Facilitator: Ashish Note-taker: Vasna
Attendees: Pierre, Christophe, Raffaella, Francine, Tord, Mabrouka, David, Batul, Seb, Justin, Eva, Shrishtee, Franco, Vasna, Ashish, Marko, Rosy, Feroz, Alnoor, Hamouda
Welcome by Ashish Agreement to use English as the language of the meeting. It was noted with pleasure that all the global processes that were invited have joined. Agenda: Propose a very quick introduction to the meeting and its purpose. A round of quick individual introductions An introduction to each of the processes Presentation of the collation sent in by everyone Way forward
Motivation for the gathering Over the last few months, many of us have been involved in initiatives to confront the multiple global crises we are facing and build a critical mass. Felt it was nice to get –together to see what possible synergies we could have. That is the simple purpose of this meeting.
At the GTA, we have been discussing this with many and a process of dialogue and action was seen as important. We have a number of opportunities coming up where we can actualise this collaboration in some way or other
After this meeting, we can see what the next steps are.
Some essential commonalities amongst us but also important differences.
Realising that we can’t be thinking of superficial changes and tinkering with the system but confront the issues much more systemically and radically.
Also trying to see what is the other world or multiple-worlds that are possible but also happening on the ground. Real or concrete utopias.
Seems to be a lot of commonality there. Differences on specifics of the alternatives, e.g. direct or radical democracy – what does that mean for visions and strategies. Might be good if we continue to work together to tease out the commonalities and differences as long as the differences are not fundamental. The diversity strengthens us. Round of introductions:
Global Working Group Beyond Development https://beyonddevelopment.net/
Exists since 2016 and tries to bring activists and activist-scholars and different knowledge perspectives from the five continents to produce new knowledge. Have a series of books through the project. Global Dialogue Process https://globaldialogue.online/ Born online inside the pandemic during the first global lockdown. Not an organisation but a large group of people belonging to different social movements and processes with some experience of network building. Met as felt pandemic proved humanity with lessons that cannot be wasted. Showing how deep is the state of the systemic crisis in which we live and producing fractures in the dominant narrative which we could use and profit off. At the same time feel that the pandemic is not set on how we will come out of it. Govts and power are trying to use it to go further into austerity and authoritarism. Feel in common as a group that we/society should be able to overcome some of our main weaknesses- main one fragmentation. Lots of segemented knowledge on alternatives and we are unable to provide people with a simple vision of these alternatives. This means that society is fragmented and power has an easy job to put one interest against another interest. Everybody becomes in competition and if we do not overcome fragmentation then inside our systemic alternatives we have to show that there is space for all rights. Trying to explore this need and how we could overcome fragmentation and provide some help in processes for example tried to support convergence for the World Assembly for Amazonia. This was initiated within our discussion and then we support the real actors in Amazonia. Also an Italian convergence of social movements and how to engage with the WSF process.
Grassroots to Global https://www.grassroots2global.org/
Work against structural violence and also co-optation. In Scotland, people kicked off the land and led to colonialisation. Looking at how do we let our politics be informed by an understanding of trauma – by a system that divides and rules. Working at the very local level in Scotland and elsewhere in the world – recovering decision-making and making good decisions. How do we build towards a global moment. System is incapable of dealing with the crisis it feeds off. No one else is going to save us so how are we collectively work together. Looking towards a Global Citizens Assembly where people decide what they need. Part of XR and had a Scottish Citizens Assembly. But pulled out as co-opted by the government. Inviting an end of May gathering online and would love to reach out to people.
Global Green New Deal https://www.globalgnd.org/
GGND has matured during the pandemic. Meant to launch in April in person. Departs from some of the challenges that have been laid down by some of the most progressive. How can we ensure that the scale of transformation of our economies don’t reproduce the same extractivist logics of fossil fuels and reproduce the inequalities of the extractivist nature of our economies. GGND acts as a process and platform to bring together how we answer these fundamental questions about the counter-productive and counter-intuitive logic of growth. Speaking to an audience in the Global North and have to take up challenges here. Build engagement and popularise GGND. Use metaphor of GGND to evoke, energy, scale, language, etc to strengthen and continue to build and platform existing alternatives. Also gearing towards understanding the context of COP26 and the way it will be held. Involved in the COP26 Coalition to put forward some of the critical demands that already exist out there in the world. Engaging at the end of this year in an intensive strategic planning process.
Progressive International https://progressive.international/
Launched in May with the ambition to be a 21st century international. Going beyond exclusively political parties but to also include other groups like unions, etc. Pluralistic and diverse. Currently structured around three pillars of (1) movements (connecting with activists), (2) blue print pillar which is about building a policy vision – make working groups for a think tank internal to PI. Bring together scholars and activists to fight several issues and build a programmatic vision for PI and (3) wire pillar. Build a network of 25 publications around the world and volunteer translation team. Publish their own statements as well as others and translate in different languages for re-publication.
World Social Forum https://fsm2021.mayfirst.org/noticias-fsm/
WSF exists for 20 years from 2001. Lots of ups and downs. 25-29 January will launch a global action. WSF had a lot of babies and a lot of thematic and regional forums working in different areas. Trying to build the year of global action until the next WSF in Mexico. About 150 organisations in the WSF with about 70 still active and some groups since 2018. WSF has no chief but work on consensus which is why it is difficult and requires patience. This is the spirit of the WSF. Recognise that some new groups do not find place for themselves in the WSF because of no central action or decision-making. Members of the International Council are just a space gathering movements together. Not decision-making. WSF expect that the mobilisations will come from the territories and continents, Will be videos from global marches in different places in the world. Challenge to bring it all together. Will work virtually until we can meet in person. Everyone is invited to be part of the thematic groups: Education, culture and cosmovisions Democracy Peace and War Social justice Economic justice Indigenous peoples Climate change, environment
Global Tapestry of Alternatives https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org/
Many similarities of the processes. Some distinctions. Not an organisation but a process that tries to avoid hierarchies and verticalism. Currently a core team but eventually not to establish an organisation but to create a tapestry. Tapestry as an interconnection of networks. Main noun is weaving – connect those already connecting those on the ground. Focus on alternatives and have our definition for what the main foci of the alternatives. Transformative and radical alternatives that attempt to break with the dominant system… quote from website. Focus is not the state or capitalist economy but communities on the group. Trying to move weaving processes in a more global level as well and this meeting is an example of that.
Some reflections from this discussion are captured in appendix 1.
A discussion was held around the way forward with several points made. These are captured here. Commonalities and differences came up a lot. We need to understand differences in order to find spaces of commonalities. Focus on constructive differences rather than destructive Action Could look at a couple of topics and how we each address them and our understanding, e.g. Power and democracy Really resonate with a lot of what has been said on possibilities for collaboration. Could come together on certain diagnosis. Being able to develop a mutual and shared understanding is action oriented. That speaks to the question if we are claiming to be global initiatives, what are the interventions that global initiatives should be making? Have to continue to diagnose the crises of the moment
COVID-19 Recognise that it is both about understanding and also action. Could we issue joint statements and take a position on something? Or even what is the Covid recovery that we want? A Covid recovery that recognises the differences that the pandemic made clear: (1) people’s empathy and kindness, (2) the vicious inequality our system imposes, and (3) the fact that rapid transformation of the system is perfectly possible, even if those in power have sought to use this occasion to extend their power
Could also jointly consider what we have learnt from the Covid period? What do we need to demand? What do we need to initiate?
Palestinian solidarity is one topic area where there is much convergence globally. The Palestinian social movement are organising a big gathering online in January. They will send a call to international movements to build solidarity. We could invite them to the next meeting.
CONVERGENCE How do the many social and environmental issues connect at the systemic level: what are the fundamentals that stop us from creating just, kind and regenerative societies? Organising on convergence of ideas but how to translate it into some kind of organised force. Could come up with a statement on the difficult end not the simple end so perhaps climate change where we are not making any progress.
Proposal that WSF end of January could be a place to collectively do something in that space. Organise for two meetings in advance to plan our intervention.
Could focus on COVID issues of resilience and processes and plans that point to systemic transformation. Decisions: Meet on 14 Dec, Monday in two weeks. Agreed at the same time: 14:00 GMT Feroz will invite Palestinians to join
Appendix 1: Reflections
Tord: Shared his own slides. Very dynamic situation. In WSF thematic group, problem of mobilisation of younger people as well as English speakers.
Francine: Most important thing is that we start from the point that we have commonalities and this means we have to look for the commanalities. We should not underestimate the differences in content. Tord showed differences in processes but also differences in content and if we want to work together, we have to start from the awareness of where we differ and have divergences in the approach to the world. This whole group is convinced that the current system doesn’t work but the way we want to change the world is very different. The left for the past decades worked as if we all agree and we do not all agree. First need to build trust and confidence so we can openly talk about our differences and see where commanalities are really possible. Just as an example, looking at Tord’s proceses. Euopean Forum is very different from GTA. Ideological and philosophical differences. We need to explore these. Share our actions, knowledge, etc. to come to synergies in spite of differences.
Pierre: In the list of crises we didn’t mention our own crisis. Its not something simple – the sorts of defeats we have accumulated in the last years are tremendous. The victories that have been achieved are more a balance of forces but we are not winning. Defeat of Trump was not the abolishen of the project. We are in crisis. Conclusion at this point, has to be modest. Any idea of creating a global gathering and come together and talk is a bit weak. It will take time, effort and honesty. It does not mean to say there is nothing to do right now – we can coordinate and focus and imagine where we can concentrate our forces on issues that we can win. The broader visions – let’s be very cautious and modest. Its not a rejection of our past which had a lot of imagination and enthusiasm but we must not re-invent the very broad space where we converge and work together. Need to engage in serious dialogues and discussions identifying the spaces where we can work together with a long term view of the project.
Miriam: Of course there are many differences among us and they will show up at some point. There is a long tradition of the left and internationals which has a history of looking at differences and separating from each other so we cannot act. Would personally like to concentrate on the convergences and have a pragmatic approach to where synergies can be built around specific thematic areas, etc. Good look at points of alliance which help our movements and we don’t have to have all the same philosophical agreements. Fear that we don’t have a decade to build trust before action. The schedule is pressing and there are interesting groupings happening in the right that buys political space while the left is focused on differences and losses and we get further behind. Main question – what can we learn from each other in terms of strategies in this moment of pandemic. How can we achieve that some dimensions of this world get into the right direction beyond death and loss. Concern that webinars will not get us there – they do not materially change landscapes and politics. Invite for reflections on this and how to build bridges to make change in a material way. Focus on the concrete dimensions. Sense that this is a concern of people in the WSF and many of us. Need to talk about this moment of pandemic and how it changes our strategies. Secondly, although this is useful to know everyone and strategies, also a potential trap that we converge in one space and then we think we are the world although we are in fact very few people. How from this convergence do we go out again and strength lots of other processes that are not so global.
Eva: Aware that they are newcomers to the scene and there is a lot of history. What we bring is an approach that draws on new forms of democracy specifically, people’s and citizens assemblies and the awareness of the need to develop this across different cultures so they can be used at global and local levels. One thing that these processes do is bring together people like those in this room that are passionate and draw together potential solutions. Citizens assemblies cut across that by creating representative samples of a local population and they weight that so the minority groups are represented at that level in ways that might not be by a statistical cross-section. We hand over power to ordinary people to make decisions and we trust them to make good decisions. This is a moment where we need to use some kind of intervention like that. Need to make a decisive intervention. Not married to citizen assemblies but it is one way. Facilitation and development of this process to become effective also needs to draw on both ancient traditional processes and also cutting edge science on how we interact with each other, how we deal with our emotions and trauma. A lot of the politics of the right is trauma driven and if we can address that in a meaningful way then we can access the empathy and kindness that is there in all human beings. We hope from this interaction to draw together people who want to help to create these kinds of processes that we hope to use with people in the next two years that are really sounds.
Feroz: Local crises are sharp and are happening and demand an internationalist perspective and stand from the global players – not necessarily a global assembly but a rise of sharp fascism in parts of the world demands an internationalist perspective. Propose that collaboration could happen here – thematic forums of the WSF were such places. World education forum in Palestine as an example in 2010. Bring internationalist perspective.
Raffaella: When we organised the 2nd superpower demonstration Feb 15 2013 against the war in Iraq. Our global process representing almost all of the real social movements all over the world. This is the way we were able to organise such a global movement. The real social movements of that time could meet and decide together. Now there is no place like this anywhere. New generation movements don’t belong to any network apart from their own and often organised in a very liquid way. Completely different situation. We know that in principle we should find a way to build convergence of social movements but in practice we have to start from the situation in which we are. for example not to improve the capability to decide campaigns. We should find a way to be useful in this situation. At least two possibilities to be useful. One is to try as much as possible to provide occasions for people who have interest in international and global networks to gain solidarity – create opportunities to be together. On the other side, work on our narrative – in Italy I the pandemic we started by recognising that when we want to tell about alternative societies we need an enormous amount of words. Three lines on racisms, gender, etc. After three months found a name with one word “Society of Care”. Now all alternative social actors reach this point of agreement. It is a way to recognise ourselves even if we are working in completely different topics and ground. In the narrative we can help a lot if we ourselves overcome the narrative of fragmentation.
Tord: Francine has an important point – we come from very different traditions. Never belonged to the left and not comfortable with these discussions. As an environmentalist often developmentalism is hidden behind language, which is anti-capitalist?? In Sweden organised planting of potatoes in 100 municipalities. Focus on action and less on narratives and emotions. Have to do a day of picking up potatoes and then when people are picking up the potatoes, they start to discuss. Different traditions. Pre-figurative struggles are important but when it comes to the fight there is no room for not uniting or avoiding political parties. That is part of the problem – we have to be pre-figurative and action-oriented. We can do a combination of assembly of system change and WSF and come together. We can continue to discuss openly.
Hamouda: Difficult when we have this online meeting to take decisions. Must think locally and act globally. Lots of problems with migrants in Europe and fascism. We are thinking about climate change etc but there are human problems facing us altogether – all over the world facing a big problem with this pandemic. Not just health and justice but real fundamental human rights issues. How can we altogether work on this? And not just passing moments online but rather find one thing we can act on. The situation is a big crisis facing all humanity and not just because of the virus. Fundamental human rights violations.