[Cja] [climate09-int] The Future of CJA ; dissolve or find a new course

Tue Aug 24 11:30:27 UTC 2010

Dear CJA

Unfortunately I shan't be able to make the international climate meeting -
which as I understand it is a CJA one? - this weekend in Holland. Anyhow, in
terms of future course, this is what I was going to suggest there, if I had
been able to afford the journey.

I would like to suggest CJA definitely does not dissolve (well, at least,
not in the sense intended) but rather takes full advantage of its amazingly
diverse international reach and radicalism. Definitely we should stay
together and we should develop itself strategically as a global network,
but I think we should widen our appeal while also staying true to our
radicalism.

With this in mind I strongly believe we should be uniting under one banner
that goes beyond, but includes Climate Justice. The sanctity of the
environment requires a localisation of political economy, while at the same
time globalisation requires a grassroots movement for democratisation /
people power with which to transform the increasingly hegemonic forces of
state and capitalism. We should set our sights there and put it into the
environmental and wider context in one move.

Therefore we should accept that the seizure, or reclaimation of power by the
people in each and every neighbourhood, workplace and/or other institutions
across the world is, and always has been the aim of the global justice
movement, and we should therefore be brave, and purposefully put ourselves
as a group on the line with that express medium to long term aim.

It may seem like an impossible task but what other alternative is there, and
what other network is remotely in a position to work toward that? We may
seem dispersed, but we will have allies (aswell as enemies, and those who
are unsure of what side to be on) in each and every community - those
believing in community, people power and equality, aswell as environmental
guardianship are everywhere and we need to join the dots for people to see
these are all of a piece.

So it may seem like an enormous and impossibly ambitious task, but just by
making it clear what we stand for, and getting started on it we will be
moving forward together and magical things will happen, inshallah.

Therefore, we should get our politics in order (see below for some
suggestions drafted by myself and colleagues in the UK below) and then start
organising at whatever scale we feel appropriate to our local conditions
(township, city, nation, local neighbourhood) Peoples Assemblies (or whateve
you want to call them, for want of a better word, Soviets.. :-) ) and
actually begin that process of collective united struggle for the
democratisation and ecologification of globalisation. By communicating to
each other our successes, failures, needs and what we have to offer - via
emails, video blogs, skype conference calls, actual meetings we can then
begin to build a genuine solidarity, and really use this and othe
international lists, and web services to the amazing purpose to which they
lend themselves...

These are extraordinary (and dangerous) times in which anything is possible.
Country-wide, worldwide, Europe wide, if we work strategically and do not
allow ourselves to dissipate we really can do this now. If not now, when? If
not us, who?

Here in London and the UK some of us have been working on the idea of
uniting under the banner of Peoples Assemblies. After occupying Parliament
Square for 3 months as "Democracy Village" (with Peoples Assemblies,
discussions, decisions and direct actions takling place every day) we were
eventually evicted by the Mayor of London. Here a lot of the energy was put
into the campaign to get the troops out of Afghanistan, but also the camp
was an eco-village, and we were consciously linked, and spoke about in the
media, the International community of climate justice activists and the call
for PAs that had come, albeit shakily from CJA. Since our eviction the
authorities have boarded up the whole of Parliament Square, but Democracy
Village Peoples Assembly has been meeting in Victoria Tower Gardens and we
are now planning a Democracy Rally and Peoples Assembly in Trafalgar Square
in October. We are also calling on the growing domestic anti-cuts alliance
to see the importance of decentralised organising in communities, Peoples
Assembly structures as both a way of helping one another (and the
environment) in the community, resistance to state-capitalist solutions and
building the new society all in one go.

Here are some of the thoughts on PAs, and the idea of Democracy
Village, including political ideology that have been put forward in the UK.
For an iconic symbol that can be recognised and replicated (and also drawn
upon according to local conditions) some people are suggesting blank
placards

A. http://www.aworldtowin.net/frontline/BuildPeoplesAssemblies.html
B. Peoples Assemblies and the world we believe they can bring about

Values:

Equality - each person is able to speak and be listened to -  there is no
elite platform
Difference - we learn from each other's perspectives; we may disagree, but
we listen to one another respectfully and our views become refined through
the experience
Solidarity - we are together because we believe in the existence of a common
agenda. In spite of our differences, we pursue and find consensus over ideas
and shared actions
Sharing - we believe in a society in which sharing and co-operation trump
competition. We freely share food and other gifts at our meetings
Secularity - we respect and are happy to learn from different belief systems
but are committed to the ideal of secularism
Ecology - we believe in a new, really democratic society with a very
low/zero carbon footprint
Self-determination - we struggle for a new kind of freedom based on
community nurturing true individuality, and vice versa - "It takes a village
to bring up a child"

Democratic Processes:
(1) Peoples Assemblies make decisions horizontally
(2) Peoples Assemblies are interested to learn about, try out and embody new
democratic practices

Core Aims:
(1) Real Democracy - PAs should find ways to campaign for a really
ecological, democratic society at local, national and global levels
(2) Decentralisation - to bring this about sovereignty should be vested at
the neighbourhood / community / workplace level
(3) Internationalism - PA communities link up in solidarity and support
across the world
(4) Ideals - we are interested to bring about a world based on a
Reclaimation of the Commons, Truth, Peace, Sustainability, Justice and
Compassion above all things and we are willing to fight non-violently to
this end
(5) Peoples Assembly movement - to bring these aims about we are calling for
a movement based on the idea of Peoples Assemblies

Ideology:
(1) local, democratic not private or state led provision of public services
(the real third way)
(2) really democratic, people powered globalisation not capitalist or
state-led (the real third international)
(3) a new appropriate political economy to match
C.
http://gco2e.blogspot.com/2010/08/geoarchy-goal-of-peoples-assmeblies.html
D. http://www.peopleincommon.org/archive/C421.html

Up the global revolution

Mark

On 24 August 2010 10:49, Peter / GroenFront! <peter at groenfront.nl> wrote:

> Dear friends,
>
> The next meeting op Climate Justice Action should, in my view , have just
> one agenda point. Dissolve the network of not.
>
> Climate Justice Action was formed to mobilise for Copenhagen. In 2009 it
> was a lively, planet wide network that was powerfull enough to make a stand
> in the streets of Copenhagen. In all the stress and rush to prepare for that
> event, we forgot to think about the future of the network itself. As a
> result many people dropped out after the Copenhagen summit. Discussions at
> the last two meetings have focused on finding a cause to keep the network
> alive. The standard recipe of global day of actions was brought up.  But
> that's not enough to keep people motivated and keep the network alive.
> The meeting in bonn only had 30 people, the next meeting in Holland looks
> to be even smaller. Tasks taken up  in Bonn haven't been done.
>
> Apperently the time and energy to keep the network alive isn't there any
> more. Most likely because the network is missing a concrete common goal. A
> battle to prepare for.
> I think it is time to face facts, and dissolve CJA as it is at this
> moment.
>
> I would be good to keep the mailing list up, to make contacts easier, or
> maybey organize a conference on Climate justice in Europe. But to keep
> dragging the burden of an international network would be a mistake. It will
> drain the time and energy needed elsewhere, and give people the false hope
> that we are able to mobilise large amounts of activist for future actions.
>
> I ofcourse hope to be mistaken, and see lot's of angry people at the next
> meeting to oppose my proposal. If not come over to have a drink at the
> campfire. I hope anyway to see you all on the barricades , somewhere,
> sometime.
>
> Peter Polder
>
>
> --
> skype:peterpolder
> www.groenfront.nl
>
>
>
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-- 
"We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet /Yet is there no
man speaketh as we speak in the street.”
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