Rough Guide to the Anticapitalist Movement
Anti capitalist pamphlet: An introduction
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00A movement without a name? Its left wing - young fighters on the streets at the summit sieges of Seattle or Genoa - call it ANTICAPITALIST. Its right wing - the speakers in the vast tents of its Social Forums at Porto Alegre, Mumbai, Florence, Paris and now London, call it ALTERMONDIALISTE. Or, if you want something that sounds safe but you don’t like ugly neologisms dreamed up in the offices of the French newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique, you can call it the GLOBAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT.
Whatever you call the “movement of movements” it is suffering from an identity crisis - one which goes well beyond the choice of names. Speaking frankly it does not know where it is going. Does it want to “fix or nix” the international financial institutions? Does it want to abolish capitalism or create a ‘fair and equal’ market? Does it want to take power from the hands of the warmongers? Or is any talk about “taking power” just too twentieth century, too passé for words? Read more...
Globalisation
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00Has globalisation changed the profit system fundamentally, or is it just a variant of 20th century capitalism? Read more...
The politics of globalisation
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00Globalisation didn’t just happen. People made it happen: chief executives of major corporations and banks, leaders of multilateral organisations like the World Bank and IMF and key politicians. Read more...
It all began in Chiapas
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00Bernard Cassen, director general of le Monde diplomatique and honorary president of Attac, published a book in 2003, claiming to chronicle the origins of the “altermondialiste” movement. It was entitled “Tout a commencé a Porto Alegre – Everything began in Porto Alegre. This is not true. If any one place can be said to have given birth to the movement of movements it was the extremely impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas rather than Porto Alegre, one of the most prosperous of the larger municipalities in Brazil. Read more...
Reclaim the Streets
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00The British initiative Reclaim the Streets, from the outset wielded considerable influence within the radical wing of the anti-capitalist movement and was a cofounder of the PGA, based on its pioneering of direct action tactics (e.g. street parties, carnivals, mass cycle demos) plus its willingness to form alliances with third world forces and also sections of workers in struggle. Read more...
Ya Basta – Disobedienti
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00The Ya Basta movement, cosponsor with RTS of PGA, has its origins in the Italian “self-managed social centres” for young people and the socially excluded. Its militants were also heavily involved in the squatters’ movement and set up a radio station (Radio Sherwood). Read more...
The battle of Seattle
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00Seattle, 30 November 1999, was a defining moment for the global anticapitalist movement. This was day the movement, which had been growing over the previous five years, finally became conscious of its power. Read more...
Timeline of Protests
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00A time line of the major protests, summits and actions of the world anti capitalist movement. Read more...
Gothenburg
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00This is what (social) democracy looks like – excerpts from a statement from the Swedish revolutionary group Arbertarmakt in Gothenburg, June 19 2000
The brutal police repression dealt out to demonstrators in Gothenburg, from 14 to 16 June, marks a turning point in the anti-capitalist movement. Any illusions that our movement can develop and move towards realising its goals in a context of playfulness, humour and non-violence were rudely shattered. Read more...
Genoa
Sat, 01/10/2005 - 17:00300,000 thousand people were in Genoa to protest at the G8 meeting in July – the biggest anti-capitalist demonstration we’ve seen in years. Read more...
