April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal
April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal
The main political parties have recently conducted their primaries to elect those that will fly their flags in the forthcoming general election in April. Very tragically these so-called primaries have once again revealed the well-known fact that all the ruling parties are being led by highly undemocratic elements who mainly believe that political parties are mere platforms needed to acquire underserved power and wealth for themselves, collaborators and family members. That why all the ruling parties from the PDP to the so-called opposition parties organised so-called primaries where only the highest bidders won and or those arbitrarily imposed by the leaders. Notwithstanding the numerous, reported anomalies and technical and political problems which dominated the recently concluded voters registration exercise, INEC has subsequently come out to announce that it has registered about 63.9 million Nigerians. Most importantly therefore, it is the now the central responsibility of the conscious layers of workers and youths to warn and mobilise the vast majority of the working people that this vicious cycle of mass poverty in the midst of abundance and corrupt rules, will continue to be the lot of the masses under the prevailing unjust disorder. That only a genuine workers’ and poor people government based on collective ownership of the main natural resources and financial wealth of the society under the democratic control and management of the working people themselves can provide a lasting basis for free and fair elections where one person, one vote will truly count! Starting in earnest to build an independent political platform of the working people is therefore the most crucial political test that faces the working masses today. www.socialistworld.net The World Social Forum and the battle for COP17 Vishwas Satgar First Published in Pambazuka 19 February 2011 In a world plunged ever deeper into an uncivilised global capitalist condition, the World Social Forum is a crucial beacon of hope. But while news of Egypt and Tunisia's revolutions electrified activists at this year's gathering in Dakar, Vishwas Satgar asks whether progressive civil society is powerful enough to organise for a genuine climate change solution at COP17. In a world plunged ever deeper into an uncivilised global capitalist condition, the World Social Forum (WSF) is a crucial beacon of hope. At its recent gathering in Senegal, the news of the unfolding democratic revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt electrified the spirit of optimism pervading the multiple axes of deliberation. The geometry of left politics was redrawn from Latin America to North Africa and the Arab world. The expressions of people's power in these revolutions defied inherited formulaic understandings of 20th century revolutions. Instead of vanguards and armed uprisings, these revolutions organised without organisation through social media and the unstoppable mass surge of discontent. Egypt and Tunisia also fired an imagination for more: Could people's power be harnessed to end the tenuous grip of neoliberal ideology on a world scale? Could the struggles in Latin America, the Maghreb, the Arab world, global climate change negotiations and beyond be connected to frame a new horizon for global transformation?
However while this renewed confidence in popular resistance struck a militant chord, the sharp edge of debates on climate change revealed serious limits to World Social Forum politics and the difficulties ahead for a genuine climate change solution at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP17) in Durban. This came through as hard lessons were drawn from the recent Copenhagen and Cancun climate negotiations. Progressive civil society was divided at Cancun. NGO technocrats, donor-driven agendas, big egos, celebrity intellectuals and hard-lined social movement agendas prevented a common voice and united agenda to prevail outside the negotiations in the streets. Such a 'rainbow like plurality' prevailed in the deliberations at the WSF and was consistent with its long established ethos. However, as the week unfolded, it was the Climate Justice current that took the initiative to be self-critical and address the weaknesses of progressive civil society. This was laudable and the 'Basis of Unity' document it tried to shape in the closing hours of the WSF is a step in the right direction, but is extremely constrained by crucial weakness of the WSF. First, the national and regional forums of the WSF are uneven but generally weak or nonexistent. The follow through required to keep focus and momentum on the 'Basis of Unity' document is going to be difficult to sustain. Second, the WSF has not evolved to a point where it can coordinate in a democratic manner a platform of actions at transnational and national levels. It is a great space to philosophise about actions to change the world, globalise critique, share experiences and form links but it lacks a strategic edge. This does not mean the WSF has to become a new 'program centred 5th international'. But given the systemic and conjunctural crisis of capitalism, it needs to find its place also at key battlefronts so that progressive humanity speaks with one voice about alternatives. The climate change negotiations are one such front where hope is taking a battering. Pluralism as strength can only be meaningful if the World Social Forum confronts this weakness and evolves in a direction that gives it a new strategic edge. Moreover, for some activists operating at a transnational level, the defeat at Cancun meant intensifying further transnational engagements. Strategy was suddenly reduced to a straight line: Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban (COP17), Rio+20 and beyond. Given the institutional weaknesses of the WSF it easily lends itself to being reduced to a moment in an ongoing transnational circuit. However, this approach did not provide pause for serious reflection on the state of climate change negotiations and more importantly why Bolivia was alone in the world in its opposition to the Cancun summit outcomes. A serious and ethical conversation of honest assessment, above petty nationalisms and narrow agendas, reveals a climate change process that is increasingly being led by an agenda that favours utilising the ecological crisis as a new outlet and fix for capitalist accumulation. Within the Cancun framework carbon trading, geo-engineering and adaptation are just some of the elements of a new green neoliberalism. The future of the delicate ecological web will be determined by financial returns, speculation and risky technologies. For the World Bank, finance and investment in climate change are the new horizon for green capitalism, a dangerous and false solution. In this context, Bolivia's argument around climate debt, rights of
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The main political parties have recently conducted their primaries to elect<br />
those that will fly their flags in the <strong>for</strong>thcoming general election in <strong>April</strong>.<br />
Very tragically these so-called primaries have once again revealed the<br />
well-known fact that all the ruling parties are being led by highly<br />
undemocratic elements who mainly believe that political parties are mere<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>ms needed to acquire underserved power and wealth <strong>for</strong><br />
themselves, collaborators and family members. That why all the ruling<br />
parties from the PDP to the so-called opposition parties organised so-called<br />
primaries where only the highest bidders won and or those arbitrarily<br />
imposed by the leaders. Notwithstanding the numerous, reported<br />
anomalies and technical and political problems which dominated the<br />
recently concluded voters registration exercise, INEC has subsequently<br />
come out to announce that it has registered about 63.9 million Nigerians.<br />
Most importantly there<strong>for</strong>e, it is the now the central responsibility <strong>of</strong> the<br />
conscious layers <strong>of</strong> workers and youths to warn and mobilise the vast<br />
majority <strong>of</strong> the working people that this vicious cycle <strong>of</strong> mass poverty in<br />
the midst <strong>of</strong> abundance and corrupt rules, will continue to be the lot <strong>of</strong><br />
the masses under the prevailing unjust disorder.<br />
That only a genuine workers’ and poor people government based on<br />
collective ownership <strong>of</strong> the main natural resources and financial wealth <strong>of</strong><br />
the society under the democratic control and management <strong>of</strong> the working<br />
people themselves can provide a lasting basis <strong>for</strong> free and fair elections<br />
where one person, one vote will truly count! Starting in earnest to build an<br />
independent political plat<strong>for</strong>m <strong>of</strong> the working people is there<strong>for</strong>e the most<br />
crucial political test that faces the working masses today.<br />
www.socialistworld.net<br />
The World Social Forum and the battle <strong>for</strong> COP17<br />
Vishwas Satgar First Published in Pambazuka<br />
19 February <strong>2011</strong><br />
In a world plunged ever deeper into an uncivilised global capitalist<br />
condition, the World Social Forum is a crucial beacon <strong>of</strong> hope. But while<br />
news <strong>of</strong> Egypt and Tunisia's revolutions electrified activists at this<br />
year's gathering in Dakar, Vishwas Satgar asks whether progressive civil<br />
society is powerful enough to organise <strong>for</strong> a genuine climate change<br />
solution at COP17.<br />
In a world plunged ever deeper into an uncivilised global capitalist<br />
condition, the World Social Forum (WSF) is a crucial beacon <strong>of</strong> hope. At<br />
its recent gathering in Senegal, the news <strong>of</strong> the unfolding democratic<br />
revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt electrified the spirit <strong>of</strong> optimism<br />
pervading the multiple axes <strong>of</strong> deliberation. The geometry <strong>of</strong> left<br />
politics was redrawn from Latin America to North Africa and the Arab<br />
world. The expressions <strong>of</strong> people's power in these revolutions defied<br />
inherited <strong>for</strong>mulaic understandings <strong>of</strong> 20th century revolutions. Instead<br />
<strong>of</strong> vanguards and armed uprisings, these revolutions organised without<br />
organisation through social media and the unstoppable mass surge <strong>of</strong><br />
discontent. Egypt and Tunisia also fired an imagination <strong>for</strong> more: Could<br />
people's power be harnessed to end the tenuous grip <strong>of</strong> neoliberal<br />
ideology on a world scale? Could the struggles in Latin America, the<br />
Maghreb, the Arab world, global climate change negotiations and beyond<br />
be connected to frame a new horizon <strong>for</strong> global trans<strong>for</strong>mation?