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Fortress in The www.eurotopiamag.com ISSN 1745-2783 October 2004 Pilot issue EDITORIAL Fortress ın the sea WE HAVE COME TOGETHER TO A proposal for a ‘virtual EU maritime with bad human rights records: Benin, Botswana, produce Eurotopia out of a shared sense border’ includes the immediate return of Cape Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Ghana, Mali, of urgency in the face of a crisis of anyone who tries to reach the Europe by Mauritius, Senegal and Uruguay. More countries can democracy. Across Europe a profound sea. BEN HAYES reports be added in future and individual member states may gulf is growing between the people, and have wider lists but, crucially, cannot take countries the institutions and ruling elites that THE EU IS CONSIDERING A PROPOSAL FOR off the EU list – even on human rights grounds. claim to represent them. Without police, military and naval operations against people The 25 EU member states were given US State creative initiatives by a radically trying to reach the EU by sea and is inventing the Department and Amnesty International reports democratic and egalitarian left, social concept of a ‘virtual EU maritime border’,extending to (where available) on the 10 supposedly safe countries - and economic divisions will deepen, the coastline of North Africa. It wants the immediate and less than three weeks to make a decision. Their feelings of powerlessness will intensify return of those who ‘voluntarily place themselves in a assessments, obtained by Statewatch, amount to a and the far right will be better able to state of distress and are picked up at sea’.The proposal catalogue of human rights concerns: ‘extensive mob spread racist and xenophobic poison. would rewrite the Law of the Sea to allow ‘punishment’ violence without proper enforcement of justice’ in We have been inspired to propose this of illegal immigration: ‘Cases must be brought and Benin, the outlawing of homosexuality and the use of new resource for transnational damages sought by States that are victims of illegal the death penalty in Botswana, the beatings in police communication by the European Social immigration against States whose civilian vessels use custody in Cape Verde, the ‘life threatening’ prison Forum (ESF). The ESF is a space their territorial sea for non-peaceful purposes.’ conditions in Ghana, the widespread female genital founded on a rejection of neo-liberal EU member states are also discussing a common mutilation in Mali, the forced child labour and economics and authoritarian, militarist list of ‘safe countries of origin’. Under the Directive, prostitution in Mauritius, and the Senegalese and racist politics; a space that nurtures all asylum applications from nationals and former government’s often brutal repression of the Movement self-organisation across national residents of states on the list will be declared des Forces Democratique in the region of Casamance. boundaries, and creates new ‘unfounded’ on the grounds that persecution severe Meanwhile, the Commission says the EU needs 30 international dialogue. enough to cause people to flee never happens. The million migrants by 2020 to meet projected shortfalls Something new is stirring on the left. policy will force member states to lower their in the labour force. It seems unlikely they will be Organisations whose horizons have been standards, notably to those found in the UK, inventor coming from black Africa. See www.eurotopiamag.org limited to the nation or the locality have and champion of the policy. The list includes states www.statewatch.org ★for the full version of this feature found themselves connecting with groups engaged in similar struggles across national borders: trade unions Debatıng the ESF resisting privatisation and the global offensive against workers, immigrants In the run-up to the European Social Forum shopkeepers displaying posters declaring ‘Florence, an fighting for democratic rights, precarious in London, Eurotopia interviews activists open city’.A lot of young people attended, and a workers building up their power, workers about their views of the European Social million attended the demonstration after the Forum. in culture and education, women, human Forum, past and present: ALESANDRA The Forum was confirmed as the space of a big rights activists, local communities and MECOZZI, trade union federation FIOM- movement, very peaceful, very lively and the only force small farmers, and many more, are CGIL, Italy, ELISABETH GAUTHIER, Espace willing and able to talk about alternatives and to finding international networks a Marx, France, PANAYOTIS YULIS, Greek demonstrate that it is possible to build such alternatives necessity. This political imperative is Social Forum, OSCAR REYES, ESF UK from below. Florence built on our Genoa experience reinforced by personal desire, as people organising committee, and KATE HUDSON, where we learned not to be sectarian, to work together, cast off restrictive identities and create CND, UK. to reach compromises. new international patterns of friendship Elisabeth Gauthier, France (EG): The impact of the and entertainment. What impact has hosting the forum had on ESF in France has made it possible to create a space We make no assumptions about the the movements in Italy and France? Was it for joint work among forces that until recently had future form this new politics will take. worth it? been distant, ignorant of each other or had We have different points of view about Alesandra Mecozzi, Italy (AM): The ESF was launched difficulties co-operating. Certain new alliances and the role of the ESF, the forms of political in 2002. It took place in Florence following the more complex results in the European elections are agency we need, the relation between mobilisation against the G8 meeting in Genoa the year also outcomes of this dynamic. In France, about 150 social movements and political parties, before, which had been marked by physical violence. A local forums have been established. the strategies to challenge the EU as it is, campaign of verbal violence was unleashed against the Are there any lessons you can draw from and the kind of Europe we should ESF in Florence. Despite this, people were not afraid. your experiences that are relevant for the promote. These will be among the issues 60,000 people came to the forum, welcomed by many rest of Europe? continued on back page continued on page 2 In bed with Everything Rip it up and Building Europe Anti-war A leap business must go start again behind our backs mobilisations of faith page 4 page 6 page 8 page 10 page 13 page 14 2 Eurotopia October 2004 October 2004 Eurotopia 3 The future of the ESF Debatıng the Forum continued from front page AM: We learnt to compromise, to put aside in Greece in 2006 will help us boost the social from people elsewhere in Europe have helped to working on this ESF preparation was more called non-global movement represented a new that another world is possible are not necessarily assertions of our individual political identities in movement element and help to build a united calm the situation and put some of the domestic difficult than the others. The impression is of generation pushing to take part in politics in a formally organised into networks and favour of a common identity that we could unite movement. It could mark a new era of politics in quarrels in perspective. The next large a difficult process concentrated on internal new way, on the basis of personally assuming organisations. We need to think differently about under. It is by no means completed, and it is not Greece. mobilisation in the UK will be the G8 in Scotland conflicts. We had these problems at the responsibility – not always something at the how knowledge is transmitted. We need to find always easy. There is no guarantee we move Oscar, what about the impact of the ESF next year. The ESF in the UK could be an beginning, but we made it our priority to centre of large organisations. This new ways by which delegates participate in an forward – we may move backwards too. in Britain? opportunity to forge new alliances for that overcome them. generation recognises that unions have valuable ongoing process. EG: It’s necessary to speak of a process of social Oscar Reyes, UK (OR): We have yet to learn the moment, too. KH: Going through the painful process is part of historical experience of battles and conquests. We EG: If we want to push neo-liberal hegemony forums, which take place in diverse forms, but lessons of the UK process. The idea of the ESF as Kate Hudson, UK (KH): Since the process for the doing it differently. For me, it was quite a major need to keep them close. This is only achievable if into retreat, we do need to broaden our social with some coherence based on the Porto Alegre an open space for different movements and as a London ESF started we have had to challenge the culture shock to be confronted with different we don’t retreat into our own identity. Exchange base. The class conflict that is developing is not Charter. In France, we prefer the conception of process rather than an event was not grasped traditional ways in which we engage with each types of organisations we didn’t normally work is a necessity and so is contamination when only to do with the traditional capital-labour the ESF as a common working space, and not a fully in the UK. We have not been successful in other in Britain, although in many ways it has with and it was a great shock for me to realise acknowledging each other. antagonism, but also to do with the general common platform. In addition, we have not negotiating differences, reaching compromises been very painful and time-consuming.
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