Caravan99, the listserve connected to the Peoples Global Action (PGA, www.agp.org) process in Europe, calls on all grassroots social movements, community-based organisations, trade unions, student associations, social centres, autonomous and political collectives and everybody who wants participate throughout Europe to carry out regional and local direct actions against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in conjunction with their upcoming meetings in Doha (Qatar) from November 9 to 13, 2001.
OF COURSE, WE INVITE OTHER NETWORKS AND GROUPS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD TO ALSO RESPOND TO AND RELAY THIS CALL.
In the face of a rapidly expanding grassroots resistance to capitalist globalisation, the democratic legitimacy of global financial and political institutions continues to erode. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have recently cut their upcoming meetings from a week to 2 days, the G8 is planning to take refuge in the Canadian Rockies, and the WTO has selected an isolated and undemocratic desert republic as the backdrop for its next round of global trade talks.
The upcoming WTO meetings in Qatar represent a monumental opportunity and challenge for our movement. We must continue to apply increasing pressure, but we must also adapt to a changing political and strategic situation. We propose a strategy of massive regional direct actions combined with decentralised local civil disobedience and organising campaigns as the best way forward. This will allow us to continue building energy, momentum and public visibility, while also strengthening and building our local, community-based networks.
The work in Qatar depends on the work of trade representatives from every country. It's possible to jam their work, by publicly exposing their role, physical or communication blockades, and other tactics. These actions have a symbolic value in showing the role of the state in the corporate game, and could lead to a remote-control blockade of the meeting in Qatar.
Large actions have already been discussed involving the blockading of stock exchanges in Sao Paolo, New York, San Francisco and others as well as regional work stoppages. Creative and decentralised local actions might include occupying the headquarters of a particular corporation, autonomous occupations of public services or festive occupations of large public spaces. In addition, many local networks have already discussed the possibility of engaging in a massive grassroots public education and outreach campaign surrounding the WTO and its relationship to locally relevant issues and struggles. This might involve the organising of community-based consultations, debates and public forums about the WTO meeting to build support for the November actions and to stimulate discussion of the local and global issues involved.
We call also to build open, direct GRASSROOTS democratic alternatives here and now, demonstrating that actions have their effect but we have also to start creating (more) visible alternatives. We need to create and show people answers, LIKE SOLIDARITY WITHOUT BORDERS, without waiting for the politicians' 'answers'.
The Caravan99 listserve calls for the following actions in conjunction with the WTO meetings in Qatar from November 9 to 13, 2001:
If your collective would like to co-sponsor this Call to Action or if you are planning to organise an action, campaign or event in conjunction with this initiative, please send a message to nowto@gmx.net . We will resend the message with the list of co-sponsor collectives, in a few weeks.
You could find more infomation about WTO and Qatar metting at:
www.wtoaction.org
www.nowto.org
www.wtowatch.org
Global Action against WTO
PGA call to action against WTO
PGA