Attendees: Anna Cecilia (GTA), Ashish (GTA), Christophe (GD), Feroz (ICW, Francine (IC-WSF), Franco, GTA) Justin (GTG), Hamouda (IC-WSF), Mabrouka (BD), Marko (Green-Finland), Pierre (GD), Rosy (IC-WSF), Tord (Friends of the Earth), Vasna (GTA), Yusuf (Palestine)
The discussion was initiated by Ashish who reminded us that we had two meetings already where we established our common will to (1) work together, i.e., to exchange our respective experiences and see concretely if there would an interest to work together on several issues, and (2) in the light of the forthcoming WSF (23-30 January), to see if and how we can act together. So far, we brought seven (7) networks who bring social movements from across the world.
Later, Ashish in preparation of this meeting suggested four areas where we could focus our attention.
(to present something jointly, perhaps like a brief call for global solidarity around fundamental, systemic change, combining resistance with alternatives. Organising one or more sessions during the Thematic days (24-29 January) on democracy/power/autonomy, including understandings of the shift to the right in many parts of the world, the potential and pitfalls of ‘progressive’ parties taking over the state, and the potential of radical, direct democracy (including stories from the grassroots where this is being tried out) Organising one or more sessions during the self-organized activities on key lessons from stories of community resilience (in food, livelihoods, health, etc.) during the COVID period; and directions that Recovery packages and post-COVID scenarios could take based on these (also challenging the kinds of packages/responses most nation-states are giving). Organize an evaluation meeting where the 7 global processes and others can discuss further collaborations, and the revitalisation of the WSF itself to become much more dynamic a space for such collaborations.
We agreed with Ashish proposal and Ashish’ challenge to propose a concrete point on each of these 4 ideas raising the flags of the peoples most affected by this patriarchal, colonialist, imperialist and capitalist system. We mandate a committee to work out a pre-proposal than will be proposed next week to the largest group. Participants in this committee are: Mabrouka, Vasna, Marko, Ana, Christophe. They should send us the pre-proposal by end of this week, comprising:
First day:
For the thematic days, an event or a series of events on Democracy/power/autonomy; Solidarity and cooperation; ethics and values; Challenges from the right-wing and growing fascism. Proposals from the Progressive parties, governments and Internationale
For the self organized activities, on key lessons from stories of community resilience (in food, livelihoods, health, etc.) during and after the COVID period.
A final session (evaluation and next steps) where we could invite in addition to our current 7 networks other interested parties.
Our Network is not a substitute to the WSF and the IC. They have their business to plan and implement a full program. Our work focussed on our priorities based on our experiences and cooperation. We need to consult the facilitator group of the WSF to adjust our proposals and timing. Our discussions are to be based on sharing our experiences, their stronger and weaker facets, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to move forward. Our desire is to focus on agreed key issues and not be dispersed in a myriad of activities. Organizing a serious and rigorous evaluation at the end will help us identify how this ‘network of networks will move ahead in the next phase. Because of its specific and quite unique situation, Palestine appears as a transversal issue involving most of the social movements, within and outside Palestine. Therefore, we need to integrate the Palestinian struggle accordingly.