Re: AUT: ESF in London

[david.graeber@xxxxxxxx]

To build on Steve's comment: one of the more scandalous
things about the latest ESF is that there actually was
a London Social FOrum, created by the "horizontals"
(anarchists, autonomists, etc) which tried to build itself
up in the same grassroots fashion, but the "verticals"
(SWP, Livingston folk, etc) completely sidestepped it
when they started work on the London ESF. That was actually
the first cause of the bad feelings which culminated in
the actions, arrests, and so forth.
   David



Quoting stevphen shukaitis <stevphen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> that would certainly be my impression - not just with exclusions that
> have
> occurred in brazil (I believe that the local anarchists have been
> exlcuded
> from planning there also) - but some of the bizarre power dynamics
> that
> were even broadcasted during the WSF last year, for instance the
> denial of
> independent press and Indymedia folks as having access to the media
> room
> (implication: activist media isn't "real" media)
>
> seeing as the WSF was cooked up during a meeting in the office of Le
> Monde
> Diplomatique, I think, it's not surprising that these kinds of
> dynamics
> filter through it - even if unfortunate. well, for the most part. the
> New
> York Social Forum, by cobtrast, has developed in way that actually
> built
> all sorts of collaborations and networks between radicals and more
> liberal
> organizers. for instance I can remember a meeting where a local
> homeless
> support group was getting all excited about more militant tactics as
> they
> were finding out about Ya Basta / White Overalls style actions.
> whether or
> not they have used such, I don't know - but in that case is certainly
> was
> serving a different function and did not seem to be as divisive as
> in
> this, or many cases.
>
> cheers
> stevphen
>
>
>
> > Hi all,
> > How new are the problems with the ESF in London, as compared to
> other
> > social forums elsewhere? I read somewhere that the PT in Brazil
> > excluded the EZLN, the FARC, and some other armed group from
> > participating in the WSF in Porto Alegre. (I can try to chase up
> the
> > reference if anyone's interested.) Is this a case of 'the English
> > messed it up', or is this a continuing example of a problem within
> the
> > social forum millieu?
> > best,
> > Nate
> >
> >
> >      --- from list aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
> >
>
>
> stevphen shukaitis
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