by New Left Current Greece (NAR)
For An International Anticapitalist- Antiimperialist Meeting In Athens On Spring 2006
On the 4-7 May of 2006, Athens will be host to the European Social Forum. The conducts of Forums constitute international political events that affect not only the movements of the later years (movement against globalization and anti-war movement), but also the future of the international left movements. They give rise to several conversations and initiatives of all currents associated to these movements. Moreover, these events affect the political balances of every country, by strengthening several viewpoints or undermining others concerning the left and especially the revolutionary left and its perspective.
We believe that it is necessary to underline our view in the conversations that will take place during that period, through the conduction of a great international anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist meeting in Athens. Therefore, there is the need to reach an agreement concerning the context and the specific formation of the meeting, its international aspects, the components that may participate, and its relation with the general effort for the creation of the pole of the anti-capitalist Left.
Integration Or Anticapitalist Struggle?
It has been a while since the upmost moment of the movement against globalization in Genova, as well as from the “battle of Thessaloniki 2003”. Since then several important events have happened, not only concerning the politics of the rivals but also concerning the international left. The enlargement of the EU and the beginning of the integration process of Turkey, the continuous so called laws against terrorism, the Bolgenstain directives, the endless war in Iraq, the new phase of the imperialistic plans in the area (independence of Kosovo, Montenegro), the course of events in Palestine, form the general field of the wider plans of capital, internationally.
On behalf of the international left there also is important progress that has brought about the discussion, the interest and the expectations for millions of persons concerning the future of the left.
First of all, there is the great victory of the rejection of the European Constitution in both France and Holland and the dynamics that this produced. Then, there is the success of the “Left Party” in German, the formation process of the “center-left coalition” in Italy as well as the first Congress of the European Left Party that took place on the 27-29/10 in Athens.
Of great importance are also the recent events in Latin America (Venezuela, Bolivia), as well as in Asia (with the recent rural mobilizations in India). The basic conclusion of the above is that despite the blows the movement has experienced, as well as the great difficulties of the period, we witness the birth of contradictory, challenging currents against the new order, that are capable of creating significant political facts, forcing all the existing left political currents to take a stand in order to affect them.
Will these great movements of the past years lead the way towards a direct reformist, even governmental logic, will they become the path for the “renewal” and in particular “via the movement” of a new round of center-left proposals, or will they become the starting point for the emergence of several radical, anti-capitalist and revolutionary political currents of the next period? This is the main political question of this period.
We believe that the conduction of the Congress of the “European Left Party”, as well as the European Social Forum in Athens move towards the first direction, meaning the direction of the reformist and governmental Left. We, on the contrary, should act decisively aiming at the growth of the second logic. The relation between the European Left Party and the conduction of the Forum is obvious, as the majority of the leading forces of the European Left Party are also the main forces of the Forum. (Communistic Re-foundation Party, Coalition of the Left etc).
The programmatic base of the structure of the European Left Party is openly administrative and considers itself as part of the central-left, of the EU with a “human face”, of the embellishment of the European imperialistic center and its emergence as “the opponent awe against the USA”, that may even justify the wars (in the name of keeping “equal distances”, between the USA and the “terrorism”) .
Given the hegemony of the forces of the European Left Party inside the Forum, we can estimate that the basic political orientation of the European Social Forum in May 2006 will be the strengthening and the establishment of the hegemony of the above ideas within the movement. Therefore, we stand contradictory and we clearly dissociate ideologically, politically and organizationally from this process.
Naturally, the European Social Forum does not identify with the European Left Party. Within the European Social Forum participate radical forces that are not members of the European Left Party. The French LCR, the English SWP, the independent trade unions SUD and COBAS, and many others forces such as the Attack. Hence, the European Social Forum constitutes an alliance among several powers that either move towards a reformist and European-friendly logic, or towards a radical and sometimes anti-capitalist logic, but under the hegemony of the first. The first currents determine the orientation and the limits of the whole effort. The second ones take over the role of the opposition, trying to force the Forum to move towards more “left prospects” and by doing that, they lose contact with the social radicalism, the possibility of the growth of the movement and the independent political action, all in the name of the “wide intervention in the lowbases of the reformist political forces”.
The arguments on behalf of the radical left forces concerning their participation to the European Social Forum are weak. Because no one can truly assert that within the Forum a radical political orientation exists, so the only thing one may say is that the Forum is a neutral field of dialogue and a field in which several social voices of opposition coexist. However, the Forum is neither of the above. It is an extremely controlled as well as bureaucratically structured “field of dialogue” in which certain forces have several privileges, while others are excluded, and this is something that is decided in advance. But even if it was an open field of dialogue this, would not mean much. We do not wish to discuss about the future of the labour movement with the bureaucratic leadership of the reformist labour movement. Not to mention what will happen when we will try to reach to certain conclusions. Moreover the European Social Forum is not so Social as it claims. It is not about a meeting of several social organizations but a meeting of certain political forces and certain social organizations with certain political ideas.
Considering the “social organizations”, the bureaucratic organizations like GSEE (National Workers’ Union of Greece), do not represent any “social or fighting current”. On the contrary they have become a bourgeois institution, an institution of the bourgeois class within the trade-union movement. Not to mention that in the organizational committee of the Forum in Athens, participate the majority of the bourgeois trade unionism (GSEE, ADEDY, EKA and other Labour Centers). As far as the political forces that participate, we can speak for a “firm” coalition of the party of the Collation of the Left with some organizations of the extra-parliamentary left (Network of Social and Political Rights, Internationalist Labour Left, Communist Organization of Greece etc.)
For An Independent Anticapitalist Antiimperialist Meeting
Taking into consideration the experience of the previous Forums, these days are days of meetings and discussions among the forces that relate with the movement against globalization, the labour movement etc.. This is understandable because:
a) despite the different and competitive tendencies within the labour movement, the movement itself has an independence and is a point of reference for numerous different political currents, b) there exists a wide “intermediary part of political forces” (some are dissidents within the Forum, others are outside the Forum but they keep an eye on what it does), and c) the sense of the transitivity of our period enforces the trend towards wider discussions, and the Forum attempts to appear as the leading force in that direction.
The rich experience of the activity of the radical and anti-capitalist currents during the last period allow us to conclude that the success or not of the several “alternative formations” depends on the political direction, the social factor and the context of the activity of the currents that constitute them.
Therefore, it is necessary for the radical left to form a massive, multiform and rich in context, independent, national and international political activity, during the days of the European Social Forum in Athens. Aiming at the formation of an independent Anti-capitalist, Anti-imperialist Meeting.
The political objective of this meeting is to enforce the communication and the political unification of the widest possible radical potential that exists, in the working places and the places that the youth gathers, in the neighborhoods, speaking for issues such as the ecology, the political theory and the civilization. Consequently we want this meeting to become an essential step towards the formation – from bellow, of a left, anti-capitalist political current in our society.
This objective is of great importance concerning the economic situation nowadays, where the radical left movement is facing great and total battles. We speak about the social field and the unlimited attack to the labour and youth rights, the evolutions in the political system, the turn towards the parliamentary and administrative totalitarianism that will be countersigned by the New Constitution. All these battles will form the balance between the ruling block of power and the forces fighting for the subversion of the situation, moreover, they will form the future of the left. But, in order for these struggles to succeed there is a need for a higher level of context and of political unification among the forces of the social and political, radical left. The International Anti-capitalist, Anti-imperialist Meeting can and must contribute towards this direction.
The success of the meeting will strengthen the political ability, independence and self-confidence of the members of the radical left, convincing them that they are able to produce significant and massive political facts. It will be a powerful answer against the logic which claims that relating to the lowbases of the parties of the reformist left, in our case the Forum and consequently the Coalition of the Left, is the only way for the development of a massive anti-capitalist movement in our society. For decades now, it has been clearly proved that whoever choose to put himself under the political and organizational frame of the opponent forces, trying to become their “left and reliable version”, not only does he influence these forces, but gradually is alerted and becomes a part of their current.
The formation of an anti-capitalist current in the society will never be created through the “political initiatives” of one current within the base of another. It will be formed through the development of the social and class confrontation fighting for the changing of the balance between labour and capital, for the emergence of a totally different political perception and the formation of those political and organizational structures that will promote these ideas in everyday life.
The Struggle Initiative managed to affect some social parts, due to its views and practice. It managed to do so not because it “propagandized the need” of a fighting anti-imperialist action, but for carrying out this action, for performing the struggle at Souda. Not because it wasted its time trying to convince the Coalition of the Left for the need of several anti-EU actions but for demonstrating on the 16th of April during the Athens Summit for the EU Enlargement. Not because it tried hard to convince the base of Forum that it was necessary to break the red zone at Marmara, but for doing it. Only through the real and everyday action one can manifest openly to the society that the way we suggest is not only necessary but also possible. When one political current chooses to abandon the independence of its effort, diffusing itself into the political and organizational forms of other powers “trying to affect them”, then, it can easily become another one of the many “left alibi” of forces like the Coalition of the Left, the forces that constitute the more right-wing and reformist forces within the left…
Therefore the conducting as well as the success of the International Anticapitalist – Antiimperialist Meeting, is of great importance for every fighting person who does not wish to witness the radical action of the movement to be wasted into the field of the administrative left. The international Anticapitalist Antiimperialist Meeting should and may be:
1. A voice for the development and the strengthening of the anticapitalist and revolutionary answers concerning the fundamental problems of our period. Against the idea which claims that the today’s strategic attack of the murderous capitalism cannot be confronted, therefore abandons the revolutionary struggle and restricts itself in fighting for the comeback of the “welfare state”, we promote the idea of the anticapitalist struggle and the communist refoundation, aiming at the overthrow of capitalism.
2. A voice of communication and unification of the activity of all the political initiatives, the left groups and the independent fighters. This “field” can truly play a role in the existence and the initiatives of the independent, radical currents in the working places and the youth places, in the neighborhoods, in the promotion of the antiwar action, in the theory and the culture. It can become a place of reference for every social and political effort that the radical Left tries to form in every place, facing so many difficulties.
3. It can be a voice of international communication, information, and coordination of the many different currents that also act socially and politically, trying to form an independence anticapitalist prospect, diversifying themselves from the today’s reformist and governmental left.
We speak about several significant parts of the movements that have an independent, radical activity. These are powers that belong to the field of the independent and radical left. Here, we must note that the presence of organizations from the Middle East and Turkey, Palestine, the Balkans etc. is very important. As it is the presence of independent parts of the movement against globalization such as the PGA, or even particular initiatives (Kristian Rakofski Balkan Center). Finally, we speak about the voices that are questioning and criticize from within the big parties of the left and the radical left in Europe (Communist Re-foundation, Left Block in Portugal, League etc).
The discussion can first focus in five categories, and there will be many workshops, initiatives etc, during those days and before.
• Work and Labour Movement nowadays.
• War in our region and worldwide.
• Environment, city and the movements of the cities.
• Youth – Education and student movement today.
• The Left and the possibility of subversion in the period of murderous capitalism in Europe and the world.
The organizational committee and the web page is open to proposals and ideas for discussions and laboratories, up to the middle of April.
International Anticapitalist Antiimperialist Meeting of Athens,
4-7 May, Pantio University, Athens
