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Sign-on statement to democratise the ESF!

Horizontal | 27.02.2004 00:26 | European Social Forum

A sign-on statement calling for changes to the ESF process to make it more democratic, open and transparent.

'A Call for Democracy in the ESF Process' is now online on
www.esf2004.net and is ready for people to sign up to. This statement
has been crafted by a range of people and speaks for itself. If you
would like your name to be added to this statement please email

democracy@esf2004.net or fill out the form on the site. All names of
individuals who support it and the groups, networks and organisations
they are involved with, but not which they neccesarily represent, will
be published in a week or so's time.

Please promote 'A Call for Democracy in the ESF Process' around all
relevant networks you are involved with.

If you are able to translate this statement into any other language then
please do so and send it to

hugh@esf2004.net and it will be added to the
site. It would also be very useful if you could translate the green box
on the homepage, perhaps with a note mentioning that most of the site as
yet to be translated but that the statement has been.

There are many other simple ways you can help develop www.esf2004.net,
please follow the link from the homepage.

The full statement is below.

-------------------------------

A Call for Democracy in the ESF Process

We are a wide group of UK and European activists who are currently
extremely unhappy with the ESF 2004 Organising Process. Despite frequent
interventions and attempts to make our views known, our methods of
organising, demands for democracy and transparency, and even the right
to attend meetings have been trampled upon by those currently dominating
the process. This is unacceptable in a process which declares "Another
World is Possible!". Despite all this, we believe very strongly that a
European Social Forum in the UK can be a positive event, which we would
like to support. We are calling not for the abolition of the ESF 2004,
but rather for the enlargement of the process and the involvement of all
sectors of the UK and European movement.

We are urging the delegates at the European Assembly to closely examine
the ESF 2004 Organising Process as it currently stands. We believe that
the basic principles of the WSF Charter have already been treated with
contempt. In particular, we propose that:

(i) Ways are devised in which individuals and loose networks of
activists can participate fully in the Organising Process.
(ii) The Organising Process MUST be made less London-centric and more
accessible to all sectors of the movement, not just large trade unions
and the Greater London Assembly.
(iii) The role of the GLA in the process must immediately be clarified.
(iv) The role of political parties within the process must be clarified.
(v) A clear, transparent and fair decision-making process must be
instituted to replace the opaque and confusing 'faux-consensus' that is
currently being used, which is neither majority voting nor proper
consensus decision making.
(vi) The outsourcing of ESF functions to private companies must be
urgently addressed. By sidelining hundreds of enthusiastic activists,
those currently organising the ESF are forcing us to spend thousands of
pounds on private services.
(vii) No one part of the UK movement can be allowed to blackmail or
bully another. A process of disaffection and disengagement with the ESF
process has already begun. This may seem convenient for those organising
the process at the moment, but when the time comes that enthusiastic
volunteers are needed, we fear that no-one will become involved.
(viii) Agendas and minutes of all ESF meetings should be openly
circulated to all interested parties in good time before them in the
case of agendas and immediately after them in the case of minutes. This
is currently the official policy but has largely been ignored.

We urge everyone to support this *positive* transition towards a more
democratic and open ESF process, which will lead to a successful ESF 2004.

Horizontal

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

constructive criticism

27.02.2004 14:28

hope this mailout will work, good idea to get all esf-optimists on board!

however if i wasn't in the uk, and wouldn't be involved in the political process here, the statement would leave a few crucial questions unanswered.

- who wrote this statement? or will this be all the groups who sign it until march 6? but if i am to sign it as it stands, who am i supporting? even something like "people from democratise-the-esf, london social forum, uk social center network" would be useful, or maybe a broader mention of "grassroots and diy groups" or similar.

- who are "those who are currently organising the esf"? Naming the organisations might help a little, for expl. name the trade unions involved, and globalise resistance. But people outside the UK might not be familiar with the SWP strategies and the grief they are causing.
It might be useful to add a few links for people to check out the websites of "those who are currently organising the esf"

- why is this "broad group of people" who wrote the statement so unhappy? The sentence describing the problems is very general. The unhappyness would be easier to understand if there were a few links to browse - stuff on www.esf2004.net or the imc uk esf page.
Although there have been a few attempts to write a chronolgy of the process so far, none of them to my knowledge is easy to understand for people who don't speak much english and are not involved in UK left/anarchist politics.

good luck

esfmonkey

Many many links

27.02.2004 15:00

I take your point, but if you go to the website mentioned on the statement (www.esf2004.net) then you will find reams of background information, as well as a much longer statement from the 'horizontals'.

We couldn't post all of that on IMC UK, it would run to 40 pages or more...

Matt

Matt S

German translation of Democratise the ESF Call

27.02.2004 15:07

Here's the German translation of the Democratise the ESF Call published above. Please circulate.

Ein Aufruf nach einem demonkratischen ESF Prozess
Wir sind ein breites Buendnis von AktivistInnen aus Grossbritannien und Europa die momentan extrem ungluecklich sind mit dem organisatorischem Prozess fuer den ESF 2004. Trotz haeufigen Interventionen und Versuchen unsere Ansichten bekannt zu machen, sind unsere Organiserungsmethoden, unsere Forderungen nach Demokratie und Transparenz, und sogar das Recht, Plena zu besuchen, von denen die zur Zeit die Verfahren dominieren zertrampelt worden. Das ist unakzeptabel in einem Prozess der verkuendet dass ‘eine andere Welt moeglich ist!’ Trotz alledem glauben wir dass ein Europaeisches Sozial Forum in Grossbritannien ein sehr positives Ereignis sein koennte, das wir unterstuezen moechten. Wir rufen nicht dazu auf, das ESF 2004 abzuschaffen, aber dazu dass der Prozess vergroessert wird und alle Teile der britischen und europaeischen Bewegung einbezieht.

Wir legen den Delegierten in der europaeischen Versammlung nahe, den organisatorischem Prozess von ESF 2004 wie er gerade verlaeuft, genau zu untersuchen. Wir glauben, dass jetzt schon die Grundprinzipien der WSF Satzung missachtet worden sind. Konkret schlagen wir vor dass:

(i) ausgearbeitet wird, wie Individuen und lockerere AktivistInnen-Netzwerke voll teilnehmen koennen im organisatorischem Prozess.
(ii) der organisatorische Prozess weniger London zentriert gemacht werden MUSS und mehr zugaenglich fuer alle Teile der Bewegung, nicht nur die grossen Gewerkschaften und die Greater London Assembly.
(iii) die Rolle der GLA im Prozess sofort geklaert werden muss
(iv) die Rolle politischer Parteien im Prozess geklaert werden muss
(v) ein klarer, transparenter und fairer Prozess um Entscheidungen zu treffen etabliert werden muss, um den undurchsichtigen und verwirrenden falschen Konsens zu ersetzen der zur Zeit angewendet wird, der weder Mehrheitsbeschluss oder richtiger Konsens ist.
( vi) die Uebergabe von ESF Funktionen an private Firmen dringend angesprochen werden muss. Indem sie hunderte enthusiastische AktivistInnen uebergehen, zwingen uns die, die z.Zt. den ESF organisieren, dazu tausende Pfund fuer private Dienstleistungen auszugeben.
(vii) innerhalb der britischen Bewegung sollte keine Erpressung oder Einschuechterung geduldet werden. Unzufriedenheit mit und Distanzierung von dem ESF Prozess hat schon angefangen. Dies koennte denjenigen, die z.Zt. den Prozess organiseren, passen, aber wenn es dazu kommt dass enthusiastische freiwillige Hilfe gebraucht wird, fuerchten wir dass niemand sich beteiligen wird.
(viii) Tagesordnungen und Protokolle aller ESF Treffen sollten an alle Interessierten verbreitet werden, Tagesordnungen lange vor den Treffen und Protokolle kurz danach. Dies ist eigentlich entschieden worden, ist aber meist ignoriert worden.

Wir legen jedem nahe, diesen *positiven* Wandel in einen demokratischeren und offenen ESF Prozess zu unterstuetzen, das zu einem erfolgreichem ESF 2004 fuehren wird.

sdfd

No surprise

27.02.2004 20:56

No surprise to see Matt Selwood is behind this. He failed in his attempt to stop the ESF coming to the UK at all, now he's attempting to put as many obstacles as he can in the way of it. Why?

Why pour all your energies into trying to destroy the work of anti-capitalists who want this event to be a success, Matt? Isn't there something more constructive you could be doing?

Positive anti-capitalist

Yes, it's all a conspiracy

27.02.2004 21:50

Yes, I admit it. I do nothing else other than lie awake at night, thinking of how I can ruin the ESF. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to destroy the hard work of 'constructive' comrades, who should be listened to and obeyed with question.

Or, alternatively, grow up and stop being silly. The only reason that you think I am 'behind this' is because I tend to post on IMC UK and I always post under my own name. A mistake which allows random anonymous people to attack me? Possibly, but then I am not ashamed of my own views. As I have explained many times before, I am FOR a democratic, open and transparent ESF, and I am AGAINST stitch-ups. You might not agree, but its not very brave of you to constantly post anonymous attacks against me, is it?

For your information, not that its actually any of your business, I work ****ing hard at a whole host of constructive alternatives to the system we live in at the moment. I happen to think that an effective and inspiring ESF in London could contribute to the
strengthening of the opposition to that system...which is the one and only reason I haven't walked away and let immature cretins like you have your way with it.

All my love as ever to my anonymous attacker,

Matt