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Wednesday 02/07/03
- Sand in the Wheels #180 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Exploding the myth of competitiveness (Michel Husson)
"We are told that if we increase employers' contributions, or if we tax capital and financial products, we will increase the costs of labour which will endanger the competitiveness of companies that will then have no choice but to declare redundancies or relocate (globalisation of the economy allows them no other options!). What's your answer to that? How can we finance pensions in the future without endangering competitiveness and without forcing companies to relocate?"
2. Coffee Crisis (By Sarah Cox)
It's being called "the worst coffee crisis of the last 100 years" by Latin American heads of state. With the catastrophic failure of unregulated global markets, the world faces yet another crisis of overproduction and ruined lives.
3. Corporate Conquistadors in Cancun (By InvestmentWatch Info Brief)
At the fifth World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting (Cancun, Mexico, September 10th-14th) the WTO membership will decide whether to begin negotiations on a multilateral investment agreement. Citing strong evidence that a WTO-Investment agreement is likely to have extremely adverse social and ecological impacts, a broad range of civil society groups (as well as a large number of developing country governments) are resolutely opposed to such a launch.¨
4. Busting the Water Cartel (By Holly Wren Spaulding)
The World Water Forum is portrayed by its organisers as an international body with a mandate to protect water resources. Not so, say human rights activists, who charge that it is really an exclusive club accountable only to the demands of the market. Forum workshops included such themes as "How will the poor become customers?" This report comes from the activist coalition of citizen groups, present at the Forum, which convinced many delegates of the importance of framing the water debate as a basic human rights and environmental issue in contrast to the vision of the water barons.
Wednesday 25/06/03
- Sand in the Wheels #179 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. 'I Never Promised You A Ruse Garden' (Michael Moore)
You see, by not faking some evidence of weapons of mass destruction, it shows that you thought no one would mind if it turned out you made everything up. A different kind of president, who believes that the American public would be outraged if they ever found out the truth, would go to great lengths to cover up his subterfuge.
2. That's what, 43 billion Euros? (By Laurent Cordonnier)
If good conscious has found nothing to say again about the weight of this "burden", isn't it simply that it will not be used to pay the pensions of their colleagues, but the plus-value realised by quiet shareholders at the Grand Casino of world finance? What we have here is a clearer idea of what 43 billion Euros is worth. Indeed, these reflections are not in themselves enough to draft solutions. The points of application of the critique are not necessarily means of pressure for action. But perhaps they go towards doubting the sincerity of those who only have "equity" on their lips to rationalise the misfortune of their fellow citizens.
3. Mobilisations against the Evian G8 (By Christophe Aguiton)
For five days, from the 29th May to the 2nd June 2003, the main cities around Lake Geneva - Geneva, Annemasse and Lausanne - were the setting for the biggest mobilisation ever organised in this area. The particularity of this counter-G8 was the interweaving of mobilisations and debates, these having counted as much for the general success of the initiative as the demonstration on Sunday 1st June or the roadblock initiatives that preceded it. In this way, the counter-G8 follows the pattern of the European Social Forum that took place in Florence last November, which was notable for its twofold success: for its debates and exchanges, and for the demonstration against the war and against neo-liberalism.
4. WTO ignores calls for democratic, inclusive processes for Cancun (By Chakravarthi Raghavan)
Judged by the stance of the majors, even when they speak through 'allies', and of the WTO leadership, the preparatory processes for the 5th Ministerial at Cancun - the drafting of a declaration for Ministers and the way issues would be presented to them for clarification or decision, will be more or less the same as the non-transparent, undemocratic processes that have characterised the 55-year-old trading system and there is no certainty that more new issues will not be smuggled in at Cancun.
Wednesday 18/06/03
- Sand in the Wheels #178 >>> pdf
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Summary...
But Where is the WTO Sign ?
On May 30th, two metal signs were removed from the portal of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. They were passed from person to person and were decorated by several hands. They will end most probably in Cancun at the beginning of September where mobilizations will sink them. In preparation of this mobilizations will take place in July in Montreal (see below) and 8, 9 and 10 august in the Larzac region, France (see
www.larzac2003.org) We would like to follow the plaques’ travel all over and therefore show picture on their whereabouts. If they are passing next to your home, or if you them here or there, please send us a picture. (pass the word around)
journal@attac.org
1. Mobilization Against the WTO Mini-Ministerial in Montreal
"Mobilization Against the WTO Mini-Ministerial in Montreal" -- an open organizational assembly process called by Montreal region activists affiliated with various local anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-war groups -- has adopted a basic action plan. This will include direct action disruptions to the upcoming meeting (possibly a 'shutdown') and an emphasis on complementing the efforts of local groups dealing with antiwar, refugee, immigrant, and indigenous
struggles.
2. Labor and Allies Seek to Rebuild Momentum for Immigration Reform (By Leo Reyes)
Not long ago the United States seemed on the verge of a massive immigrant legalization bill. President Bush and Mexico’s President Vicente Fox were engaged in bilateral discussions on the fate of millions of undocumented Mexican immigrants. At the same time organizations across the country were mobilizing to make sure that any agreement would go beyond a “guest worker” program with no labor rights, and that it would include immigrants from other countries.
3. Confronted with the illegitimacy of the G8, a flavour of “Porto Alegre” in Geneva (By Alessandro Pelizzari)
The success of the mobilisation is all the more noteworthy for having occurred in an extremely tense security climate, aimed at destabilising and criminalising the movement over its supposed relationship to “violence”. In fact violence - that is to say, the abuse of force - is embedded in the day-to-day functioning of the neo-liberal system. The last war was an extreme expression of this, just like the refusal to provide free medication to millions of AIDS
sufferers.
4. The Jakarta Peace Consensus
We believe that a world free of war, exploitation, inequality, poverty and repression is possible. We see the reality of this alternative visible within the the growing movements of youth, women, workers, students, migrants, the unemployed, human rights and peace and justice activists and citizens who are bringing their spirit, energy and work together in the fight for genuine peace based on global justice for all the world`s peoples.
Wednesday 11/06/03
- Sand in the Wheels #177 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Circling the wagons: World Bank-IMF-WTO coherence (By Bretton Woods Project)
Trade and finance observers say there is no reason why the existing Financing for Development process, initiated in Monterrey in 2002, should not serve as a framework for regular contact between officials and their counterparts in trade, finance and development ministries. Exclusive cooperation between the WTO, WB and IMF suggests an attempt to deny the UN and its specialised agencies the central role they should have in determining the agenda for cooperation.
2. Countdown to Cancun: Opaque, Exclusive and “Rule-less” Negotiating Process
(By Aileen Kwa)
With the Cancun ministerial less than sixty working days away, the WTO -- in characteristic fashion when under pressure -- has shifted into a more secretive and non-transparent mode of consultations. The process is characterized by
'flexibility' -- that is procedures are invented on the spot to suit the interests of the powerful -- and
opacity. The process is tightly controlled by the Secretariat and Chairs of negotiating bodies, as opposed to being only facilitated by
them, and the focus is on Ministers, as opposed to Geneva technical experts who are more familiar with the
'devil' lurking in the details of the very technical language.
3. So that life may win (By Víctor De Gennaro)
Called by our own desire to build a new cultural, political, social movement, to solve the problems of our people, let us give up authoritarianism that throws us back. And, as the kids say in their song, let's cry out: "We want to live." And let's go out and open the way joyfully... so that life may win.
4. Was it worth the trouble?
(By Raúl Zibechi)
What was achieved with the deployment of that movement that, at the cost of dozens of
lives, got rid of an incompetent and repressive government? Doubts on the necessity or not of social action, from protesting to
revolutions, systematically appear throughout history when the waters are calm and the “normalcy” of daily life
returns. At those points in history where all advances that led to social mobilization seem to dissipate in the freezing water of economic or electoral conjecture, the festive days of hullabaloo and fraternization turned into nightmares to be
avoided.
5. International tax justice network up and running
(By Sven Giegold)
Everything began with two seminars on tax evasion and tax havens, one during the European Social Forum in Florence and the other at the World Social Forum in Porto
Alegre. About two hundred participants discussed the problems of international tax evasion and growing injustice in tax
matters. Speakers from NGOs and Attac as well as trade union representatives from the North and the South contributed to the
debates. There was a surprising agreement on the nature of the problem.
Wednesday 28/05/03
- Sand in the Wheels #176 >>> pdf
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Summary...
G8 This year France proposes to focus on four major themes, namely: 1- solidarity, with particular emphasis on the Partnership for Africa's development, and access to water for all, 2- the spirit of responsibility that not only Governments, but all economic actors, especially business corporations, need to display in the financial, social, environmental and ethical spheres, 3- security, in order to strengthen the fight against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and, 4- democracy, through ongoing dialogue with civil society and with other States.
http://www.g8.fr/evian/english/
Starting Thursday you’ll find us directly in your mailbox everyday until Sunday… and of course you can check us live
www.attac.info/g8evian
1. Next meeting of the G8 in Evian, France: Security operations and mobilisations (By Eduardo Tamayo G.)
While the after-effects of the war led by the United States and the United Kingdom against Iraq are still to be felt, social movements and organizations in Europe are preparing important demonstrations to protest against the G8 meeting that will take place in Evian, France, from 1st to 3rd June.
2. War on Iraq, what’s next? (By Pierre Khalfa)
The war in Iraq and its consequences must unveil that neoliberal capitalism faces a triple crisis of legitimacy. First a crisis of the model. The burst of the financial bubble and the collapse of the new economy completely destroyed the paradigm upon which neoliberal globalisation was constructed: new technologies, unlimited increase in the Stock Exchange and market liberalisation were supposed to ensure an enduring accumulation of wealth for most. The wake-up was violent.
3. Letter To A Slightly Depressed Antiwar Activist (By Gilbert Achcar)
Of course I can understand it. The main thing that saddened you was the fact that this collapse has enabled the vultures in Washington and London to deck the carrion-filled halls. This was a semi-colonial war that the tandem Bush and Blair (let's call them B2 - it suits them well to call them after a bomber!) waged in defiance of a clear majority of world public opinion. Yet now they can declare it a "war of liberation" inspired by democratic ideals. Yes, that's infuriating! But remember the predictions that we've been making for months and months.
4. Monsanto, Unilever Use Child Labor in India (By By India Committee of the Netherlands)
Child labour is used intensively in India, by European and American multinationals as well as by Indian companies. Cotton-seed production, particularly, is labour-intensive. Child employees work long hours and are often housed in unacceptable conditions (eg. cowsheds). Children cost the employer 30 % less than women and 55 % less than men. A campaign to eradicate child labour and send children to school has been launched by the India Committee of the Netherlands
Wednesday 20/05/03
- Sand in the Wheels #175 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Globalization Goes Postal (By Greg Poferl)
As the Bush administration targets universal public service at the Post Office with its Transformation Plan and prepares for an assault on collective bargaining rights won in the great Postal Strike of 1970, already embattled postal workers seek to mobilize against further attacks expected to flow from the new generation of trade deals in the global economy.
2. Labour rights. A theme for archaeology?
(By Eduardo Galeano)
It is paradox that the country does not recognize anymore the laws that set the labour laws under the law. Today it claims remedies like “social issues” and “environmental protection” have no place in agreements on free trade. What will happen, if the reality is not unmasked by publicity?
3. Up Against Wal-Mart (By Karen Olsson)
At the world's largest and most profitable retailer, low wages, unpaid overtime, and union busting are a way of life. Now Wal-Mart workers are fighting back.
4. IMF-World Bank-WTO Close Ranks Around Flawed Economic Policies (By Center of Concern, Washington)
On May 13th, senior officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) will meet in Geneva ostensibly to promote greater “coherence” amongst their policies. There are good reasons to be concerned. Over the past decades, the IMF and the World Bank have systematically promoted controversial policy reforms in developing countries.
5. WTO Tidbits (By the Attac workgroup on International Treaties, Marseilles)
US commentators criticize the exclusion of France, Germany and Russia from reconstruction of Iraq; agricultural negotiations at the WTO are at a stalemate; demands and offers for liberalisation of services under GATS are slow coming in; Brazil challenges the US at the DSB; Morocco/US trade discussions change venue because of the war in Iraq; NGOs launch a campaign against the WTO agreement on investments; the first Peoples' World Forum on Water is held in Florence.
Wednesday 13/05/03
- Sand in the Wheels #174 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. We challenge the legitimacy of G8 and we ask for its dissolution (By Gus Massiah)
This is why the alter-globalisation movement has now come to put forward the illegitimacy of G8 to assume a leading role in the conducting of a global policy. The fact that the members of the club of rich and powerful are all, except for Canada, former colonial powers is, in that meaning, an aggravating circumstance!
2. IMF is at home
(By Marcelo Larrea)
In the line of the stand-by agreement accepted by the Gutiérrez government, the IMF presses for reaching the targets of austerity of the fiscal Budget so that it does not exceed 6.700 millions of dollars. In its views, it fundamentally implies severe restrictions to the subsidies to the production sector, which decrease from 9.8% to 6.6%, to the social investment in education, health and housing and the reduction of the employment market in the public sector and the freezing of its remunerations.
3. Bechtel And Blood For Water: War As An Excuse For Enlarging Corporate Rule (By Vandana Shiva)
The U.S. led war first bombed out Iraq's hospitals, bridges, water works, and now U.S. corporations are harvesting profits from "reconstructing" a society after its deliberate destruction. Blood was not just shed for oil, but also for control over water and other vital services.
4. Aftermath: Cleaning Up the Mess (By Conn Hallinan)
Depleted Uranium and cluster munitions were a gruesome feature of the recent war in Iraq, as they were of Gulf War I in 1991. Wherever these weapons are used they result in what this article calls "an environmental nightmare." The cost of the clean-up is enormous, far in excess of revenue from Iraqi oil which the Bush administration counted on to finance reconstruction. So who will foot the bill? The author examines the possibilities and gives an answer which is far from reassuring.
5. Those Who Don't Count (By Mark Engler)
Since the invasion of Iraq has ended, a tone of vindication and bravado has seeped into the national mood. Television newscasters and the Department of Defense agree: America is delighted. Soldiers are giving high-fives. Those of us who opposed the president and his generals should be ashamed in the face of a brilliantly successful war.
Wednesday 30/04/03
- Sand in the Wheels #173 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. The War (By Eduardo Galeano)
War has been declared in the name of the international community, which is sick of wars. And as per usual, war has been declared in the name of peace. It's not about oil, they say. And yet, if Iraq produced radishes rather than oil, would anyone seriously suggest invading?
2. Iraq, War, Debt and the G8 (By Eric Toussaint)
Fixing the debt so high has the enormous advantage of subjecting the new Iraqi authorities to the demands of the creditors for decades. Even if the military occupation were of limited duration, and even if the UN undertook the management of reconstruction, the country’s politics would still be determined by the creditors and by the oil multi-nationals which will obtain the concessions. (+ Petition for the abolition of Iraq's debt and demanding reparations)
3. Was Iraq Really a Threat? (By Mark Engler)
While Fox News may be convinced about illegal weapons, global demands for independent verification deserve America's attention.
4. Grace News (By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman)
The U.S. government this week launched its Arabic language satellite TV news station for Muslim Iraq. It is being produced in a studio -- Grace Digital Media -- controlled by fundamentalist Christians who are rabidly pro-Israel. That's Grace as in "by the Grace of God."
5. Gender Implications of Bank Privatization in Developing Countries (By Sara Hlupekile Longwe)
It is now common, in developing countries, that the IMF and World Bank make privatization of economic enterprises a pre-condition for balance of payments support, and for development aid. This withdrawal of government ownership and control of economic enterprises is what is here meant by the term ‘privatization’.
6. Wither Cancun ?
(By Shefali Sharma)
Things are not looking so good for Cancun. This really means that developing countries, especially the weakest, are at the greatest disadvantage. The more decisions that ministers will have to make, the greater the pressure there will be in Cancun for developing countries to make compromises—the higher the stakes for “success” for the WTO. None of this actually has to happen if delegations realize that nothing in these agreements or the nature of the WTO binds them to make high pressure decisions at ministerials.
Wednesday 23/04/03
- Sand in the Wheels #172 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. What We Do Now ? A Peace Agenda (By David Cortright)
Over the past six months, we've witnessed the emergence of a global antiwar movement so large it has seemed almost possible that US war plans could be stopped. But now that the war has begun, even without UN sanction, the antiwar movement is at a crossroads. Following is a forum in which David Cortright leads off a discussion on what the peace movement's goals should be now and in the longer term; his essay is followed by three responses
2. Beyond Iraq: US power and global poverty (By Marc Lopatin)
Donald Rumsfield’s adventures in the Middle East may have consigned Saddam Hussein to the annals of history but the dividends of victory will be spent aligning US trade policy with security and financial
interests.
3. Regional railways detroyed for a bank loan (By CEE Bankwatch Network)
When the EIB – European Investment Bank – made a loan to Slovakia for railway reconstruction, few took notice of the peculiar and "confidential" conditions attached. One of these involved the closure of 32 functioning lines – which has brought real hardship to rural users. European citizens – whose taxes largely fund the EIB – are mostly unaware of the harm being done with their
money.
4. WTO Tidbits (By the Attac work group on International Treaties, Marseilles)
NGOs and civil society reject WTO committee proposals on agriculture; Bangladesh gives evidence of negative effects of liberalisation; the G7 members show concern about US financial turndown; little progress is registered at the negotiating table, whether on trade or the reform of dispute settlement procedures; the "demands" and "offers" procedure advances slowly in the Services committee; Supachai expresses fears about the effects of the Iraqi war on trade negotiations; Egypt is to host a pre-Cancun conference; Lamy sits firmly on a fence in India; Russia makes slow progress towards WTO membership; difficult trade negotiations on agriculture begin between the US and Australia.
Wednesday 16/04/03
- Sand in the Wheels #171 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. G8: Failing Model of Global Governance (By Tom Barry)
The G8, having situated itself at the center of global governance, is beset with concerns about its representation and legitimacy. The gap is widening between the pronouncements of concern by G8 summits and policy reform.
2. The Peace Movement After the Invasion of Iraq
(By Felix Kolb and Alcia Swords)
Admittedly, the peace movement could not prevent this war from happening, although many of us devoted all our energy and spare time to opposing the war for many
months. As exhausted and depressed as we may be, if we compare the peace movement’s main goal – preventing this war – with the cruel
reality, it seems just natural to conclude that the peace movement failed and thus that we wasted our
time. While compelling at first glance, this conclusion is false.
3. Five-Day Strike at Yale Seeks Better Working Conditions and Respect
(By Debra Chernoff)
Yale is the single largest employer in New Haven, with one of four local jobs at either the university or its
hospital. This was the twelfth strike in Yale’s 60-year history of organized labor on campus. According to veterans of earlier labor
wars, this week of action drew more participants than any that preceded it.
4. WTO Gridlock: Lowering Expectations and Looking for Scapegoats (By Nicola Bullard)
Just two weeks into the war on Iraq, journalists and politicians were already starting to see the useful tie-in between the breakdown in transatlantic relations and the deadlock in the WTO. The timing is perfect: with just five months to Cancun, an agenda that's simply not moving and a long summer holiday in between, it's a good idea to start lowering expectations and looking for scapegoats.
5. Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale?
(By Information Clearing House)
The entire event is being hailed as an equivalent of the Berlin Wall
falling... but even a quick glance of the long-shot photo shows something more akin to a carefully constructed media event tailored for the television cameras.
Wednesday 09/04/03
- Sand in the Wheels #170 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. “Uniting for Peace”: UN General Assembly Provides Crucial Opportunity for Global Peace Movement (By Jeremy Brecher)
The United Nations General Assembly is hovering on the edge of calling an emergency session to challenge the US attack on Iraq. But US opposition has been fierce. The world's "other superpower" -- global public opinion as expressed in the global peace movement -- can tip the balance if it concentrates on demanding a UN General Assembly meeting to halt the war on Iraq now.
2. Postwar Iraq: A Showcase for Privatization?
(By Philip Mattera)
Just last week, Robert McFarlane, National Security Adviser during the Reagan Administration, and Michael Bleyzer, chief executive of an equity fund management company, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal headlined "Taking Iraq Private." The two men argued that "the U.S. and its allies would be well advised to put together a team of private sector business leaders as a 'steering committee' to supervise and monitor" economic restructuring.
3. 20:80 society and tittytainment (By Mauro J. Zúñiga)
In the 21st century, 20% of the world’s working population will be enough to keep the global economy going. What about the rest? “Without doubt, the remaining 80% will have serious problems,” is the answer given by Jeremy Ritkin, author of The End of Work. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was once a counsellor to president Jimmy Carter, put together two english words to give the problem its solution: “tits”, meaning with this word not the sexual aspect of breasts but their nutritional function, and “entertainment”: tittytainment. In 1996 already 500 satellites existed, sending information to a thousand million televisions.
4. Links between the globalisation of capital and militarism (By Claude Serfati)
The aim of this article is to set out my point of view on several connections between the globalisation of capital and the growth of militarism, and thus to put into perspective the new phase - the "war without limits" - which began at the start of this century.
5. The colourful life of Rosa (By Carlos Powell)
In an international context awaiting war, a war capable of upsetting the entire planet, some could consider this as a local affair, people looking down their own noses, an affair to be forgotten in a couple of weeks. But no, this is a central social issue and closely related to that of war. All depends on how you want to take it, up to what point, what conceptual basis who give it, the broadness of mind. The truth, as religion states, is that this is a debate about the value of life. Life. But, the colourful life of Rosa, or the colourful life of an infant? Two very different things.
Wednesday 02/04/03
- Sand in the Wheels #169 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Student Labor Action Project (Jobs with Justice)
From March 31 - April 4, 2003, students and workers will celebrate the lives of Cesar Estrada Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by joining together to demand justice for workers on their campuses and in their communities.
2. Steelworkers Assail IMF Role in Damaging Economies (By Unite Steelworkers of America)
"The IMF, in which the U.S. Treasury has a powerful capital position," Gerard told the gathering, "is imposing financing plans on developing countries that strongly encourage worker exploitation. Unlike the path historically followed by industrialized countries, nations with distressed economies are forced by the IMF to give priority to export production instead of diversifying their domestic economies." + More information regarding the April 10 to 15 mobilization in Washington DC
3. The international activity of Brazilian NGOs
(By Aurelio Vianna Jr)
The "North" NGOs which were distinguished in the areas of human rights and environment protection before, are now being presented by the media as organisations that focus on new, sensitive and important loci of operation and, more today than in the past, intend to operate as mediators looking for contacts between an international (or global) agenda and local activities. However, despite the success of mobilisations it has not been possible to attain national and international processes in the scope of civil society that warrant the expected results. In other words, the globalisation of other actors (multinational corporations, media, national companies, governments) has been broader and with a greater action power towards multilateral organs and national governments, therefore having a greater capacity to influence and guarantee politics. Even with the increase of importance of the civil society's activities, the standard of its interventions has been re-active, in some situations manipulated by government or company interests and in others with only apparent effectiveness.
4. Against GATS, beyond GATS
(By Alessandro Santoro)
In summary, since the GATS is applicable to all sectors where there is any form of rendering of services at market conditions, it is applicable to almost all services, including those of the welfare state. The further liberalization which the GATS so induces will in its turn constitute an incentive to proceed to further opening up towards the free market, in a somehow self-feeding process.
Wednesday 26/03/03
- Sand in the Wheels #168 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Our Days in Bagdad
(Asian Peace Mission to Iraq)
An Asian Peace Mission, composed of civil society leaders and parliamentarians, went to Iraq on the eve of war not only to express Asian solidarity with fellow Asians, but also to see for themselves the real condition of the Iraqi people and the possible effects of war on the population.
2. Beyond Resolutions: Within Unions, Anti-War Forces Mobilize Opposition (By Chris Kutalik and William Johnson)
By March 2003 roughly 130 local unions, 45 central labor councils, 26 regional bodies, 11 national/international unions, and the AFL-CIO Executive Council had passed resolutions condemning the Bush Administration’s actions around Iraq in varying degrees of criticism.
3. Anti G8 Mobilization
Points of agreement include the illegitimacy of the G-8-the regular meeting of the 8 chiefs of state and governmental representatives of the richest countries in the world to regulate the affairs of the planet; the struggle against war; the support for different relations between Northern and Southern countries (cancellation of debt, etc); against the growth in inequality; for real and meaningful environmental protection, etc.
Wednesday 19/03/03
- Sand in the Wheels #167 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. United for Peace and Justice Call for Emergency "Day After" Anti-War Actions
War now appears imminent. If the bombs start falling, we call on you to join with United for Peace & Justice and other groups around the country in organizing emergency protests. However you choose to express your opposition to war - from silent vigils to loud marches to nonviolent civil disobedience - get out on the streets immediately and join with millions around the world in demanding an end to the bloodshed.
2. The Currency of Black Gold
(By Elmar Altvater)
There are only two rational reasons for a war against Iraq. One pretends a threat to world peace, to "Western values" and to the security of the USA, through an Iraq ruled by Saddam Hussein. The other reason is the objective to exercise control over oil resources, the oil price and the currency in which the price of the oil appears on the invoice: either Dollars or Euros. But irrationality and ideology are also at work.
3. A Single Starting Point
(By Marco Bersani)
"Two superpowers exist in this world: the United States and public opinion streaming out into the streets." This was the headline of a story in the February 18, 2003 issue of the New York Times. On the day after February 15th, 2003, which saw the mobilization of 110 million people in at least 700 cities around the globe, there seems to be clear proof that the movement against neoliberal globalization is for the first time affirmed as a global issue capable of inspiring mobilization at a planetary level in historically unprecedented quantitative and qualitative dimensions.
4. Media and the Public: an impossible cocktail? (By Philippe Merlant)
Is it possible for the media to become an active guide for the general public, to increase people¹s ability to participate more closely in the decisions that affect them, and to do so at all levels and in all areas of social life? At first glance, this seems a utopian vision: the vast majority of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and Internet sites seem to be concerned with a good many other things than cultivating critical minds, inspiring action, or contributing to public democratic debate.
Wednesday 12/03/03
- Sand in the Wheels #166 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Unions Against War (By ETUC)
The ETUC’s call for work stoppages at midday on Friday the 14th of March in order to emphasise its opposition to the war in Iraq can rely on broad support from the European Trade Union movement. According to initial reports received by the ETUC’s Secretariat, strong mobilisation will take place in Germany, Austria, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and in the Czech Republic. The “Union Syndicale” and other trade unions which organise the Civil Servants of the European Institutions’ have also decided to join the ETUC’s action. An ETUC delegation will be received on Friday by the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
2. Can UN Ambassadors be "Survivors"? (By Sarah Anderson)
A nation hooked on reality TV needs to click over to the UN Security Council for some real drama. The wrangling over the upcoming vote on war in Iraq has a lot in common with shows like "Survivor" and "Marry a Millionaire" - the scheming, the shedding of old alliances like used tissue, the catty name-calling and vows of revenge, even the constant viewer scrutiny.
3. World Water Forum - Diluting Dissent? (By Corporate Europe Observatory)
On March 16-23, an expected 8,000 people from around the world will participate in the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan.[1] The triennial World Water Forum has become a key focus for the international debate on the global water crisis. Although it is not a United Nations event, a Ministerial Conference involving high-level government officials from around the world is attached to each World Water Forum. The organisers claim that the forum is open and inclusive to every ‘stakeholder’, while critics argue that it is elitist, undemocratic and deeply biased towards corporate interests.
4. Speak up! (By G-World Environment)
Come to Angers to the "G-world environment" from April the 25th to the 27th. Your contributions to "G-world for the environment". If you can't be there, send any contributions by letter or e-mail ! Just one thing - they must fit on A4 ! Anything's welcome : suggestions, criticisms, personal involvement, poetry, artwork - whatever you like ! These can all be incorporated into the events, whether as posters, actors' script or projected material. A handbook of these contributions, as well as a summary of the debates, will be published.
5. When Digital Information Disturbs Democracy and the Economy (By Veronica Kleck and Valerie Peugeot)
Traditional modes of dissemination of information, which are hierarchical and controlled, are transformed by the Internet. Free or open source software challenges the notion of intellectual property. There are so many examples which illustrate the breach opened by information technology in the economic and political landscape.
Wednesday 05/03/03
- Sand in the Wheels #165 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. Organizers of Antiwar Movement Plan to Go Beyond Protests (By Glenn Frankel)
More than 120 activists from 28 countries emerged from an all-day strategy session here this weekend with plans not just to protest a prospective U.S.-led war against Iraq but to prevent it from happening. They want to intensify political pressure on the Bush administration's closest allies -- the leaders of Britain, Italy and Spain -- and force them to withdraw their support, leaving the United States, if it chooses to fight, to go it alone. And they intend to further disrupt war plans with acts of civil disobedience against U.S. military bases, supply depots and transports throughout Europe.
2. Mercenary adjectives (By Mª Ángeles Maeso)
Adjectives added to the noun "war" are traitors to peace. The word is so hard in meaning that it should always appear in brute format, no other word should line up to hide its nudity. Mercenary adjectives come alongside of war and disguise it in some way, in what way? In a whisper, as if to clean the air, surgical, humanitarian, precise, quick, preventive.. Adjectives, which speak pronounced louder than the word "war", pulling which pulls them along.
3. A single starting point (By Marco Bersani)
"Two superpowers exist in this world: the United States and public opinion streaming out into the streets." This was the headline of a story in the February 18, 2003 issue of the New York Times. On the day after February 15th, 2003, which saw the mobilization of 110 million people in at least 700 cities around the globe, there seems to be clear proof that the movement against neoliberal globalization is for the first time affirmed as a global issue capable of inspiring mobilization at a planetary level in historically unprecedented quantitative and qualitative dimensions.
4. Making Globalization equitable (By ATTAC Deutschland, DGB (German Federation of Trade Unions), VENRO (Association of German Development NGOs))
This declaration demands that the new Federal Government and the newly elected Bundestag take on greater commitment for a socially and ecologically more equitable world order with a democratic countenance. The declaration is the result of an intensive debate carried out over the past two years concerning the political challenges of globalization. At the same time DGB, VENRO and ATTAC demonstrate with this declaration that they and their respective member organizations – in spite of the existing differences of their respective social policy fields of action – wish to actively support and co-design this process jointly as actors in civil society. Representatives of the Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung, the Forum Menschenrechte and of the Social Watch Deutschland-Forum Welt-sozialgipfel, which also uphold the fundamental objectives of this declaration, also took part in drawing up this declaration.
Wednesday 26/02/03
- Sand in the Wheels #164 >>> pdf
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Summary...
1. To be citizens, against the war (By Riccardo Petrella)
Is it inevitable, the war? What can be done? Can the common citizen only choose between passivity and resignation? Above all, being a European civil servant like me (since 15th December 1978), committed to an obligation of circumspection from the day of my appointment. Before the monstrosity of the war, then, one must be silent, or limit oneself to expressing one's own opinion in private, in family?
2. Sources have revealed that the U.S.A has transferred thousands of body bags and coffins to Sicily (By Elisabetta Piqué)
The assistant archbishop to the Pope, in the full swing of an intense political crusade to prevent war in Iraq, stated that war would imply "an incredible loss of life", and the Vatican has announced that at Sigonella, a North American naval base in Sicily, 100 000 body bags and 6000 coffins have arrived.
3. The global fight let us face
(By Jan Aart Scholte)
One hundred thousand people came to Porto Alegre for the third edition of the World Social Forum in late January. Twice as many as last year, four times as many as in 2001. Never had so many citizens come forth for meetings on a global scale. Never did so many professional associations, trade unions, NGOs, religious organizations and think groups interest themselves to the great planetary stakes, whether the environment, the arms race or human rights.
4. Burying the "Washington Consensus" (By Xavier Cano Tamayo)
The "Consensus" was drawn up by a group of economists, officials of the U.S. Government, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A very restricted consensus; it was never the subject of general debate and never submitted to a vote. It was not even formally ratified by the countries it was imposed on. It has been, and still is, an authoritarian exercise, greedy and unsupportive, whose champions try to justify it on the grounds of the supposedly unquestionable economic-scientific character of its guidelines.
5. Agriculture Proposal Will Increase Dumping, Unemployment And Hunger (By Aileen Kwa)
The draft seems to deliberately ignore many of the proposals put forward by developing countries to protect their producers against dumping and address the problems of rural unemployment and food insecurity plaguing a large number of developing countries. Focus on the Global South calls on developing countries to reject the text because it will not rebalance the inequity in agricultural trade.
6. Rural agony in the midst of inequality's Kingdom (By Diego Ceballos)
In January the barriers for 21 agriculturals products where removed for NAFTA'S exchange. Products such as potato, wheat, apple, onion, coffee, chicken and calf meat were among them. This agreement is part of a regional one which established the three opening stages of agricultural trade.
Wednesday
19/02/03
- Sand in the Wheels #163: pdf
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Summary...
1. 14 931 900
The figures hereafter are just estimates. They have been gathered from a wide range of sources. Nevertheless a lot are missing, not only whole countries but also within countries data about demonstrations held in various other cities that the ones figuring in this summary. These give us nevertheless a pretty good estimate of the reality of what happened on February 15th: we were 15 millions or so, in the streets of the world.
2. Can we free ourselves from media formats? (By Dominique Cardon and Fabien Granjon)
The construction of activist transnationals demands exceptional means for the co-ordination of collective actions, the circulation of information and the running of multipolar structures. It is for a reason that the networks fighting against the neoliberal handling of globalisation have developed an early and decisive use of the Internet.
3. Trade Is a Women's Issue (By Bama Athreya)
Global trade’s profits rely on the labor of women workers worldwide, as
women make up more than half the work force in the light manufacturing
industries that provide most of the world’s household goods. Women
workers face a host of problems including low wages, long hours, unsafe
working conditions, harassment, sexual abuse, and discrimination. Trade
negotiators have begun to discuss women’s issues but are still a long
way from developing practical protections for women workers.
4. 2002: Assessing a Pivotal Year (By Soren Ambrose)
In the new world that we have come to face in the U.S. since September
11th and in the Bush Administration’s decision to aggressively pursue
the secret longings of the imperialist right wing, we find that the World
Bank is being used quite plainly to reward those countries that support
U.S. goals. Pakistan has won unprecedented levels of generosity in debt
relief from the Bank, and Turkey, facing a crisis similar to Argentina’s,
has been allowed to take out loans far in excess of the quota a member
country would normally be limited to.
5. The Reemergence Of Balance-Of-Power Politics (By Walden Bello)
To be sure, the first lesson is discouraging: that unchallenged superpower status stimulates conflict, not peace. This did not seem so clear in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War. Then, there was widespread in the West an expectation that the US would use its sole superpower status to undergird a multilateral order that would institutionalize its hegemony but assure an Augustan peace globally.
Wednesday 05/02/03
- Sand in the Wheels #162: pdf
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Summary...
1. Confronting the Empire - World Social Forum Speech (By Arundhati Roy)
When we speak of confronting "Empire," we need to identify what "Empire" means. Does it mean the U.S. government (and its European satellites), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, and multinational corporations? Or is it more than that?
2. Now let's make it. - World Social Forum Speech (By Susan George)
Dear friends and comrades: Since we are privileged to participate in this unique gathering of the World Social Forum, let's remember that such privilege carries responsibility. Never forget that we are all actors in history. We are linked to the past and we have a duty to be worthy of those who came before us, that innumerable legion who fought poverty, injustice and oppression with the tools of their own times. We, in this brilliant and fortunate moment here in Porto Alegre, are also a bond and a promise to the future, through our hope, our daily work and our determination as we proclaim. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE. Now let's make it.
3. Now it is time to start!
Mobilization in front of the G8 Summit. To all organizations worldwide, please endorse the call… Read the call and forward it around you. Endorsements will be accepted only during the month of February.
4. Anti-war protesters announce Feb. 15 rally (By Amy Westfeldt)
"Literally millions of people will march in countries around the world in a unified call for peace," she said.
Wednesday
15/01/03
- Sand in the Wheels #161: pdf
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Summary...
1. Do not miss it!
(By attac.info)
Live from Porto Alegre WSF on www.attac.info/poa2003 Follow the
debates, conferences, the events from 23 January to 28 January. Put also
do not miss the little gift we have prepared for you as a happy new year
message. Do not miss it and enjoy it now… at home or on the road to
Porto Alegre. You’ll find also documents and information to prepare your
travel and your stay.
2. After the Asian Social Forum (By Asian Social Forum)
We are meeting in Hyderabad, the city that is claimed to be a symbol of cyber-world in India. But it is also the capital of the state known for tragic suicides by hundreds of farmers and weavers, besides starvation deaths, due to the impact of neo-liberal globalization in recent years. The real history of the state is one of valiant peoples' struggles.
3. Drop your gat! (By Susan George)
Austere, bespectacled, rail-thin European trade commissioner Pascal Lamy hardly looks the part of the 1930s gangland movie bad guy. And yet he's got a hold of your future and is doing all he can to hand it over to the transnational corporations. The vehicle for Lamy's villainy is an obscure trade agreement called GATS, or the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
4. The Free Rider Principle: how privilege is subsidised (By Jamie Morgan)
In the business world, tax evasion is a way of life. Multinational firms leech onto poor countries' economies and cause them to run up debts to build the infrastructures needed by the company. In Western economies too, a 'business friendly' policy means less tax for the corporations and the business elite, while for the labour force it signifies more tax, longer working hours and an end to job security. An old working-class refrain used to go, "It's the rich wot gets the gravy, and the poor wot gets the blame." This article shows in non-specialist language how, on a world scale, the poor now also subsidize the gravy.
5. America's corporate boards separated by just four handshakes (By Bernie DeGroat)
Much like the Hollywood association game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," corporate America is an interlocking network of company board directorships separated by just a few handshakes, say researchers at the Business School.
6. Foreign Debt and Civil Rights
(By Martín Lozada)
An international seminar about foreign debt and civil rights has just
taken place in Amsterdam, Holland. Experts from different juridical
cultures have come together. During this seminar the question of foreign
debt was looked at from different viewpoints, from international law as
well as from national laws. This relatively new approach facilitates a
deeper analysis of these perspectives.
Wednesday 08/01/03
- Sand in the Wheels #160: pdf
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Summary...
1. Towards an Empty Development Round (By Shefali Sharma)
The fundamental question here is whether the WTO only needs results or democratic and accountable results. This may mean that the WTO must redesign the entire Ministerial Process to mimic that of the UN and not have high stakes Ministerials every two years. Currently, there is no consensus on any of these issues and consultations will continue into 2003. It is unlikely that there will be any meaningful procedures put in place well in advance of Cancun.
2. Who Protects our Forests ? (By Sunita Narain)
An enlightening look at bureaucratic mismanagement of forestry protection issues in India. There are "legal" settlers, rich and well-connected in the ministry; and "illegal" encroachers, the rural poor. both groups have settled the fringes of so-called protected forest areas. The author suggests that forests are best managed by local villages. The "illegal" encroachers are in fact potentially the best protectors of the forest.
3. Driving a stake through the heart of democracy (By Larry Birns)
A detailed investigation of the confrontation between Chavez and the Opposition would show that it is the latter who are seeking to obstruct the negotiations promoted by the Organization of American States (OAS), and who are calling on the military to mutiny. Similarly it is the Opposition who are using its near complete control of the media to diffuse false information, with an interpretation of events based on selected facts calculated to inflame passions.
4. The USA is at war (By Eduardo Galeano)
The world powers monopolise arms of massive destruction as their natural right. Whilst America was being conquered, whilst this global market was just emerging, small pox and influenza were killing far more local populations than swords or guns. The successful European invasion had a lot to thank for bacterium and viruses. Centuries later, these natural allies have become a means of destruction in the hands of world powers. A handful of countries control the world's biological arsenal. Mere decades ago, the United States allowed Saddam Hussein to launch biological weapons against the Kurds. At the time Saddam Hussein was the pet of the Western world and the Kurds weren't liked.
Wednesday 01/01/03
- Sand in the Wheels #159: pdf
- rtf
Summary...
1. Argentina: Exclusion claims its destined victims (By Dafne Sabanes Piou)
This week, in the province mentioned, six children died of hunger thus joining the other 359 newly borns who have died there so far this year , although not all died from problems related to malnutition., Cold statistics, however, show that in Argentina three children die everyday from starvation or poverty related diseases.
2. Is The WTO Collapsing Under Its Own Ambitions ? (By Nicola Bullard)
Perhaps the best assessment of where the WTO is heading comes from PSI deputy secretary Mike Waghorne who, in an end-of-the-year state of play email quoted Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again."
3. Court Orders Bush Administration Must Give Trade Documents to the Public (By Earthjustice, Public Citizen, FOE and CIEL)
A U.S. District Court today ordered the Bush administration to make public documents by revealing U.S. and foreign government positions in trade negotiations with potential impacts on domestic public health, labor, and environmental laws.
4. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York GE Workers Strike Against Globalization (By Alexandra Brown)
Picket signs proclaimed “Jobs Not Greed” and highlighted retired GE CEO Jack Welch’s outrageous retirement perks worth $2.5 million, $9 million per year pension, and stock assets worth $900 million. Strikers contrasted this with impending job losses. While job losses due to the downturn in commercial aircraft orders since 9/11 are real, the union targeted company outsourcing as the real villain.
5. The "Buy American" Aid Package (By Conn Hallinan)
A recent White House proposal, the Millennium Challenge Account, would be doled out to impoverished countries – on condition that, besides instituting democratic changes, they agree to free trade for American goods and services.
6. Bush in Mauritius (By Ashok Subron)
President Bush is due to visit Mauritius in January on the occasion of the AGOA Business & Heads of State Forum. This letter, with a Declaration to be presented to Bush, was sent to this newsletter by activists from the Parallel Peoples' Forum Initiative.
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