Voices from another Europe

Manifesto approved by Popular Assembly last night [May 22nd] at the Rossio Square, Lisbon, where the Rossio camp stands on its fourth day.

First Manifesto of the Rossio Square camp

The protesters, assembled in the Rossio Square, conscious that what is set in march is an act of resistance, hereby agree to state the following:

We, citizens, women and men, workers, migrants, students, unemployed and retired people, united by our indignation in front of a situation that we refuse to accept as inevitable, have taken our streets. We thus join those that around the world today fight for their rights against the constant oppression of the ruling economical-financial system.

From Reykjavik to Cairo, from Wisconsin to Madrid, a popular wave sweeps the world. This wave is silenced and twisted with disinformation by the media, the same media that doesn’t question the permanent injustices in every country, only proclaiming the inevitability of austerity, the end of rights, the funeral of democracy.

Real democracy will never exist as long as the world is managed by a financial dictatorship. The ransom signed behind our backs with the IMF and the EU has abducted democracy and our lives. The countries in which the IMF intervenes see a brutal drop in the average live expectancy. The IMF kills! We can only reject it. We refuse to have our wages, our pensions and social supports cut, while simultaneously the culprits for this crisis are spared and recapitalized. Why do we have to choose between unemployment and precarious labour? Why do they want to take away our public services, stealing us, through privatizations, of what we paid for all our lives? Our answer is no. We defend the withdrawal of the troika (IMF, EU, ECB) plan. Following the example of many countries around the world, such as Iceland, we will not accept to bury our future for a debt that isn’t ours.

We refuse to accept the theft of our future. We intend to assume control of our lives and intervene effectively in each and every process of political, social and economical life. We are doing it, today, in the popular assemblies gathered all around. We appeal to all the people to join, in the streets, in the squares, in each corner, under the shade of every statue so that, united, we may change once and for all the rules of this crooked game.

This is just the beginning. The streets are ours.

Lisbon, 22nd of May 2011

Free Hetherington summer school, Glasgow

The Free Hetherington is a permanently occupied space at Glasgow University (since February 1st). They are planning a week-long summer school for late June and early July: more details here.

European Academy for Social Movements

The European ATTAC network is running a "European Academy for Social Movements" in mid-August in Freiburg. The programme covers financial markets, democracy, alternatives to austerity, ecology, movements and unions, the North African revolutions and more. They have costs down to a minimum including accommodation, food, public transport and childcare. More details here.

Academy of activism

SpunOut.ie are running an "academy of activism" with Sarah Clancy, Mick McCaughan and other speakers in mid-June. There will be 15, free, places for young people between 18 and 25. More details here.

a living utopia

At Saturday's Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements workshop, one of the facilitators commented that the session represented elements of "a living utopia": a very diverse group of people involved in very different movements, but giving each other time and space to speak about things that concerned them, listening seriously and taking each other on board.

Another speaker saw this as "living with contradictions": fully taking on board each other's difference and appreciating that rather than trying to bury it or arrive at a quick and easy fudge. Maybe this is how we, collectively, come to embody a larger and more powerful alternative than any one of us can do individually.

I had a similar feeling at the wrap-up events for this year's MA classes, which was a very enjoyable event but also a sad one for everyone, given the links we've made with each other during the year. Despite the huge differences in where we've come from and what we're struggling around, we have come to engage very strongly with each other. Love, respect and solidarity are possible across and between movements, and a shared sense of possibility. If we can do this among ourselves in a small space under the right circumstances, it can't be impossible on the larger scale that is needed to really change things. Arundhati Roy puts this well:

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Yesterday was a quiet day.