UK Globalisation Feature Archive
World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, World Economic Forum in Davos
27-01-2003 23:00
Whilst Civil Society gathers in Porto Alegre for the 3rd World Social Forum to debate alternatives to neoliberalism and economic globalisation, world finance "leaders" and CEO's of the main global corporations meet behind closed doors for this year's summit of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos to further implement economic globalisation policies.
Update Jan 31st: WSF ends with brutal police repression. Police violently attacked protesters and bystanders on the last day of the World Social Forum. It started when a Mapuche woman who was attending the WSF was arrested with charges of "obscene acts" for bathing nude in a river. Activists saw this and organized over 400 people to protest by nonviolently taking their clothes off in solidarity. When the nude protest left the youth camp to march downtown the police attacked. After injuring and arresting some of the the nude protesters the police lashed out at journalists and bystanders. An unknown number of people were hospitalized or arrested as a result of the police assault.
Video of the protest | Photos of the Nude Protest Against Police Brutality | More Photos
The World Social Forum in Porto Alegre started on the 23th of January and will continue until January 28. The WSF presents itself as a space for diverse activities, workshops, debates and lectures about alternatives to the current economic and political state of affairs, as well as a space for the exchange of ideas, experiences and struggles.
The activities of this year's WSF began with a "March for the Peace against the Militarization and the War" [photo and report (bra). At the same time, and parallel to them main march, another anti-capitalist demonstration took part in the streets of Porto Alegre. Photo and reports 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
The workshops of January 24 included a "Conference against the militarization and the war", and a debate on "Communication for the exertment of the Citizenship". On the same day Greenpeace organised an anti-nuclear action against the installation of Angra III's Nuclear Plant in Rio De Janeiro.
January the 25th saw a conference of the People's Global Action as part of the event "Life After Capitalism" which debated issues of participatory democracy and notions of consuption and income. A meeting of the global network of Social Youth Movements also took place. At the same time different marches and demonstrations took place in the streets of the city.
For latest updates and reports in English see IMC-Brasil.
Hear daily Radio stream [offline now] from Porto Alegre.
For a full programme of events see the WSF website.
At the same time, in the Swiss city of Davos another type forum was taking place. The summit of the World Economic Forum (24-28 Jan) met in secretive talks whilst fences and hundreds or riot police [photos 1 | 2] protected the "global economic leaders" from up to 5000 anti-capitalist demonstrators that thook the streets of Davos and the nearby city of Fideris [photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ].
On Sunday 26, people returning from the mountain city of Davos were met with hundreds of riot police in Bern and clashes ensued [photos].
For latest updates and reports see IMC-Switzerland, the Anti-WEF website and the Netstrike against the WEF.
Edinburgh: Solidarity Picket at Spanish Consulate
25-01-2003 00:00
'In Valencia repression against political dissidents and grassroots social movements is becoming a common thing; the arrest of these four anarchist activists, the eviction of squats including "Malas Pulgas" where they were also involved, illegal home searches by the police, harassment towards solidarity groups.....It is a very long list. For all those reasons we are here today.'
[full story | pictures]
Protests Against EU Summit In Copenhagen
14-12-2002 23:00
The weekend of the 13 - 14 December an EU summit took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. A coalition of grassroots movements, various activists groups, social and students' organizations, trade unions and left wing political parties called for a week of mobilization against the EU summit and the neo-liberal politics of the EU.
The agenda for the EU summit this time was the enlargement of the EU towards the east and the regulation of civil rights. Contradicting this agenda, the right to free movement was denied to protesters. At 3 o'clock Friday morning police stopped around 20 Italian disobedients who came to Copenhagen via the Zapatista caravan. The police arrested six people and charged them with resisting public order officers.
- Thursday 12/12: Actions at the borders against fortress Europe .
- Friday 13/12: Day of Action. Around 1000 people took part in an anti racist demo that moved towards the conference centre. See Timeline of events | Photo Gallery.
Earlier in the day police raided an ISP hosting several websites associated with the protests and obtained server logs, while several protest websites were shut down with a heavy denial of service attack. Police intimidation of independent media also resulted in the arrest of Indymedia volunteers.
- Saturday 14/12: 10,000 people took part in an international demonstration in inner Copenhagen under the slogan "Our world is not for sale - People before profit". See photo gallery. Two more demos took place that day: an anarchist march under the slogan "Against Police State Europe" (photos 1 | 2), and another made up by Disobedient groups. The day ended with the Italian disobedients being released and a Reclaim The Streets party at 1 AM.
La Haine informs of a total of 40 arrests during the weekend's actions. Also, reports of activity by police agent provocateurs.
For full coverage, eyewitness reports, daily timelines of events, photos and videos see IMC-UK Major Reports page, check also the Coverage from Denmark-IMC(eng) | Timelines of events from La Haine
More info: Initiative for a different Europe | Anarkist federation
Protests Against EU Summit In Copenhagen
14-12-2002 23:00
The weekend of the 13 - 14 December an EU summit took place in Copenhagen, Denmark.First Day Of WTO Protests In Sydney
14-11-2002 23:00
A successful first day of protesting the World Trade Organisation in the streets of Sydney with between 5 and 6 thousand protestors turning out to protest the World Trade Organisation meeting being held here. Several streets were blockaded at different times and the public were generally quite receptive to the message being broadcast loud and clear from people across the globe: SHUT DOWN THE WTO
Full coverage IMC-Sydney
European movement converges on Social forum
10-11-2002 23:00
A European Social Forum took place in Florence, Italy the week of 6/10th November billed as ≥an open meeting space for in-depth reflection, democratic debate, free exchange of experiences and planning of effective action among entities and movements of civil society engaged in building a planetary society centred on the human being.≤ It is an offshoot of the World Social Forum that took place in Porto Alegre, Brasil a where 'civil society', Unions, NGO's and activists converged to give a positive counter to the World Economic Forum of business leaders in Davos and later New York.
The official event ran concurrently with a number of other initiatives including: The Euro@ction Hub project [pics | report] - an interconnection tool and space to reflect upon the media, processes of political production, communication between activists and new forms of expression; The Disobedienti No Work No Shop space - an axis of discussion and experimentation researching questions of knowledge and intellectual properties, income and new forms of workplace conflicts, Zapatism and diplomacy from below, Europe and migrants; Additionally the Cobas union and MAT held separate events showing the breadth and limits of such a European social justice movement.
Check out Global Radio in English from Sherwood Communicazione.
Reports:
Sat 9th: Up to 1 million people are currently taking the streets of Florence to demonstrate their opposition to the War; see participant's first impressions and overview. Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Photos:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6, videos: 1 | 2 and video streaming.
Fri 8th: Disobedienti occupy Caterpillar factory, meanwhile a Hub Street parade has taken place [Photos 1 | 2 | 3]. Report of a NoSweat seminar. Photos of the critical mass.
Thu 7th: Day One + pics, A Hub report, and explanation. Photos of anti-war demo at US Army base Camp Darby 1 | 2
There have been rumours of the borders being blocked, and reports are coming in of a UK participant being turned back.
Iraq War Threat
31-10-2002 00:00
Iraq War Threat
The Bush administration continues to pursue a strategy of war with Iraq to secure 'regime change' at any price. Military action is to be justified on the grounds of Iraq's supposed development of weapons of mass destruction, along with highly suspect allegations that the Iraqi regime has links with the Al-Qaida organisation. In the meantime, thousands of people who endured the first Gulf war ten years ago are still suffering from illneses related to Depleted Uranium, a radioactive component present in the weaponry used to attack Iraq, read report. Encouragingly, Washington is rapidly finding itself isolated in this policy - aside from the unfailing support of Tony Blair (himself increasingly isolated in the UK). Mainstream media polling has shown an overwhelming majority of the British public opposed to action against Iraq. In addition, opposition has been voiced by Labour MPs, leading Republicans, British / US military chiefs, United Nations officials, European premiers, other Arab nations, faith groups and peace organisations worldwide.
This page is intended to serve as a resource for news, action reports and calls relating to Iraq.
Police Minister Threatens to Shutdown Indymedia and Anti-WTO Websites
08-10-2002 22:00
New South Wales Police Minister Michael Costa wants to shutdown several anti-wto websites he claims are designed to aid the violent disruption of the forthcoming World Trade Organisation meeting in Sydney in November 14-15.
The websites include Melbourne Indymedia, the melbourne no2wto network site and the Sydney based nowto network site. [Read the press release]
Melbourne Indymedia has responded by stating; The press release was an obvious attempt to "spin" the WTO event, focusing sensationalist media attention on a conflict between protesters and police rather than protesters' legitimate concerns about the WTO. All we can say is that it's a good thing that there are independent media outlets like Melbourne Indymedia to counter the daily spin of political hacks like Costa. [full story]
Dr Jude McCulloch, a lecturer in police studies, has written in a recent article concerning the protests:
A "hearts and minds" campaign against protesters is an important part of the modern day police strategy. In the lead up to the protests the police, aided by a conservative and compliant media, will vilify protesters in order to create a climate that attempts to justify any future violence against them. [full article]
Thousands take to the streets after 2 killed in cold blood
01-07-2002 23:00
On Wednesday 26th June during demonstrations in Buenos Aires the police shot in the head and killed two young men in an execution style murder. Tear gas was also used against the anti-government protesters in the worst riots since the government was toppled last December.
On the following day thousands of people took to the streets outside the National Congress Building to protest over the deaths, and calling for President Eduardo Duhalde to resign. At the same time teachers and state workers also went on strike against the government's repression and Argentina's worsening economic crisis, brought on by the austerity measures imposed by the IMF. On Friday 29th the governor of the State of Buenos Aires ordered the arrests of two policemen and suspended over 100 others after a newspaper published photographs which showed the police shooting one of the demonstrators in cold blood.
A statement from IMC Argentina said "We just received notice that one of the murdered piqueteros is Dario Santillan, 21 years old, a friend from the La F Neighborhood. Dario, part of the MTD (Unemployed Worker's Movement) in the area, was a bricklayer who worked every day in a factory making bricks for a new community hall. He lived on land taken a few months ago, on a vacant farm. All of us participating in Indymedia had the fortune of sharing with him several pickets, assemblies and unforgettable conversations. In these moments we don't have words to express our pain and our anger. His murderers will pay for having stolen from us this beautiful friend."
Read reports discribing the huge mobilisation of homeless people, workers, assemblies, students, and leftist parties that took the city center for several hours. The roads were again blocked and travel was impeded in Neuqu»n, Salta, Jujuy, Mendoza, Ri€ Negro, Chaco, Tucum∑n, Santa Fe, Catamarca, La Pampa, and various parts of the country. Media coverage of the events was also criticised for serving the powerful's agenda. "The crisis has caused two new death", was the title in the local newspaper as if the crisis had shot the bullets without resorting to the services of the police. Right after that, amounting to the intimidation campaign, the same daily said that today "they will try to march to the Plaza de Mayo", as if this were an exploit, rather than a right.
[ Argentina IMC | Argentina IMC in english | Summary of Available Photos & Audio]
Cross-Canada protests against G8
27-06-2002 22:00
On June 26th and 27th two days of action took place in Ottawa as the leaders of the G8 countries met in the secluded mountains of Kananaskis, Alberta. Protesters took the streets of different Canadian cities to oppose the destructive agenda perpetuated by the G8.
While representing a small proportion of the world's population, the leaders of the G8 nations control the majority of the world's economic resources, thus imposing a neo-liberal form of development that benefits the rich and powerful elites and leaves the rest behind. The G8's support of FTAA, the IMF/World Bank, and the WTO, results in the privatisation and corporatisation of the planet, with Africa being one of the continents most affected through the G8's sponsored NEPAD. On the other hand, the self-serving "war on terrorism", orchestrated by the leaders of the G8, continues to militarise and brutalise countries and communities in every continent, while cynically making appeals for civilization and freedom.
In Kananaskis, the executive board of global Capitalism met for photo-ops and to push forward the G8 agenda. In Ottawa, Calgary and Alberta thousands of protesters loudly declared their opposition to the G8, and showed their solidarity with the people criminalised and marginalised by its policies. The days of action, titled Take the Capital, involved different types of demonstrations, popular education, a freedom festival, civil disobedience, squatting (pics), direct action, caravans, a Critical Mass and a 1000 flags of Resistance demo under the banner "No One is Illegal!".
On the 23rd in Calgary, the closest city to the summit, five thousand people marched through the streets. On the 26th and 27th thousands took the streets of Ottawa despite heavy police and army intimidation photo | Ottawa protests photo links.
Latest updates and timeline of events:
Breaking news Ottawa-IMC
More information:
[ Ontario-IMC | Alberta-IMC | Montreal-IMC | G8 resistance | G8 resistance in Ottawa | radio coverage | blast furnace radio ]
EU Summit in Seville: General Strike and Actions
22-06-2002 23:00
Seville hosted the EU summit of 20-21 June, marking the end of Spain 's EU presidency. The main subjects of the Seville summit were the strengthening of "fortress Europe" and the toughening of immigration laws. Meanwhile, the Seville Social Forum, unions, disobedients and many groups within Spanish civil society called for two days of action against the Europe of Capital and War that concluded with a 200.000 strong demonstration in the streets of Seville.
- Saturday 22nd, Day of solidarity with immigrants: The focuss of the day's actions, workshops, debates and demonstrations was to highlight issues related to emmigration, social exclusion and the casualisation of labour.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3.
- Friday 21st, Day of Disobedience: Although people gathering in Seville were consistenly searched, identifyed and prevented from moving freely around the city by police, actions still took place all over Seville.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5.
Trade unions across Spain also called for a General Strike on Thursday 20th in protest at the Popular Party government's reform of unemployment and workers' rights laws. The strike was widely followed all over the Spanish State with reports of up to 85% stoppages in some areas, affecting the manufacturing, transport, private and public sectors.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3
See the extended major report for full coverage of the EU-Summit and the General Strike.
More information:
IMC-Barcelona | IMC-Madrid | La Haine
Protests against the World Bank academic conference
20-06-2002 22:00
Monday 24th was the start of the World Bank meeting in Oslo, Norway. At the same time a counter-conference called 'South meets North' took place in the city. This was organized by Oslo2002, a network of organizations and communities demonstrating against the World Bank during its academic conference (ABCDE) in Oslo.
Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda and Philippino organiser Lidy Nacpil were amongst the speakers during the "Open Forum" of the counter-conference. Their criticism about the very existence of the Bank, as well as its policies was strong and factual, specially taking into account that they represented two countries that are directly affected by the WB's programms. A counter-festival was also held in a relaxed atmosphere with stands, music and workshops. The Norwegian Adbusters network launched their 'VB' spoof newspaper, plagiarising the country's largest tabloid ("VG") with critical articles on the World Bank.
Repression and surveillance had increased in Norway during the days prior to the WB meeting, as police used scare-propaganda tactics to frighten off people from attending the protests. People's identity was checked by immigration officials when arriving at Oslo airport, so those who had been registered in the Schengen Information System were arrested and some immediately deported.
Despite police tactics and repression, the protests opened on Sunday evening with a party and concert at the Oslo YaBasta! collective center. The colourful and peaceful demonstrations on Monday were attended by 10,000 people, including a pink bloc and a samba band. Immediately afterwards, there was a Reclaim The Streets party (pics1 | pics2) that ended with the squatting of two disused houses in central Oslo. "Our message here is that people need houses and houses need people", said one of the squatters.
More information:
IMC Norway | IMC WB radio stream [offline now]
Dubya not welcome in Europe
24-05-2002 23:00
GERMANY: PROTESTS AGAINST BUSH VISIT 21-23 May 2002Resistance has been flaring up against George W. Bush�s visit to Europe. Tens of thousands of people protested in Berlin, Germany, against the US government�s appalling human rights record, their "war on terror" and their disregard for international agreements. Moreover they were protesting against Bush as one of the most prominent representatives of neoliberal capitalism, which is tied to big business and is spread around the globe by violent means.
Actions started with a 70,000-strong peaceful demonstration on Tuesday May 21st and continued with colourful and creative demonstrations and street-parties moving all over downtown Berlin on Wednesday and Thursday. In response to dissent on the streets, Berlin saw the biggest deployment of police since World War II. Police repeatedly and violently charged crowds but did not manage to provoke the large-scale riots predicted by the mainstream media.
Read the full story (with links to loads of pictures) here!
Find detailed accounts of events on Indymedia Germany
Picture
75-100,000 march against military and economic violence
22-04-2002 22:00
RESISTANCE TO IMF, WB, PLAN COLOMBIA, WASHINGTON DC 19-22 April 2002Massive protests against a variety of issues took place in Washington DC and many other US cities last weekend. On Saturday, demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of Palestine linked up with the large Stop the War march to protest against all forms of war and terrorism, highlighting especially the US-led so-called "war against terror". A large convergence for Global Justice against the IMF / World Bank meeting taking place that very weekend in Washington, and demonstrations against Plan Colombia complemented an unprecedented weekend of protest. The different causes brought together widespread anger at both military and economic violence, and particularly the role of the Bush administration in this.
Solidarity demonstrations also took place in San Francisco, Houston, Hamilton (Ontario), Salt Lake City, Portland (Oregon) and Duluth (Minnesota)
Full coverage, updates and timelines of events: Washington DC-IMC
More info: Seattle-IMC | San Francisco-IMC | Germany-IMC
Resistance is Fertile!
20-04-2002 22:00
BIODIVERSITY SUMMIT IN THE HAGUE 8 - 19 Apr 2002On Monday April 8 the 6th Conference of the Parties (COP6) of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) opened in The Hague, the Netherlands. Until April 19 government delegates, technical experts and business lobbyists are contemplating the state of the world's biodiversity resources, as part of a global review process of the UN Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and its impacts. Concurrently, NGOs and pressure groups have joined environmental activists and farmers for a parallel gathering Resistance is Fertile! that calls for protection of farmers rights and a stop on the spread of GMOs and the plunder of natural resources for profit.
Full article | IMC Netherland | Logo
Military coup in Venezuela failed
20-04-2002 22:00
THREE DAYS THAT SHOOK VENEZUELAIn a stunning reversal of the pro-business coup that ousted him from power on Friday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has returned to the presidential office. Mass protests had erupted in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas immediately after the coup. Thousands of people stormed the presidential palace, 'interim-president' Carmona fled and was later arrested. Read more.
On Friday morning, the Venezuelan army forced President Hugo Chavez to step back from power and put him under arrest. The president of the business council Fedecamaras, Pedro Carmona Estanga, was appointed to head an interim government.
The coup followed days of strikes and mass protests which had been initiated and organised by business councils and business-friendly trade unions. For several months, the national oligarchy opposed to the planned social and land reforms, had provoked civilian opposition to the Chavez-led government. The US-government and international financial institutions had also criticised Chavez for his non-compliance with their demands and had made clear that they would support his removal. Read more here and here.
Background info from:
NarcoNews | Zmag | Schnews
War on Palestine continues
31-03-2002 00:00
Latest updates IMC-Palestine | IMC-Israel
Click here for coverage, reports and timelines of events.
After an escalation of suicide bombings in its cities, and using the pretext of 'self-defence', Israel launched Operation Protective Wall on 29 March 2002. What started with a raid on Arafat's Ramallah HQ has turned into the most intense and bloody assault on the Palestinian population of the West Bank since the state of Israel was declared in 1948. The world, by remaining silent, gave Israeli prime-minister Ariel Sharon a green light to inflict as much terror and destruction as deemed fit . And there seemed to be no limit to his capacity for terror. Tanks, bulldozers and APC's rolled into every West Bank city, while missile-firing helicopters lurked overhead. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested; untold numbers, well into the hundreds, have been murdered or maimed, and cities have been reduced to piles of rubble. Now, the battered and traumatised survivors of this massacre wait for the invasion to stop and for the world to help them.
Urgent Call to Action:Come to Palestine | Electronic action against the occupation | Appeal fron 'internationals' inside PA's compound
Images: The War on Palestine | Recent photos from Ramallah
Video: Tanks & activists in Beit Jala | "Internationals" demo in Bethlehem
Maps of the Occupies Territories.
Article "IMC-Palestine: Be the Media".
Report from inside the masacre in Jenin
Reports from a British international inside PA's compound: 26/04 | 26/04</ a>
Life under curfew by IMC-Palestine. Contact IMC-Palestine on 011-972-2-277-7558
IMC-Italy dossier on Palestine (En)
List of destruction and vandalism of Palestinian installations and infrastructure by the IOF.
Regularly updated compilation of Palestine solidarity protests worldwide.
Protests against the Europe of Capital and War
16-03-2002 23:00
BARCELONA: MOBILISATION AGAINST EU-SUMMIT March 9-16In the culmination of the events called by the Campaign against the Europe of Capital, up to 500,000 people marched through the streets of Barcelona on March 16 to protest the summit of European leaders. Protesters were confronted with widespread police violence including the use of rubber bullets and tear gas, which was reportedly provoked by police infiltrators in the march.
Evidence of agent provocateurs: Video | Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.
See BREAKING NEWS SATURDAY | Pictures: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
The previous day up to 20,000 people took part in decentralised actions all over the city. See BREAKING NEWS FRIDAY.
Photo library of the weekend's mobilisations.
The week of protests had started with 3000 people holding a reclaim the streets party on Sat 9th, and included a 100,000 trade unions demonstration on the 14th. 400,000 People also protested on the 10th against the further privatisation of the water supply, and the re-routing of the biggest river in the Spanish State planned under the the National Hydrological Plan.
RTS party: Report 1 | Report 2 | Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Water demo: Report | Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 and "the waters"
Trade union demo: Pictures 1 | Pictures 2
The EU Summit focused on areas such as the liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets, the integration of financial markets to further Europe's financial power, developing more flexible labour markets, privatisation of education and training programmes, widening the definition of terrorism to include many social movements and forms of protest.
As during previous protests, the Spanish Government had suspended the Schengen Treaty of people's 'free movement' within the EU for several days, so that more than 20 buses were turned back at the French/Spanish border. Border report and photo here.
For more info, reports and timeline of eventnts see:
IMC-Barcelona | IMC-UK special Barcelona Feature
Direct Democracy Evolves From Economic Crisis
22-02-2002 23:00
UPRISING IN ARGENTINA Feb 22 2002
Tens of thousands of Argentines converged last weekend in Buenos Aires to forge alliances and develop alternatives to the economic and political crisis that is gripping their country. Through public meetings and protests, people from virtually every sector of Argentine society are taking matters into their own hands to come up with solutions to problems that their government and economists have failed to resolve.
On Friday, thousands of people converged in downtown to occupy Plaza de Mayo for a cacerolazo and to camp out overnight. On Saturday, an unprecedented gathering of workers and piqueteros occurred downtown. On Sunday, local asambleas from around the country converged in Buenos Aires for a national asamblea. And, in some parts of the country, workers have taken over and are running factories that owners have abandoned.
Once a model student of the International Monetary Fund and promoted as a model for the rest of Latin America to follow, Argentina fell into crisis under the weight of about $140 billion in international debt and has instead become a model of an imploding neoliberal economy. One observer described Argentina as "a laboratory of struggle."
Get regular video updates from Argentina by the German video collective Kanal B
IMC Argentina | Mobile (((i))) | Foto
World Economic Forum, New York, Jan 31 2002
04-02-2002 23:00
From Thursday 31st January to Tuesday 5th of February, three large events collided to show the 'anti-corporate-globalisation' movement is certainly not dead! New York saw the lastest in a long series of protests against the World Economic Forum, while 3 days of protest against NATO and militarisation happened in Munich, Germany. Meanwhile on the other side of the world in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the World Social Forum saw a gathering of thousands to discuss alterative social and economic models to prove that Another World Is Possible.
