ESF London October 2004:
A
Socialist World Is Possible
A
Socialist Guide
The
Socialist Party at the ESF
Did
The Anti-War Movement Fail?
CWI
- Building Socialism Worldwide
How
a Socialist Economy would Work
Europe:
Workers Must Fight
Italy
- Mass Struggle And The Left
Florence anti-war demo 2002
Huge Turnout Shows Growing Radicalisation
SATURDAY 9 November, 2002, saw the biggest protest so
far against the threatened war against Iraq. Up to a million
marched and sang through the streets of Florence, Italy, in
protest at Bush and Berlusconi's policies.
Robert Bechert
The many hundred thousands of Italian protesters were
joined by tens of thousands of foreign participants in the
European Social Forum assembly and by others, like the French
CGT union, who came to Italy just for this demonstration.
Weeks of increasingly hysterical anti-demonstrator
propaganda from Italy's government didn't lessen the turnout.
It increased it and kept protesters on guard against any agent
provocateurs trying to provoke clashes. This, and the minimal
police presence, resulted in a peaceful protest.
At least double the size of last year's Genoa march, this
was the fourth mass protest in Italy this year. Almost
immediately after Berlusconi's May 2001 election victory
protests and mass struggles started. Since then they included
two successful eight-hour general strikes in October.
While smaller than March's three million trade union demo
in Rome, this protest brought together the themes of fighting
against unemployment, neo-liberal attacks, the right-wing
Berlusconi government and imperialist war.
The protesters were very clear that they opposed Berlusconi,
but there were hardly any indications of what should replace
his government.
The fact that the UN Security Council had earlier accepted
Bush's resolution on Iraq had no effect. It was widely seen
that Bush's administration had bullied, threatened or bribed
other countries to get support.
No one expected the UN to stop the Bush/Blair right to
attack Iraq, only a mass movement could defeat Bush's colonial
plans.
The march's size and enthusiasm showed the mass opposition
Berlusconi is facing. Most of the march were workers and
youth, but many middle class protesters showed the widespread
opposition to the right and to Berlusconi's shameless attempts
to stop being tried in court for corruption.
The delegations present included political parties,
especially the Rifondazione Comunista (RC) that had the
largest contingent, although most of their young members
marched with other groups of youth.
Groups of workers came from different workplaces, including
Fiat where thousands are threatened with redundancy. The
'unions of the base' (like the different Cobas organisations
and Cub-RdB) had some sizeable workplace groups and also
attracted many youth to their contingents.
However, compared to Genoa last year, there was less
organised presence from the workplaces. Cgil's own contingent
was relatively small, whether through failure to mobilise or
from some workers feeling that demos on their own won't stop
Berlusconi.
Nevertheless, the huge turnout shows the radicalisation
underway in Italy. Now, even more than before, activists will
be discussing what steps need to be taken next and what
policies need to be fought for.
A Day Of Singing And Red Flags!
THE 28 September anti-war demo in London was the biggest
I'd been on... until last Saturday. It was also the liveliest
demo I'd seen... until last Saturday. Florence was incredibly
inspiring and definitely distracted any tourists from the
renaissance art the city is traditionally famous for.
Sarah Sachs-Eldridge
People marched throughout the day dancing, chanting and
singing traditional workers' songs as well as more modern
stuff. Old and young, workers and students, from Ireland to
Russia and from Sweden to Sicily let it be known that Europe
is against the war.
A CGIL delegation marched behind a banner calling for
general strike; red flags and anti-capitalist slogans showed
that the opposition extended to much more than the plans to
bomb Iraq.
I'd worried that not speaking the language would stop
communication with the Italian young people on the demo but
the words "Socialismo" and "Communismo"
were nearly always greeted with a thumbs-up. Our CWI pamphlet
"Lotta per il socialismo" (Struggle for Socialism)
sold out in a matter of hours.
Demonstrators were angry at the inequality that exists
under capitalism, where governments will spend money on a war
for oil and profit at the expense of decent health and
education systems.
And with red the predominant colour there was some
understanding that an alternative system to capitalism is the
only way to end war and terror.
European Social Forum: A Socialist World Is Necessary
FORTY-THOUSAND PEOPLE from all over Europe flooded into
Florence, Italy, for the European Social Forum, nearly double
the number the organisers had been expecting.
Christine Thomas
They were mostly young, taking part in three days of
political discussion and debate, culminating in the biggest
anti-war demonstration so far.
The right-wing Berlusconi government in Italy tried
unsuccessfully to stop the Forum from taking place in
Florence. In the days running up to the event, the media was
used to try and whip up fears of thousands of violent
protesters invading and destroying the historic city.
In fact both the Forum and the anti-war demonstration -
which attracted up to one million protesters (see page 3) -
passed off totally peacefully.
The sheer numbers attending and participating in the Forum,
with Italians far and away the largest group, marked a new
stage in the anti-globalisation/anti-capitalist movement.
Thousands of young people in Europe have become radicalised
through the anti- globalisation and anti-war movement, taking
to the streets in their thousands in Genoa, Barcelona,
Seville, London, etc. In Florence, they came in their
thousands to discuss ideas and how to take the movement
forward.
Topics under discussion in the main conferences included
globalisation and liberalism, war and peace, rights,
citizenship and democracy. There were also hundreds of
seminars taking place every day on a myriad of different
issues.
The discussions and debates were hosted and sponsored by an
extremely diverse range of social organisations and groups.
Unfortunately, political parties were banned from organising
any of the main debates at the Forum, instead they were
allocated workshops miles away from the main venue.
Confusion
ALTHOUGH MOST people felt enthusiastic about the size and
international character of the Forum, with so many platform
speakers putting forward so many different ideas there was no
clear alternative or direction coming out of most of the
sessions.
Thousands of people attended what was probably the biggest
debate on 'movements and political parties'.
The main speaker was Bertinotti, leader of Rifondazione
Comunista (RC), which has a mass base amongst workers in
Italy. However, he said that it would be
"disastrous" for the RC to give a political lead or
direction to the social movements.
In reality, the opposite is the case; the movement needs a
clear political direction and alternative if it is to go
forward to achieve its aims. The theme of the Forum was
'Another Europe is possible'. Unfortunately, by the end it was
no clearer than at the start what kind of Europe or world
would be possible.
CWI poses a socialist alternative
CWI MEMBERS from Italy, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Greece,
Kazakhstan and England and Wales took part in the Forum. In
our material, speeches and discussions we emphasised the need
to link social movements with the trade unions and struggles
in workplaces. Workers' leader and CWI member Ionor Kurmanov
was a platform speaker at a seminar on workers' rights, where
he raised the need for new workers' parties.
We explained how war, terror, attacks on workers' rights,
racism, environmental destruction and all the others problems
discussed at the Forum are rooted in the capitalist system
which is based on exploitation, inequality and the pursuit of
profit. A political alternative is therefore necessary to
fight for a fundamental change in the system and the way
society is organised and structured.
Europe-wide protests
ANTI-GLOBALISATION protesters will be demonstrating in
Prague at the NATO summit on 20 November and the EU meeting in
Copenhagen in December. The next big focus for the anti-globalisation
movement in Europe is expected to be a protest at the G8
meeting in Evian, France in June 2003.
At the final rally of the Forum, speakers also raised the
idea of a European wide strike within 24 hours of an attack
taking place against Iraq.
A trade unionist's perspective
AS AN active trade unionist I found the European Social
Forum (ESF) quite impressive - thousands of people commited to
opposing global capitalism, most of them young, discussing and
debating issues. Although some of the political messages were
a bit confused, at least there was the opportunity to talk
about globalisation and its harmful effects, uncommon given
the domination of public debate by the capitalist media.
I was pleased to see that a number of trade unions, like
UNISON, were supporting the event. The ESF should encourage
trade unionists to campaign for closer links between the
anti-capitalist movement and the unions, to draw in the
organised working class.
As for the future of the ESF, I would like to see less
platform speakers, perhaps just two at each discussion,
putting different points of view, and allowing for more
contributions from ordinary participants. This will help focus
minds, and develop strategies for the anti-capitalist
movement, so that people leave it with a clear idea of what to
do in their own countries, organisations and trade unions.
Roger Bannister, UNISON National Executive Council
(Personal Capacity)
