kako plenume upotrebiti u konfliktnim situacijama, kako obezbediti inkluzivnost i ujedno odbiti sve isključujuće artikulacije, kako formu plenuma preneti u svakodnevne strukture odlučivanja; ujedno ćemo analizirati uspehe i minuse takve organizacije.
  • Ručak
  • Druga radionica, 14h – 16h: »Kontraustaničke sile kriminalizacije«.
    Druga radionica je namenjena pitanju šta je sve delovalo »protiv« ustanaka. Pri tome nećemo govoriti samo o specifičnim primerima kriminalizacije, već ćemo debatu raširiti na promišljanje o kriminalizaciji otpora uopće, govoriti ćemo o zatvorenosti u nacionalne okvire i o silama odnosno različitim društvenim subjektima koji su se suprotstavljali potencijalu ustanaka (policija, mediji, država, stranke, NGO, same ustajničke grupe).
  • Treća radionica, 18h – 20h: »Nova evropska konstitucija«.
    Ako se na prvoj i drugoj radionici bavimo oruđima organiziranja i procesima kriminalizacije, onda treću radionicu posvjećujemo pitanju šta i kako posle ustanaka. Iskustva sa bosanskih, slovenačkih i mnogih drugih ustanaka nam govore da ustaništvo uvek sadrži jak trenutak destitucije, a na nama je da ga nadgradimo u prostor konstitucije, postavljajući (si) pri tom transnacionalni horizont. Na radionici ćemo zato razgovarati o mogućnostima za procese daljeg zajedničkog građenja aktivističnih mreža koje kroz boj oblikuju našu Evropu.

  • 21h: Večernje druženje

 

Treći dan, nedelja, 13. april

  • 11h – 14h: Zaključna skupština 
    Cilj skupštine je rezimirati diskusije od prethodnog dana i kroz oblikovanje kratkog zajedničkog dokumenta zacrtati buduće delovanje/aktivnosti.
  • 15h: Ručak

IT’S NOT OVER YET! – TRANSNATIONAL MEETING OF THE UPRISING FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, SLOVENIA (AND BEYOND)

11th – 13th APRIL 2014
SOCIAL CENTER ROG, TRUBARJEVA 72, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

Recently, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina put their country on a dense map of those states that have – due to the lasting of unbearable conditions of living for a big part of society – experienced a wave of generalized peoples’ indignation. As in Greece, Turkey or Slovenia, what started as another protest of Tuzla workers who have been expropriated in the times of transition, spread like a wildfire to the streets of numerous cities across the state and has very soon been transformed into generalized rejection of ruling political elites and their policies. At the same time that indignant people took action on the streets and occupied buildings of local governments, plenums as spaces of democratic discussion and decision-making were established in numerous cities. Some of the most beautiful and inspiring moments that we have witnessed in the midst of rhizomatic and multiple boiling of society were those of people on the streets and plenums all over the country finally rejecting another means of elite, used for separating and exploiting people – nationalism. The Bosnian uprisings washed away some government officials and local (cantonal) governments. But foremost, by the usage of explicitly antinationalist and self-organized discourse and political action they sent a very clear message to the ruling elite: the times of you stealing from us and separating us without being punished are over – from now on, the things will never be the same again. The process of devastation of transitional Bosnia and Herzegovina has been interrupted: the uprisings opened up possibilities for a new and different future, a future in which people and their needs will no longer be an easy target of capitalist magnates and ideologists.

The uprisings in Bosnia and Herzegovina reminded many of us in Slovenia on the jacqueries during the winter of 2012/2013 that we were present at: at least as much as it reminded us on the other similar cases across the world – Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Brasilia, just to mention a few. The moments of uprisings are always and without regard to geography inspired by the same desires, by the same exposure to the regimes of devastation, by the same control over lives of majority that is in the hands of capital and state managers. Thus, it comes as no surprise that despite their specifities the uprisings bring about many common experiences, hopes and dilemmas, but also disappointments and weaknesses. In the times of uprisings the same questions open up everywhere: How can we understand spontaneous mass protests? What about a relationship between street actions, plenums and other practices of the uprising? How can we fight against the repression? What can we do to maintain the uprisings in their openness and inclusivity? How can we build our politics against and beyond political parties, non-governmental organizations and other tools of conserving the status quo?

We organize and invite you to take part on a transnational meeting of the uprising from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia (and beyond) in order to build a common space of reflection and action beyond the borders of nation states. We want to create a space of direct communication between the uprising from Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and use it for mutual reflexion and exchange of experiences that we have gained during the uprisings, including the exchange of practical knowledge and ideas, but also analysis, desires and disappointments. We want this space to be a space of convergence of all of us who have been going to the uprisings in order to address our need of developing autonomous politics and that in more peaceful times will not give away acting against and beyond political parties and non-governmental sector. At the same time our wish is to build and strengthen active contacts between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia and with that deepen the process of connecting beyond nation states. But most of all we want to learn from each other and develop ways of mutual support in our forthcoming struggles.

The meeting will last for three days and will take a form of plenums and thematic workshops. We suggest making three basic workshops:
The focus of the first workshop could be plenums as self-organizing and anti-authoritative tool. The discussion would be build around our experiences that we have gained with our active engagement on plenums; it would address the problems and positive moments, but also technical aspects of their execution. The goal of this workshop would be finding ways of empowerment of plenum as a tool of anti-authoritative self-organizing.
The focus of a second workshop could be criminalization of struggles and lives. On this workshop we would share our common experience of police violence, followed by court procedures and other forms of criminalization that effect peoples’ lives long after the protests are finished, often including draconic fines. We would also talk about the ways to concretely support the ones that have been criminalized most severely and how not to let solidarity among us fall into decay and freeze our future political action.
The third workshop we suggest would be on transnational networking of the uprisings and broader European context. Based on the knowledge and experiences we have from elsewhere we would like to discuss about the future transnational perspectives and networking.

The meeting will be held between 11th and 13th April 2014 in Social centre Rog in Ljubljana. Food and sleeping capacities will be provided; prior and throughout the meeting we will collect money for reimbursing as many of travel costs for the uprising from Bosnia and Herzegovina as possible.

It will be a working meeting but we are positive that the evenings will be smartly used for relaxation and regaining our energy.

Everyone interested in the meeting should write an email to soc.center.rog@gmail.com in order to receive detailed information.

Solidarity and struggle against capitalistic and nationalistic devastation!

Anti-capitalist block
March 20th, 2014

PROGRAM

Day one, Friday, 11th April

  • 19h: Opening session 
    The participants to the meeting will introduce themselves; they are encouraged to present their expectations towards the meeting. There will be a short presentation of the uprising experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina (summary of happenings, current situation, primary analysis).
  • 21h: Dinner and socializing

Day two, Saturday, 12th April

  • 9h: Breakfast
  • 10h – 20h: Workshop, lunch 
    Workshop coordinators should take care of short summaries for each workshop that will serve us for writing a final common statement. 
  • Workshop nr. 1, 10h – 12h: »Plenums as a direct democratic tool of organizing« 
    The first workshop will be dedicated to plenums as a direct democratic tool of organizing, both within uprisings and in general. We will be asking ourselves in what ways should this tool be used in situations of conflict; how can we insure its inclusiveness and refuse all excluding articulations at the same time; how to transfer the plenum form into everyday decision making structures; and, we will also analyze successes and disadvantages of such kind of organizing.
  • Lunch
  • Workshop nr. 2, 14h – 16h: »Counterinsurgent Forces of Criminalisation« 
    The second workshop will be focused on the question of what worked against the power of uprisings. We will discuss more than specific cases of criminalisation since we wish to broaden the content by stressing the criminalisation of resistance in general. We will also speak about closing the resistance into national frameworks and about the role of different
    social actors (police and other authorities, media, parties, NGO sector, uprising initiatives etc.) that were weakening the power of uprisings.
  • Workshop nr. 3, 18h – 20h: »New European Constitution« 
    In contrast with the first and the second workshop, that will address the topics of organizational tools and criminalization, the third workshop will be based on the question of what and how to act after the heat of the uprisings has passed. The experiences we have gained during uprisings in Bosnia, Slovenia and elsewhere show us that those are always moments of strong destituency – our task now is to create the moments of constituency. Our horizon for doing so is transnational. The focus of the third workshop will thus be the continuation of the processes of common construction of militant networks through which we will create our Europe.

  • 21h: Socializing

 

Day three, Sunday, 13th April

  • 11h – 14h: Final session 
    We will summarize the discussions of previous two days and write a short common statement that will serve us as a basis for future networking.
  • 15h: Lunch

 

Prisotnostšteje-15o-OccupyLjubljana

PresenceCounts-15o-OccupyLjubljana

19 decembra, 2013

Brussels: Fight austerity and free trade! Blockade the EU Summit! #TTIP #D1920

eusummitblckade

 

http://www.d19-20.be

https://www.rebelmouse.com/D1920/fight-austerity-and-free-trade-346985944-s0.html

Location: Brussels Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 – 18:00 to Thursday, December 19, 2013
Join citizens, farmers, NGOs and trade unions from across Belgium to fight back against the EU’s destructive austerity policies and its attempt to give corporations the keys to Europe through a new EU-US free trade deal:

****BLOCKADE THE EU SUMMIT – 19 DEC 2013!****

The day of action is organised by the D19-20 Alliance, and is part of two days aimed at fighting the EU’s ultra-neoliberal austerity policies and for democracy, food sovereignty and the future of the planet. 18th December
– Meeting Against Austerity Representatives from different sectors of European society will be speaking about how the impacts of ultra neoliberal austerity policies are felt on a daily basis. 18:00 – Bvd Roi Albert II, 5, 1210 Brussels 19th December –

Blockade of the European Summit From 7am on December 19, strategically picked cross-roads will be blockaded to prevent our so-called leaders reaching the European Summit and push on with their damaging neoliberal agenda. More details will be announced in the following days, but until then, spread the word, tell your friends, colleagues and families, get your organisation to sign-up, put up posters, print out flyers, book the day off work!

About the Alliance D19-20

D19-20 is a non-partisan alliance of citizens, farmers, NGOs and trade unions fighting against austerity policies, the TSCG (national treaty establishing austerity in Belgium) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP – the EU-US free trade agreement currently being negotiated).

Following the call from the D19-20 platform in October, many representatives and active members of Belgian civil society gathered to build a broad coalition and a counter-balance against the attacks by the European Union on all sections of the population. The first assembly was attended by over 80 people representing farmers, citizens, working people, the unemployed, artists, trade unions, NGOs, social movements, community organisers and activitsts etc.

All responded to the call because of a shared belief that the time has come to join forces rather than each fighting in silos for sectoral victories. Those in attendance took turns at the podium to affirm their commitment to converge their struggles and to create unity against the ultra-neoliberal austerity policies embodied in the TSCG treaty and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); they pledged to fight for democracy, food sovereignty and the future of the planet. All called on Belgian civil society to come together and raise the pressure at the national level, specifically disrupting the European summit on 19 and 20 December in Brussels.Concretely, it was decided to organize a meeting on December 18 bringing together European and Belgian voices from diverse backgrounds to highlight the consequences of policies pursued by the European Union and to organize one or more actions to stop the EU summit taking place on 19 and 20 December.

PresenceCounts-15o-OccupyLjubljana

12 decembra, 2013

Beyond Europe – Antiauthoritarian Platform Against Capitalism

beyondeurope

Just the beginning…

The slogan “Beyond Europe” is a clear “no” to current imaginations of Europe. Obviously, the dream of a politically-economically united, “more equal” and “just” Europe for everyone under the Euro is breaking apart. At the moment, this “Nation Europe” turns out to be a Europe of austerity and deadly disharmony. The nostalgic wish for a re-strengthening of the state to control the “lawless” market is no lasting alternative which can make life better ; in the best case, this is just the other side of the same coin. Another false alternative is being propagated by several right-wing and reactionary forces across the continent. They argue that the only solution is to “fall back” to a “Europe of nations”, where it’s every national state for itself. We want to go beyond these solutions. We argue for the option beyond state, nation and capital brought about by anti-authoritarian struggle and self-organisation. Six years on from the start of the financial crisis, we finally make a start on the necessary project of a transnational platform for radical exchange, discussion and action. We see “Beyond Europe ! – Antiauthoritarian platform against capitalism” as a small start that has been long overdue. Just one beginning for exchange and understanding between anticapitalist groups, beyond our usual borders and limits.

The Origin of the idea

It is becoming increasingly clear that partial, nationally contained struggles within and against the spheres of production and reproduction are not enough to resist the austerity measures of the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund). More and more of those engaged in social struggles are being confronted with the limits of national isolation and the urgent need to refer to common points of analysis and struggle ; the need to work towards building transnational movements which relate to each other within and across national borders and that would be capable of creating new dynamics and of disrupting, at least on the level of ideas, traditional conceptions of what constitutes the political terrain.

At the moment the exchange processes between people struggling in Europe and beyond are still underdeveloped. As movements, we are definitely still lacking the skills and the Know-How needed to coordinate effective long-term organising and resistance at the European scale and beyond. We see very few possibilities for even sharing our own histories or current experiences. If we want to build effective transnational movements we need to start experimenting with physical and virtual spaces where we can come together and develop these plans together. Fortunately, many groups and individuals have realised that there is a need to pass from visiting and consuming “hotspots” of (radical) protest and radical journalism to a more advanced level of activity, solidarity and to build solid connections with comrades throughout these places. This is an experimental process to create the tools and spaces needed to overcome both the boundaries we face now and through our consequent networking.

We had our first experiences in the process of transnational organization when we co-organized M31, the decentralised European action day against capitalism which took place on the 31st March 2012. Many of the activists in Germany had to discover that although mass demonstrations are normal in Greece, it does not mean that people will listen to a call for an anticapitalist action day within a European context. Different situations need different approaches and these approaches can only be decided by those putting them into practice. We also learnt that it is one thing to plan a local event in the context of a one off action day and completely another to start a committed and continuous process of discussion and long term co-ordination between radical groups. Of course we had to find out that many groups don‘t want or can‘t participate in this long exchange process. This is based on both a group‘s perspective – how important a group thinks it is to act transnationally, but also it is a matter of capacities and possibilities – which is influenced by the situation each group finds itself in. We hope to see many of these groups and projects again, either within Beyond Europe, or organising alongside us.

The past years have shown us the current limits of our organising. These are limits we want and need to overcome. In Greece the movements have come to the realisation that struggles that stop at the national level will not bring about real change, because only overthrowing the Greek government would not bring about long-term change within the complex European wide situation. In Germany activists are falling into the trap of “there are no struggles” and many have stopped looking for them. In England antiauthoritarian, anticapitalist groups face problems developing practical interventions and links to wider society. In any case, alone we are weak, only by acting locally but thinking globally can we proceed ; only through co-ordinated international activity can a society beyond state, nation and capital be achieved.

What we want – Discover, Exchange, Discuss, Act

We need to (re)occupy the principle of solidarity and fill it with left-wing, emancipatory and radical content. Solidarity has to be freed from the isolation of single-issue campaigns ; it has to be revived and updated by purging it of both its reactionary and nationalist blinkers. We also have to take it back from its recuperation by capitalism : by solidarity we don’t mean “charity” or “investment”.

We have to discover the links between capitalist processes within Europe and beyond. Information must be gathered about state-institutions and companies that act transnationally : what are their functions and how are they involved in organising the flows of capital and power which produce the current management of the crisis and austerity ? Furthermore we have to understand the local situation in each different country. How are austerity politics influencing and changing daily life ? How are people getting organised against wage cuts and rising unemployment ? Are classical defensive struggles transforming into offensive ones ? And, how do they do this ? It is also clear that during these social attacks social relations change. As the reproduction of our lives enters into crisis, existing patriarchal structures which are central to contemporary capitalism are exacerbated. Against the background of strengthening fascist organisations, particularly in Greece and Hungary, and growing racism and nationalism in the so called Western countries, we have to coordinate also on the issue of reactionary answers to the crisis. For example : in England a new rise of antifascist initiatives are emerging to intervene against right-populist and fascist propaganda. This experience will be familiar to Greek comrades who had to face new threats to refugees, homosexuals and themselves since the sudden growth of the fascist Golden Dawn. German activists have had similar experiences during the racist pogroms in the 90s. We want to share successes, mistakes and analysis with our comrades in different countries so that they can act effectively when facing similar issues.

Together we have to develop the weapon of critique whilst simultaneously engaging, slowly and carefully, in a discussion about where we are heading. Can we exchange our theoretical and practical expertise in ways which comrades elsewhere can understand and make use of ? For example, on how to criticise the nation and the formations of national unity ? And most importantly we need to collectively discuss topics that concern us all : for example what is the nature of contemporary Europe ? (How) do we want to overcome it ? What do we want to do next ? And of course we need to start taking further steps and move slowly into discussion with comrades in other continents.

We do not want to remain a theoretical circle only. Our interaction has to find its expression in practical issues, since no relevant change was ever carried through by writing texts alone. We can‘t develop our collective political power sitting in our bedrooms. We can keep our standard solidarity recipe, of course : that is, when something happens in one place, in other places we go out with banners, or light our usual flares, and take several photos which we spread through our channels. This is better than nothing and still one way to refer to each other. But we have to go beyond. The European General Strike N14 was another experiment in making the idea of solidarity broader and more concrete. Whilst there are problems with big international action days which can happen, if done in the right way these can have positive and long-term effects. Other continuous practices could be through strengthening self-organised projects and providing practical support including distributing their goods and products on a bigger level (for example VIO.ME, the self-organised factory in Greece). It is important that we also exchange our knowledge about projects of commoning and socialisation in their different forms and continue developing direct democratic processes. Ultimately, there are many ways to expand practical solidarity that we have yet to find.

So, there are many things on many different levels that we want and that need to be done in common.

Horizons

The horizons for this platform are not, and hopefully will not ever be, completely determined. We do not want to limit our imagination – we envision beginning modestly, exchanging discussion papers and hopefully moving on to coordinated activity and beyond. Everything is open. The way this project develops is for us to decide – alongside the dynamics of movements and struggles that will emerge around us of course ! This project starts small – with four groups in three countries. It is clearly not representative, or even inclusive of all the of the great projects we see taking place, and we hope that more groups that share a similar perspective to us join this networking process. If you would like to find out more about getting involved, please contact us.

It is clear that if we do not try to get organized in this way, if we do not intensify our exchange processes and develop a shared analysis of the international functioning of this system, we won‘t be able to develop our own agenda. We keep working on the basis that the doctrine “There is no alternative” is only the ideology of those who do not want to see real change. In these times of austerity and popular revolt, we have to bring our forms of organization and action to the next level. We say that we have to understand the situation and to act – to take our radical critiques of state, nation and capital, and our promotion of self-organisation and the building of counter-power out of our political milieus, into our neighbourhoods and far beyond.

Beyond Europe, November 2013

http://beyondeurope.net/

PresenceCounts-15o-OccupyLjubljana

22 novembra, 2013

Blockupy Frankfurt a/M: 22nd to 24th of November: European Action Conference

action-conference-2013-624x200

In a statement the Blockupy network wrote about this years (May 31 and June 1) action in Frankfurt: “During Blockupy 2013 we experienced intense and powerful days of collective action and common resistance. On Friday, more than 3000 activists blockaded the entrance to the European Central Bank, making good on our announcement to carry our resistance deep into the heart of the European crisis regime.

(..)

We came together in a great camp that was more than simply a place to sleep: for activists from Germany and Italy, from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain, from Greece and Austria and many other countries it was a place for encounters and exchanges as well for planning actions.

The police’s assault on our international demonstration – with more than 20.000 activists – on Saturday was obviously intended to erase our successes from the previous days, and to split the coalition that had achieved them. Those responsible for the attack – especially the interior minister of the state of Hessia, Frankfurt’s senator for law and order, both from Angela Merkel’s conservative party – could not bear an international demonstration walking right past the ECB. In the run-up to the march, they tried to prohibit the march taking that route, but the courts cashiered their edict. In response, they simply went ahead and ignored the court’s ruling, thus highlighting just how little their talk of democracy and rule of law is worth. The danger that the spotless façade of the ECB might be tainted by a few splashes of paint was apparently reason enough to suspend freedom of assembly, and injure – sometimes seriously – more than 300 people through punches and kicks, through tear gas and pepper spray.

The attack on our demonstration was meant to demoralise and split the movement. They really thought that they could just ‘kettle’ 1000 activists from the anticapitalist block at the head of the demonstration, and that the other blocks would simply continue walking on the route that the police had always intended for us. Obviously, they seriously underestimated the resolve of and solidarity among the coalition and among the activists. An attack on one part of the demonstration is an attack on all of us.

Nobody took them up on their absurd offer to leave behind those in the kettle. Thousands stayed until late in the evening and bravely confronted the police until the very end. It is this common experience of courage and solidarity in the face of police violence that forged even closer bonds amongst our coalition and within the movement.

Blockupy has achieved an important political victory. The attack on our demonstration has turned into a political disaster for the interior ministry and the representatives of the authoritarian politics of crisis ‘resolution’. We are determined to continue preparing further actions at the European Central Bank, this raw nerve of the European crisis regime, where protest is so obviously effective and thus clearly undesirable.”

Footage from Enough is Enough TV of Police violence at last years Blockupy demonstration at June 1 in mobilisation clip for demonstration against police violence 1 week later (June 8, 2013):

You can read an eyewitness account of the police brutality (including many videos and pictures) during this years edition of Blockupy here: Blockupy 2013: Police Brutality in #Frankfurt – An Eyewitness Account

One week after the police attacks there was a demonstration against police violence and state repression with 12.500 people who marched in Frankfurt again. They marched the same route as the Blockupy demo should have been allowed to one week before. This time the police did not attack the demo after they were heavily critised in the mainstream press for their brutality during Blockupy 2013.

In October 2013 German newspaper “Junge Welt” reported that the state prosecuter started a preliminary investigation against 943 people who where kettled on June 1, 2013. This after many people filed a criminal complaint against several policemen and against the interiour minister of the state of Hessen because of police violence and deprivation of liberty during the 10 hour kettle. The legal battle of Blockupy 2013 isn’t over yet but activists are focusing on next years actions in Europe’s finance capital. If the state wanted to intimidate protesters they didn’t succeed as the demostration against police brutality and state repression showed only one week after Blockupy 2013. Activists are determined to come back in 2014 with even more people. The preparations for Blockupy 2014 start with a conference and actions during the Europe Finance Week later this month (Call and programm below).

Footage from Enough is Enough TV  of the demonstration against police violence on June 8, 2013 in Frankfurt:

Call for Blockupy’s European Action Conference – 22nd to 24th of November 2013

Against the European austerity regime, against the rule of the EU-Troika, for the transnationalisation of our resistance, for real democracy!

On May 31st and June 1st, the European Central Bank was effectively blockaded by thousands of protesters against the politics of troika. The central commercial zone of Frankfurt was blocked and stores had to shut down, there were loud protests at the airport against deportation, financial and real estate firms were marked and the right to the city was claimed, a care mob called attention to the increased burden on women in the European crisis. Blockupy 2013 brought about intense and powerful days of collective action and resistance. Our many disobedient actions highlighted the ways in which the politics of crisis and impoverishment affect our lives and the lives of millions of people around the world.

Blockupy will return to Frankfurt in 2014 to resist the opening of the ECB’s new headquarters. Yet much remains open. We want to make plans together.

Blockupy 2013 has been one step on the path towards becoming part of a huge, common European and global movement. We want to continue down this path together with you. Therefore we invite you, our friends, colleagues and comrades from all over Europe and beyond, to the Blockupy European Action Conference from November 22nd to November 24th 2013 in Frankfurt.

The Blockupy European Action Conference will be the last of multiple European meetings of movements, networks and organizations this autumn – in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome. All these meetings aim towards finding ways to transform Europe from below, towards further exchanging and debating practices and strategies and towards forming transnational movements.

During the Blockupy European Action Conference we hope to exchange our different experiences of protest and resistance towards creating a different Europe. One core of the Blockupy idea and practice since 2012 is to link alliance building with disobedient, confrontational actions aimed towards mass participation for scandalizing the violent austerity measures and politics of impoverishment. Now we want to create a space to discuss Blockupy and other struggles up to now, to talk about possibilities for the future, and to sketch out a more transnational Blockupy for 2014.

Our goal with the conference is twofold:

  • To engage in strategic debate about the commonalities and gaps in our struggles, and
  • To find out together how Blockupy in 2014 could be successful as a platform for transnational resistance against the troika and politics of crisis.

The questions we have

  • How do we best create powerful connections between our struggles? How can we push together for a dynamic shifting of forces?
  • How do we relate disobedient forms of action (mass blockades, social and general strikes, taking and squatting public spaces, preventing evictions and many more) to alliance-building?
  • How do we connect the struggles in the European south and north? What are the needs of different struggles throughout Europe in crisis? How do we relate these to the aims and imaginations for common resistance in countries like Germany, headquarter
    of the EU crisis regime, where recent elections have shown voters casting ballot to continue these capitalist politics?
  • What role can Blockupy 2014 play within European crisis and the protests against it?

actionconference

Blockupy Frankfurt a/M: 22nd to 24th of November: European Action Conference

action-conference-2013-624x200In a statement the Blockupy network wrote about this years (May 31 and June 1) action in Frankfurt: “During Blockupy 2013 we experienced intense and powerful days of collective action and common resistance. On Friday, more than 3000 activists blockaded the entrance to the European Central Bank, making good on our announcement to carry our resistance deep into the heart of the European crisis regime.

(..)

We came together in a great camp that was more than simply a place to sleep: for activists from Germany and Italy, from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain, from Greece and Austria and many other countries it was a place for encounters and exchanges as well for planning actions.

blockupy5j

Blockupy 2013:  Police brutality in Frankfurt, Germany.

The police’s assault on our international demonstration – with more than 20.000 activists – on Saturday was obviously intended to erase our successes from the previous days, and to split the coalition that had achieved them. Those responsible for the attack – especially the interior minister of the state of Hessia, Frankfurt’s senator for law and order, both from Angela Merkel’s conservative party – could not bear an international demonstration walking right past the ECB. In the run-up to the march, they tried to prohibit the march taking that route, but the courts cashiered their edict. In response, they simply went ahead and ignored the court’s ruling, thus highlighting just how little their talk of democracy and rule of law is worth. The danger that the spotless façade of the ECB might be tainted by a few splashes of paint was apparently reason enough to suspend freedom of assembly, and injure – sometimes seriously – more than 300 people through punches and kicks, through tear gas and pepper spray.

The attack on our demonstration was meant to demoralise and split the movement. They really thought that they could just ‘kettle’ 1000 activists from the anticapitalist block at the head of the demonstration, and that the other blocks would simply continue walking on the route that the police had always intended for us. Obviously, they seriously underestimated the resolve of and solidarity among the coalition and among the activists. An attack on one part of the demonstration is an attack on all of us.

Nobody took them up on their absurd offer to leave behind those in the kettle. Thousands stayed until late in the evening and bravely confronted the police until the very end. It is this common experience of courage and solidarity in the face of police violence that forged even closer bonds amongst our coalition and within the movement.

Blockupy has achieved an important political victory. The attack on our demonstration has turned into a political disaster for the interior ministry and the representatives of the authoritarian politics of crisis ‘resolution’. We are determined to continue preparing further actions at the European Central Bank, this raw nerve of the European crisis regime, where protest is so obviously effective and thus clearly undesirable.”

Footage from Enough is Enough TV of Police violence at last years Blockupy demonstration at June 1 in mobilisation clip for demonstration against police violence 1 week later (June 8, 2013):

You can read an eyewitness account of the police brutality (including many videos and pictures) during this years edition of Blockupy here: Blockupy 2013: Police Brutality in #Frankfurt – An Eyewitness Account

One week after the police attacks there was a demonstration against police violence and state repression with 12.500 people who marched in Frankfurt again. They marched the same route as the Blockupy demo should have been allowed to one week before. This time the police did not attack the demo after they were heavily critised in the mainstream press for their brutality during Blockupy 2013.

In October 2013 German newspaper “Junge Welt” reported that the state prosecuter started a preliminary investigation against 943 people who where kettled on June 1, 2013. This after many people filed a criminal complaint against several policemen and against the interiour minister of the state of Hessen because of police violence and deprivation of liberty during the 10 hour kettle. The legal battle of Blockupy 2013 isn’t over yet but activists are focusing on next years actions in Europe’s finance capital. If the state wanted to intimidate protesters they didn’t succeed as the demostration against police brutality and state repression showed only one week after Blockupy 2013. Activists are determined to come back in 2014 with even more people. The preparations for Blockupy 2014 start with a conference and actions during the Europe Finance Week later this month (Call and programm below).

Footage from Enough is Enough TV  of the demonstration against police violence on June 8, 2013 in Frankfurt:

Call for Blockupy’s European Action Conference – 22nd to 24th of November 2013

Against the European austerity regime, against the rule of the EU-Troika, for the transnationalisation of our resistance, for real democracy!

On May 31st and June 1st, the European Central Bank was effectively blockaded by thousands of protesters against the politics of troika. The central commercial zone of Frankfurt was blocked and stores had to shut down, there were loud protests at the airport against deportation, financial and real estate firms were marked and the right to the city was claimed, a care mob called attention to the increased burden on women in the European crisis. Blockupy 2013 brought about intense and powerful days of collective action and resistance. Our many disobedient actions highlighted the ways in which the politics of crisis and impoverishment affect our lives and the lives of millions of people around the world.

Blockupy will return to Frankfurt in 2014 to resist the opening of the ECB’s new headquarters. Yet much remains open. We want to make plans together.

Blockupy 2013 has been one step on the path towards becoming part of a huge, common European and global movement. We want to continue down this path together with you. Therefore we invite you, our friends, colleagues and comrades from all over Europe and beyond, to the Blockupy European Action Conference from November 22nd to November 24th 2013 in Frankfurt.

The Blockupy European Action Conference will be the last of multiple European meetings of movements, networks and organizations this autumn – in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome. All these meetings aim towards finding ways to transform Europe from below, towards further exchanging and debating practices and strategies and towards forming transnational movements.

During the Blockupy European Action Conference we hope to exchange our different experiences of protest and resistance towards creating a different Europe. One core of the Blockupy idea and practice since 2012 is to link alliance building with disobedient, confrontational actions aimed towards mass participation for scandalizing the violent austerity measures and politics of impoverishment. Now we want to create a space to discuss Blockupy and other struggles up to now, to talk about possibilities for the future, and to sketch out a more transnational Blockupy for 2014.

Our goal with the conference is twofold:

  • To engage in strategic debate about the commonalities and gaps in our struggles, and
  • To find out together how Blockupy in 2014 could be successful as a platform for transnational resistance against the troika and politics of crisis.

The questions we have

  • How do we best create powerful connections between our struggles? How can we push together for a dynamic shifting of forces?
  • How do we relate disobedient forms of action (mass blockades, social and general strikes, taking and squatting public spaces, preventing evictions and many more) to alliance-building?
  • How do we connect the struggles in the European south and north? What are the needs of different struggles throughout Europe in crisis? How do we relate these to the aims and imaginations for common resistance in countries like Germany, headquarter
    of the EU crisis regime, where recent elections have shown voters casting ballot to continue these capitalist politics?
  • What role can Blockupy 2014 play within European crisis and the protests against it?

actionconferenceActions on Friday

All guests are invited to join the protests against the Euro Finance Week (18.-22. November) already on Friday, November, 22th at 2 p.m. we will have a noisy manifestation in front of the Alte Oper. For more info see: http://notroika.org/

Afterwards we offer a city walk to some stakeholders of the crisis, including a visit of the site of the new EZB building.

Conference Program

Friday, Nov 22nd:

  • 2:00 p.m. Noisy Manifestation against Euro Finance Week, Alte Oper
  • Afterwards City Walk to the new ECB building site
  • 6:00 p.m. „You are leaving the democratic sector“, Public Opening Meeting, Studierendenhaus
  • 8:30 p.m. „Get together“ of conference participants

Saturday, Nov 23rd:

  • 9.30 a.m. 6:30 p.m. „Disobedient Resistance for Democracy without Capitalism“, Plenaries and Workshops about transnational counter-power
  • 7:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. „How to create strong and European Blockupy actions in 2014“ Evening Plenary
  • Party
Sunday, Nov 24th:
  • 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Debates and decisions about dates, common structures and action concepts for 2014

Registration

In order to get a good overview of the approximate numbers of participants, we kindly ask you to register beforehand. We’ve set up a small Form for this. Please fill it out: here

Organsational Stuff

Everything from the Venue, to the accomodation, translation, food an so on can be found here

 

PresenceCounts-15o-OccupyLjubljana

8 septembra, 2013

What do Brazil, Turkey, Peru and Bulgaria have in common?

 
 brazil
The protests in Bulgaria have much in common with protests in other countries [AFP]
 
 

This year’s protests have less to do with ideology and specific grievances than a new architecture of protest.

 
Sao Paulo, Brazil – What influence did Istanbul’s Gezi Park protest movement have on the uprising in Brazil? Can we explain the sudden emergence of mass demonstrations in Peru as being inspired by neighbouring Brazil? What do the anti-government, anti-establishment protest movements in these three countries – and in Bulgaria – have in common?Analysts have searched for specific reasons to explain the recent revolts: Istanbul rose to protect Gezi Park from neoliberal enclosure; Brazilian citizens took to the streets to protest against the rising of the price of public transportation; Peruvians were outraged by corruption and a government that tried to impose its will on the country’s constitutional court. Bulgaria’s protests, which started this January, were spurred by anger at high electricity and water bills.But does this really explain what has happened in recent months? The reasons listed above would imply that four almost disconnected rebellions took place simultaneously. And cause-and-effect logic cannot fully explain these protests, which fall largely outside the left-right axis.

 
Rather, what the movements have in common has less to do with ideology and specific grievances, than with a new architecture of protest. In all four countries, established groups such as unions and political parties were almost irrelevant. For instance, the calls for protest in Peru, which filled the capital’s streets in July, were born [Es] in social networks, mailing lists and non-ideological groups. When a reporter suggested to human rights activist Rocio Silvia Santisteba that she was leading the Peruvian protests, she replied: “We convene. We do not lead.”

Violent police crackdowns, news of which was largely ignored by the mainstream media but spread on the internet, transformed the initial demonstrations in Istanbul and Sao Paulo into what John Robb calls “open source protests”, in which no group was able to impose its own agenda. These are protests in which information spread by self-convened, networked citizens breaks the consensus built by the state, media and market.

A study [Es] by Brazilian digital communications firm Interagentes on Brazil’s protests shows that the Passe Livre Movement, which called for lower bus fares, largely lost its leadership of the protest movement following police violence on June 13. The incident opened the demonstration’s range to include many other causes. In massive rallies on June 17, millions of Brazilians took to the streets shouting, as in Bulgaria, against the country’s political parties and wielding a never-before-seen variety of posters demanding a better public health system, better public transport, better education, transparency, and civic rights, among many other causes. 

The same thing happened in the early days of the Gezi Park movement in Turkey. After the use of tear gas by the police, the protests evolved into more than just the defence of a park; instead, the movement broadened to become a struggle for civil rights, for a more transparent democracy and for a new economic model.

Alter, remix, hack

What do the Bulgarian, Turkish, Brazilian and Peruvian revolts have in common? Another similarity is the fact that they did not aim to destroy the power structure.

The from-the-networks-to-the-streets flow is one of the most notable patterns of these revolts.

“The best subversion is to alter the code instead of destroying it,” wrote French philosopher Roland Barthes in the 1960s. Connected crowds, assembling emotions, do not destroy power. They prefer altering the code of power, the protocols, the process. Doing yoga in front of the Bulgarian congress or in the local occupied political assembly of the Brazilian city of Niteroi can be as subversive as actually taking power. Holding a horizontal, popular and open assembly inside an occupied public building – which has been quite common during the Brazilian uprising – can change how politics work.

When Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan referred to the protesters using the slang word “chapullers”, or looters, the crowd took over the code, proclaiming a “chapulling movement” and creating Chapull.tv, which streamed the events in Gezi Park. And when the Brazilian media called the protesters “vandalos” – rioters – the crowd remixed the insult, proclaiming: “Vandalism is what they do with your father in the doctor’s queue,” referring to the country’s sclerotic medical system.

 Alter, remix, hack. Spread the virus. The Peruvian Indignados movement referred to the “repartija” – the government’s opaque distribution of political offices – as the”lagartija”, or lizard, an ironic icon for memorably spreading the message.

For their part, Bulgarians brought watermelons to the door of parliament on day 45 of the protests, an act laden with layers of metaphor. The Bulgarian word for “watermelon” sounds similar to the words for “day” and “year” said together. The Communists ruled Bulgaria for 45 years, and the Bulgarians surrounded the parliament for 45 days. The country, the protesters were saying, was ripe for a change of cycle.

All revolts are connected

What’s more, all revolts are connected somehow. The fact that a Brazilian flag was flying in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, or that the slogan “Brazil will be another Turkey” was used during Brazil’s demonstrations, are examples. The Interagentes study [Es] of digital networks mentioned that when the first protests were called in Sao Paulo on June 6, there were two Turkish Facebook pages among the ten most influential in Brazil on that day: Diren Gezi Parki [Tr] and Turkiyenin Gururu Recep Tayyip Erdogan [Tr].

In the case of the Peruvian protests, the connection was with a more distant revolt: The hashtag used on Twitter to mobilise protesters was #TomaLaCalle, the same phrase used by the Spanish Indignados movement in 2011. From #TomaLaCalle to #VemPraRua (the most popular hashtag of the Brazilian protests), the from-the-networks-to-the-streets flow is one of the most notable patterns of these revolts. These types of protests transcend the traditional format of demonstrations – and build, in the words of Spanish thinker Javier Toret, “a mutant network system with moving boundaries, hybrid, cyborg, a collective body that resists time and can extend through space”. 

Maybe the global revolution has just begun. Maybe we can sense its unpredictable flow by observing small details – gestures, posters, icons, photographs, streamings. “I am nobody,” said one of the members of the Passe Livre movement to a journalist. “We are the 99 percent,” shouted the Occupy Wall Street movement. “We are looking for a new horizontal form,” the streets seem to whisper. We desire a distributed democracy. We are a new social grammar. “We are part of a larger struggle, of a global struggle,” a crowd shouted from the roof of the Brazilian congress on June 18.

The Hungarian sociologist Peter Pal, describing what is happening in Brazil, helps us to understand what these networked revolts have in common. Although there may not yet be categories to describe this new type of movement, these uprisings are all “more insurgent, more movement than party, more flow than discipline, more impulse than purpose – with an uncommon power to bring people together”.

Bernardo Gutierrez is a Spanish journalist and writer who researches networked revolutions, hacker culture and peer-to-peer politics. He is the founder of the global innovation network FuturaMedia.net and lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Published: Al Jazeera, 07th of September 2013 (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/09/20139572247949239.html)