The
European Social Forum - 14 to 17 October - London
Four
great days that you can't afford to miss...
these are just some
highlights
Thursday
14 October
* Socialist Resistance
& Rouge pre-ESF
rally at 7.30pm with Alain Krivine, Frances
Curran MSP, Ken Loach, Michel Warschawski, Joao
Machado, Karen O'Toole, Josep Maria Antentas
Venue: Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, W1 (Warren
Street tube)
Friday
15 October - Bosses get a scrubbing
The ESF proper kicks off at 9am in Alexandra
Palace, with a huge variety of plenaries and
seminars covering topics including war, democracy,
privatisation, racism and the environment. More
on that in future postings.
At
4pm the Canary Wharf cleaners will head up a
demonstration against their treatment by multinational
companies based in London's Docklands. The evening
sees what promises to be an electrifying rally
featuring Asher D and others speaking on rap,
racism and resistance.
Saturday
16 October - Love Music Hate Racism
Three of the new left wing parties that
have been active in the global movement against
neo-liberalism will be coming together to host
a rally at the ESF fringe-Britain's Respect,
Brazil's P-Sol and Italy's Rifondazione Comunista.
That
evening sees a pan-European anti-fascist concert
at the Astoria in central London, promoted by
Love Music Hate Racism and Ethical Threads.
The line-up includes Billy Bragg, Lady Sovereign,
Skitz & Rodney P, plus Carbon/Silicon-ex-Clash
guitarist Mick Jones's new band.
Sunday
17 October - Action after the debates
The Assembly of the Social Movements meets all
morning at Alexandra Palace. This is the umbrella
body for all the anti-capitalist and anti-war
organisations involved in the ESF. It will launch
pan-European protests against next year's G8
summit in Scotland.
The
ESF comes to a climax with a huge demonstration
against George Bush, the
occupation of Iraq and and neo-liberal privatisation.
The
closing concert in Trafalgar Square will include
Dot Allison of Massive Attack performing with
ex-Libertines frontman Pete Doherty. Asian Dub
Foundation will also perform their new soundtrack
to the classic anti-imperialist film The
Battle of Algiers.
War
and peace
George Galloway, Aleida Guevara (daughter of
Che) and Ahmed Ben Bella, hero of the Algerian
independence struggle, will be among the speakers
at a meeting on "Challenging US imperialism".
Tony
Benn and Eamonn McCann, the veteran Northern
Irish socialist, will take part in a session
on "Overcoming wars in Europe".
Lindsey
German, convenor of the Stop the War Coalition,
will join Iraqi trade union leader Subhi al-Mashadani
at a meeting on "Ending the occupation
of Iraq".
Alex
Callinicos, author of The New Mandarins of American
Power, will be speaking at a session debating
"Is Europe an alternative to US Empire?"
Democracy
and fundamental rights Angela Davis, the inspirational
American civil rights activist, will join
women's rights campaigners and feminists from
across the world to debate "Women struggling
against oppression".
Social
justice and solidarity
Meena Menon, leading activist with India's mill
workers' unions, will join
RMT general secretary Bob Crow to discuss "Labour
rights against
casualisation, exploitation and deregulation".
Michael
Albert, editor of the ZNet radical website,
joins Jonathan Neale of
Globalise Resistance and Susan George, author
and campaigner, to debate
"What kind of a world do we want?"
Campaigning
journalist John Pilger will be speaking at a
meeting to discuss
"Culture, education, intellectual property
and the media".
Corporate
globalisation and global justice
Evo Morales, the Bolivian radical activist,
joins Mark Curtis of the World Development movement
at a session entitled "Our world is not
for sale".
Tariq
Ramadan, the renowned Muslim theorist recently
barred from a teaching post in the US, is among
the speakers at a meeting on "Voices of
resistance
from the global South".
Walden
Bello, the head of Focus on the Global South,
will join speakers from G8 Alternatives, the
mobilising group for next year's demonstrations
in Scotland, at a meeting entitled "G8:
global poverty and protest".
Against
racism and the far right
Anas Altikriti, Respect candidate at the June
elections and former president of the Muslim
Association of Britain, will join other speakers
to discuss
"Muslims in Europe: perspectives and challenges".
Ken
Livingstone, who chairs Unite Against Fascism,
joins speakers from France, Greece, Poland and
Hungary at a session on "Stopping fascism
and the
far right in Europe".
Environmental
crisis
José Bové, the French author,
farmer and anti-McDonald's activist, joins campaigning
journalist George Monbiot and others to debate
"Environmental
crisis and European responsibility".
Samir
Amin, the Egyptian radical economist, and Ann
Pettifor of the New Economics Foundation discuss
"Ending the myth of development and growth".
Go to www.fse-esf.org to register for
the 2004 European Social Forum in London
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