European Social Forum

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The European Social Forum (ESF) was a recurring conference held by members of the

global issues, in order to coordinate campaigns, share ideas and refine organizing strategies. It emerged from the World Social Forum and follows its Charter of Principles
.

First ESF

The first forum was held in

15 February Global day of action against the war.[2]

Before its opening the ESF created a large political debate between different

Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest, from 18 July to 22 July 2001. Florentine individuals, such as the controversial journalist Oriana Fallaci, intervened in the debate. Fallaci invited the people of Florence to shut up every shop and stay in their houses. She also compared the ESF to the nazi occupation of Florence. Other opponents of the ESF included the political scientist Giovanni Sartori, a liberal critic of Silvio Berlusconi's government but an admirer of the United States, and the filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, whose right-wing political views were already well-known. Another group of intellectuals from various political strands defended the ESF and signed an appeal favourable to the meeting. Among these were the journalist Tiziano Terzani
and the organizers of the "professors' movement" (a group of university professors that had organized both a demonstration and discussion groups against Berlusconi's policies).

In fact, the European Social Forum, which occupied the historical

ATTAC and the left-wing parliamentarians. At the end of the meeting, even pro-globalists such as the then president of the European Commission Romano Prodi
showed sympathy for the moderation of the movement and for its pacifist stance.

A network of volunteer

translators, Babels
, was set up to interpret the event into the various languages of the people attending.

Second ESF

The demonstration at the ESF in Paris 2003

The second European Social Forum was held in Paris in November 2003.

Organizers claim that over 50,000 people attended and that around 150,000 marched in the demonstration held on the last day.

In France there has been some criticism of the organization for not being open enough. The participation of the

Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire
.

Some

women's forum was held in the days preceding the social forum
, in order to counteract the perceived under-representation of women at the first ESF. It is claimed that over 3,000 women attended.

Third ESF

One of many packed meetings at the ESF 2004

The third European Social Forum was held in London, mostly at Alexandra Palace but also with events throughout the Bloomsbury area of London on the 15–17 October 2004.

The organisers claimed that approximately 25,000 people took part in 500 plenaries, seminars, workshops, and cultural events, which were addressed by over 2,500 speakers. Participants came from across the continent and even from beyond the boundaries of European Union.

This forum showed a marked increased in participation from minority groups such as black, Asian, Muslim, and refugee networks. More women were represented on the speaker platforms than in previous forums. The forum also included for the first time a three-day cultural programme [1] organised through open submission through the ESF website.

Well known participants and speakers included Ahmed Ben Bella, the leader of the Algerian resistance to French rule, Dr Aleida Guevara, daughter of Che, George Galloway, a leading figure in the UK anti-war movement, and Dr Mustafa Barghouti from Palestine. Activist writers such as Susan George, John Pilger and George Monbiot were prominent, and Gerry Adams was one of many Irish figures speaking. The Forum opened with a rally in Southwark Cathedral.

Unlike the Paris forum, in London there was initially no money provided to pay for events. Funding eventually came from the

UNISON
(the UK's largest public sector union), which provided funds, office space, subsidised tickets for unemployed and asylum seeker attendees and paid for some of the meeting space at Alexandra Palace.

The British

Globalise Resistance, the Tobin Tax Network and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
were central to bringing the event to London.

Other groups, for instance the London Social Forum, felt that the main organizing approach was too top-down and instead set up "horizontally" organised fringe events. These were known as the 'autonomous' or 'beyond' ESF events. Participants ranged from

socialists
.

The Millennium Dome was turned into a giant hostel for over 5,000 participants to sleep in during the course of the event.

Greens
was also in the audience (not shown).

occupation
and who surged towards the stage when he attempted to address the 2,000 strong audience. The ESF's security took no chances and dragged a furious Mashadani from the stage for his own protection. The "End the Occupation" session was stopped, a first in the history of the ESF.

Later in the day an intervention was made by some of those who had been involved with the

FBI (such as taking Indymedia servers down with international articles). After the intervention, the originally planned meeting about anti-fascism
went ahead but with a reduced audience. These events echoed the attempts by anarchists to attack French Socialist Party speakers in the Paris forum, an attack that was stopped by security.

The end of the forum saw a massive international demonstration through central London and a rally at

Invisible Theatre.[4][unreliable source?] The size of the rally was seen as a sign of its success as an event, though many European critics noted that all of the speakers were British and chosen by the British organisers.[citation needed] Estimations of the numbers present ranged from 70,000 to 100,000 people.[citation needed
] Speakers called for an end to war, racism and privatisation. They advocated peace and social justice for Europe.

Fourth ESF

Athens ESF poster

The fourth European Social Forum was held in Athens,[5] Greece on 4–7 May 2006. According to the organizers, more than 35,000 registered. The demonstration on 7 May, Saturday afternoon, was announced by the media to have a participation of 80,000 demonstrators, a record in Athens since the anti-war mobilisation on February 15, 2003.

Fifth ESF

The fifth European Social Forum was held in Malmö, Sweden on 17–21 September 2008. Approximately 20,000 people were expected to participate in the forum.[6]

Sixth ESF

The sixth European Social Forum was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 1–4 July 2010.[7]

İstanbul

Criticism

As a major political event that brings together highly diverse

social movements from across Europe,[8] the ESF has been praised and criticized by various actors, both inside and outside the Forum. While outsiders, especially the mainstream media, tend to focus on "scandalous" singular events, groups, or persons and interpret them as representative for the ESF as a whole, insiders have mainly criticized various aspects of the ESF organizing process.[9]

Criticism in relation to the fifth ESF (Malmö)

In the demonstration after the European Social Forum 2008 in Malmö, controversial political figures such as Abdullah Öcalan and Fidel Castro were praised by some demonstrators. 300[citation needed] of the demonstrators were masked, although it was forbidden. Some demonstrators attempted to break a bank window and threw bottles and stones.[10][11][12]

The liberal Swedish daily Sydsvenskan considered it "disgusting" that the ESF 2008 hosted a panel discussion on how ”

PLO and PLFP. The seminar was organized by Mikael ”micro” Cromsjö, whose blogs host "unholy alliances of right and left extremism". According to the seminar summary, a secret elite alliance has been pursuing Global Order with a single money, government and army, for hundreds if not thousands of years.[13]

Criticism in relation to anti-capitalist positions

According to Sydsvenskan, the countries that have permitted "free trade and liberal politics", "have seen poverty and need decline, in some cases dramatically". "As the NGOs of rich countries oppose globalization by signs, slogans and stone storms in the name of poor countries, Africans and Asians call for more free trade, capitalism and globalization." According to a study by the "respected Pew Research Center" of 40,000 people, almost everywhere, particularly in Africa and Asia, a majority of people has a positive attitude on globalization".[14]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Walgrave, Stefaan & Rucht, Dieter (2010): Introduction. In: Stefaan Walgrave & Dieter Rucht (Eds.): The world says no to war: Demonstrations against the War on Iraq. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, pp. xiii–xxvi. p. xiii
  2. ^ see also: Murray, Andrew & German, Lindsey (2005): Stop the war: The story of Britain's biggest mass movement. London: Bookmarks. p. 107
  3. ^ "National Assembly Against Racism Declaration". antisystemic.org. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  4. ^ Javier Ruiz. "PGA Considered As Neoist Invisible Theatre". antisystemic.org. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  5. ^ Brochures at the forum
  6. ^ ESF2008.org
  7. ^ "Home". esf2010.org.
  8. ^ See the survey results reported in: della Porta, Donatella (Ed.) (2009) Another Europe: Conceptions and Practices of Democracy in the European Social Forums. Abingdon: Routledge.
  9. ^ Haug, Christoph; Haeringer, Nicolas & Mosca, Lorenzo (2009): The ESF organizing process in a diachronic perspective. In: Donatella della Porta (Ed.) Another Europe: Conceptions and Practices of Democracy in the European Social Forums. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 26–45.
  10. ^ Gripande vid stenkastning i Malmö Archived 2011-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, Svenska Television (svt.se), 20.9.2008
  11. ^ Massiv polisinsats vid demonstration Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Svenska Television (svt.se), 20.9.2008
  12. ^ YOUR TAX MONEY AT WORK, Johan Norberg, 20.9.2008
  13. ^ a b "Obehagliga inslag på ESF-seminarierna" Archived 2010-08-25 at the Wayback Machine, Sydsvenskan 6.9.2008
  14. ^ Det goda livet, Sydsvenskan, Editorial Jan 19, 2004

First ESF

Second ESF

Third ESF

Fourth ESF

Fifth ESF

External links

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