Calling All Anti-Capitalists…

An Invite to an International Networking and Co-ordination Meeting (26th -27th February in Tuebingen, Southern Germany) for Those Wanting to Build Radical Resistance to the 2005 G8 Summit to be Held in the UK

 

The G8 are returning to Europe in 2005. Over the last 18 months an international network has been emerging to ensure that their meeting will not pass by uncontested. In the UK, a network of autonomous local and working groups, going by the name of Dissent! (for more about Dissent! see the end of this invite) have been spreading news about the up-coming summit and the planned resistance to it, pooling ideas and resources and dreaming up ideas for action. The opportunity provided by the European Peoples’ Global Action (PGA) Conference, which took place in Belgrade in July 2004 and the European Social Forum (ESF) in London in October, was used to begin an international dialogue between those planning resistance to the Summit.

 

Ideas and inspiration have been shared, and practical preparations have begun.

 

In Britain, a number of working groups have been working on initiatives such as a website, a newsletter, organising structures and resources for legal support, training people as street medics and touring the country explaining the issues being discussed at the Summit and the realities behind them. Across Europe and further a field, individuals, groups and networks have been producing their own anti-G8 materials, building links with groups locally, organising benefit parties and discussing what they want their role to be in the mobilisation.

 

Preparations are well underway. However, as 2005 begins and the Summit starts to come into view, it’s time to step up our efforts. If we’re to have a serious possibility of disrupting the Summit, maximise the potential for strengthening local and global networks of struggle, and develop and collectively express a critique of capitalism more substantial than that which will be propagated by the mainstream of the anti-globalisation movement, then there is no time to waste.

 

The International Meeting

As part of a discussion at the European PGA Conference about the best way to involve people from outside of the UK in organising resistance to the 2005 G8 Summit, both as a means of maximising our impact upon the Summit itself and contributing to the development of real international networks through face-to-face contact, it was decided to hold an international networking and co-ordination meeting to focus upon resisting the Summit in February 2005.

 

The meeting will take place in Tuebingen, Southern Germany on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th February 2005. The meeting is being hosted by the Tuebingen Infoladen (Info-Shop) Collective who are providing accommodation, meeting space and food. The proposed agenda which follows has been drafted by the Dissent! International Networking Group. The agenda is a draft and is open for comments, additions and alterations. Email any comments to:

info-g82005@riseup.net

 

Come along to the meeting and get involved! We will attempt to make translation into as many languages as possible available. If you require translation from English please let us know as soon as you can. Also, please get in touch if you can offer translation to or from any languages.

 

Practicalities, including more information about Dissent!, the exact location of the meetings, where to find accommodation and how to register are included at the end of this document.

 

 

Brief Overview of the Weekend

 

Friday 25th Feb 2005

Arrivals

 

Saturday 26th Feb

09:30: Introductions

10:00: Who’s Who in the Anti-G8 Mobilisation?

10:30: Dissent!: An Overview of the Story So Far…

11:00: Questions and Discussion from the Previous Sessions

11:30: The Practicalities (Convergence Centre, Action Plans etc…)

12:15: Practicalities Working Groups

13:00: Lunch

14:00: Legal Advice and Police Strategies

15:15: Action Strategies

17:00: Final Plenary

 

Sunday 27th Feb

10:00: Opening Session

10:20: Small Group Meetings (Roadshow, Indymedia etc…)

12:00: Developing a European Anti-Repression Network

Ongoing throughout the day: Follow-up Discussions and Meetings to the Previous Day

 

 

Draft Agenda

 

Friday 25th February 2005

 

Afternoon and Evening: Arrival of Participants

Arrive in Tuebingen. Food will be available.

 

Saturday 26th February 2005

 

9.30am: Introductions

A brief introduction to the weekend and a chance to agree upon a final agenda. This will also be an opportunity for people to briefly introduce themselves so that everyone can get an impression of the regions people are from and the groups and networks represented.

 

10.00am: Who’s Who in the Anti-G8 Mobilisation in the UK?

An introduction to the different groups and networks in the UK mobilising against the G8. (A coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) called ‘Make Poverty History’ and a group called ‘G8 Alternatives’, which is dominated by the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP), are organising parallel to Dissent!) Also, a brief overview of the political situation in Scotland, particularly in relation to the Summit. Followed by a chance for questions of clarification.

 

10.30am: Dissent!: An Overview of the Story So Far

A presentation by someone from Dissent! about what has happened in the UK so far in terms of developing resistance to the Summit and formulating a framework for action. This will include an explanation of the current situation in terms of (potential) Convergence Centres and other infrastructure (food, accommodation etc…) and a summary of actions currently being planned by people in the UK. This will also be an opportunity for groups and networks from outside of the UK to give people an overview of any mobilising which is being done in their areas and to present any ideas or proposals for action.

 

11:00am: Questions and Discussion

A continuation of the previous two sessions. A chance to ask questions of clarification and to discuss the issues raised. What have been experiences elsewhere of relations between radical mobilisations and more mainstream ones? What co-operation has been possible or desirable? How far can these experiences be transferred onto the current situation in the UK and Scotland in particular? How did groups and networks go about providing food and accommodation for thousands at previous mobilisations? What seems to be the most appropriate forms and focuses for action considering the issues addressed by the Summit and the political context in Scotland?

 

11:30: The Practicalities

This session has been set aside for discussing the practical things which need to be organised if the current aims and objectives in terms of infrastructure and action in the UK are to be achieved. What practical resources are required in the UK? Which actions require active support and involvement? What information (legal, logistical - i.e. maps etc…) do people based outside of the UK need in order to be able to mobilise people to come to Scotland from their areas, and to start planning actions?

 

12:15: Practicalities Working Groups

A chance to break into working groups to swap ideas and information about the practical preparations which need to be made. Suggested working groups include (i) The Convergence Centre, (ii) Regional and International Networking and Outreach, (iii) Fundraising. The people drafting this agenda felt that dealing with issues of repression is so important, and so often sidelined or postponed until after the event, that we would rather discuss this issue with everyone together on Sunday. Obviously, the list of working groups here is not final.

 

13:00-14:00: Lunch Break

 

14:00: Legal Advice and Police Strategies

This session will involve a presentation by people from the UK about the legal situation in the UK and about police strategies commonly used. It will be followed by a chance to ask questions and discuss. Please Note: Although police from across the UK will be deployed in Scotland next year, Scotland has its own police force (with it’s own tactics) who will be leading the operation and it’s own laws (different from those in England, Wales and Ireland). There is very little experience of large mobilisations in Scotland. Please accept that the advice on offer in this session will be necessarily limited.

 

15:00-15:15: Short Break

 

15:15: Action Strategies

Having heard which actions are being prepared (by people in the UK and beyond) in the earlier sessions, this will be an opportunity to break down into small groups to discuss specific actions, how their potential impact can be maximised and how those currently organising the actions can be supported. This will also be an opportunity for ideas for action which have spontaneously arisen during earlier discussions to be discussed with others. Current action ideas which can be elaborated upon in this session and which need active support include: (i) actions around the issue of precarity, (ii) actions about climate change - one of the main focuses of the G8 Summit, (iii) mass blockades of the Summit location, and (iv) supporting and initiating social and ecological projects in the area around Gleneagles together with local residents.

 

16:40: Short Break

 

17:00-18:30: Final Plenary

Feedback from groups which have met throughout the day and planning the agenda for the next day.

 

Evening: Food and Party

An Anti-Repression party is planned in Tuebingen.

 

Sunday 27th February 2005

It was felt that Saturday would raise a lot of issues, ideas and plans which would need to be dealt with in more detail on the second day of the meeting. The agenda will, therefore, be left largely open to be decided upon at Saturday’s Final Plenary. The following sessions are suggested however, some of which could take place parallel to other meetings or discussions. There are rooms booked to allow meetings to be able to run throughout the entire day.

 

10:00: Opening Session

A chance to finalise the agenda for the final day.

 

10:20: Small Group Meetings

An opportunity for people involved or interested in particular aspects of the mobilisation to meet, plan, swap ideas, share skills etc… Groups who have already confirmed that they would like a session in this slot include: (i) TRAPESE (Taking Radical Action through Popular Education and Sustainable Everything) - the group doing the anti-G8 roadshow around the UK; (ii) Indymedia - this session is intended to be a planning and co-ordination meeting for IMCistas wanting to co-ordinate coverage of, and involvement in, the anti-G8 mobilisation; and, (iii) Street-medics, this session is an opportunity for people from across Europe planning on working as street-medics in Scotland around the time of the Summit to meet and begin co-ordinating amongst themselves. Other possible meetings, for example, for those wanting to co-ordinate between different catering collectives etc… could also be run during this session. Please email:

info-g82005@riseup.net if you would like to run a workshop in this session.

 

12.00: Developing a Functioning Anti-Repression Network

Anti-Repression and legal support work has all too often been left to a small group of people and left until after the event. This is an opportunity to discuss how we, as a European (or even global) movement, want to deal with repression related to the Summit. How can we prepare? What should our response to repression be? How can we best support those affected?

 

Note: Sunday may also be an opportunity for regional networking meetings to take place.

 

 

Practicalities

 

The meeting is being hosted by the Infoladen (Info-Shop) Collective in Tuebingen, one of the PGA-Info Points in Germany. The meetings will take place at “Epplehaus” in Tuebingen (a map can be found under: www.epplehaus.de) and accommodation will either be in the same place as the meetings or in the "Wohnprojekt Schellingstrasse" (for more information see: www.schellingstrasse.de)

.

Places are unfortunately limited to 100. For this reason we would prefer it if larger groups and networks were to send delegates. Please register for the meeting as far in advance as possible, letting us know:

·         When you will be arriving.

·         How many people you will be coming with.

·         Which group(s)/network(s) you are involved with.

·         The region/area that you live in.

·         If you require accommodation.

No personal information (names etc…) are required. Please email this information to:

infoladen-tuebingen@web.de For general questions and enquiries about the meeting, comments about the agenda or for more information about Dissent!, email: info-g82005@riseup.net

 

More precise directions to both Epplehaus and Schellingstrasse will be emailed to you after you have registered and will also be available on the Dissent! website: www.dissent.org.uk

 

 

Introduction to Dissent!

 

The G8 (Group of Eight, most industrialised nations) Summits are hosted, on rotation, by the group’s member states. In 2005 the Summit is to be held in the UK at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland (around 40 miles north-west of Edinburgh). The Dissent! Network (www.dissent.org.uk), has formed to provide a networking tool to co-ordinate radical resistance to the Summit.

 

The network was formed in the autumn of 2003 by a group of people who have previously been involved in radical ecological direct action, Peoples’ Global Action (PGA), the anti-war movement and the global anti-capitalist movement which has emerged around meetings of the rich and powerful.

 

The Network has no central office, no spokespeople, no membership list and no paid staff. It’s a mechanism for communication and co-ordination between local groups and working groups involved in building resistance to the G8, and capitalism in general. It hopes to exist long after the world leaders have returned home in the early summer of 2005.

 

Dissent! is open to anybody willing to work within the Hallmarks of Peoples’ Global Action (PGA).

 

The Hallmarks are as follows:

 

1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalisation.

 

2. We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism of all creeds. We embrace the full dignity of all human beings.

 

3. A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker.

 

4. A call to direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements' struggles, advocating forms of resistance which maximise respect for life and oppressed peoples' rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism

5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.