Friends, here is a brief report on the Encuentro I wrote for a
British mag. I would not mind to continue the discussion on the
political meaning of the Falling Rate of Profit, of course if
you all feel it is relevant for this list.
Massimo
THE INTERNATIONAL OF HOPE
Massimo De Angelis*
(to appear in Red Pepper, September 1996 )
In the last twenty years peoples around the world have been the
target of neoliberal policies resulting in unemployment,
marginalization, poverty, starvation, wastelands, pollution,
increased rhythms of work, increased isolation in homes, neurosis,
suicides, reduction in wages, reduction in social security,
limitation or abolition to the access of public goods (health,
education, houses), homelessness, land expropriation, debt,
de-humanisation of collective identities, increased competition among
workers, among generations, among sexes, among ethnical groups, among
people of different nationalities resulting in sexism, racism,
xenophobia, ageism, etc. Against these effects of neoliberal
policies peoples around the world have responded with strikes, riots,
rebellions, occupations of land, schools and factories, squatting,
lobbying, public campaigns, demonstrations, radical literature,
meetings, conferences, self-organization in neighbourhood and
communities, guerrilla movements, etc. Yet, the fragmentation and the
isolation of these different forms of struggle is one the main
problems these movements face in front of a high mobility of global
capital and increasingly repressing state policies. Another
interlinked problem is the fragmentation of alternative communication
across the globe to inform, debate, propose patterns of resistance
and ways of living which are alternative to the ones imposed by
neoliberal policies.
Between the 27th of July and the 3rd of August 1996 more than three
thousands people from the five continents met in the jungle of South
East Mexico, Chiapas, in the territory held by the insurgent
Zapatista's army, hosted by indigenous communities. The participants
of this First Intercontinental Meeting against Neoliberalism and for
Humanity (shortly, Encuentro) were coming from a large variety of
social backgrounds and political affiliations: nationalists and
internationalists, revolutionaries and reformists, Trotskists and
Anarchists, hippies and academics, men and women, children and
elderly, Italian factory workers and Mexican indigenous peoples. More
than three thousands people from a huge variety of backgrounds met in
the jungle and transcended their ghettoes.
To reach the sites of the meeting, people travelled for days in
crowded long bus caravans, crossed rivers, faced the harassment of
the Mexican immigration police, were filmed by the Mexican army,
fought mosquitos bites and the risk of salmonella, cholera, typhus
and hepatitis. Someone in the international press dismissed this as
"zapatourism," evidently not realizing that Western consumers of
tourist products generally don't chose their holiday locations in
order to meet with other people and talk ways to make a new better
world.
There were five tables of work at the Encuentro. Each table then was
divided up in four subtables. In each of these were attending two
representatives of the Zapatistas, with their traditional balaclavas.
Each table (political, economic, social and cultural aspects of
neoliberalism plus a table on indigenous issues) was held in a
different aguascalientes, which is the name for the areas in which
people met, lived, ate, talked, and had fun. The aguascalientes are
the concrete expression of the tremendous organizational effort of
indigenous communities, who have built auditoriums, stages, toilets,
canteens, sleeping areas (posadas), press facilities, etc. in
isolated mountain areas of the jungle and despite the boycotting
attempts of the Mexican army.
At the end of one week of discussions, debates, chats, music and
dancing, the participants approved a document called "The Second
Declaration of the Realidad". In this declaration there are two
central operational points. First, the constitution of an
intercontinental collective network (red) of resistance and struggle
against neoliberalism and for humanity. This network "by recognising
the differences and knowing the similarities, will try to meet with
other resistances in all the world. This intercontinental network of
resistance will be the means through which the different resistances
support one another." Second, the constitution of an intercontinental
collective network of alternative communication against neoliberalism
and for humanity. "This intercontinental network of alternative
communication will be the means through which the different
resistances will communicate with each other." The declaration put
effort in emphasising that these two networks "don't have a centre of
command and a hierarchy". These networks are all of us who resist,
talk and listen at the global level. The Second Declaration of the
Realidad will be the object of global consultation in five
continental meetings planned for December 1996. These meetings will
also have the purpose to strengthen and expand the process of
networking which has already began. It will also serve as a gateway
for the Second International Meeting against Neoliberalism and for
Humanity to be held in Europe in the second half of 1997.
The process of global coordination of different resistances,
struggles and communication is of course just at the beginning. Much
the work in front of us. The Encuentro was of course not the
beginning of the struggle against neoliberalism, against the rule of
money over people. But it was the launch at the global level and
across different sectors of society of its coordination. It is a
great opportunity. It is the opportunity that many of us, those who
believe that a new life is only possible if the peoples of the entire
world participate in its construction, were waiting for.
*Massimo De Angelis is lecturer in Political Economy at the University
of East London.
For more information on the Encuentro: http://planet.com.mx/~chiapas/
Contact the author at: massimo@uel.ac.uk
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DESIRE IS PRODUCTION OF REALITY
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Massimo De Angelis
Department of Economics
University of East London
Longbridge Road
Dagenham Essex RM8 2AS
U.K.
work 0181 5907722 x2254
home 0181 9616067
fax 0181 8493549
e-mail massimo@uel.ac.uk
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