[Cja] CJA: the great fix-it-or-nix-it-debate

Wed Aug 25 06:43:05 UTC 2010

dear friends (and dare i say comrades ;-)),
it's great, and somewhat ironic, to see that there's finally some discussion regarding anything CJA-related at all. maybe it's like when my mum wanted to throw away that dusty teddybear in the corner that i never, ever played with anymore. realising that it was going to go the way of all things, i put up a big fight, and won. it stayed. unfortunately, it also stayed in its corner, gathering dust, until at some point, she threw it out in a nightly commando-raid... wow. very religious: speaking in parables - apologies for that, it's early, and coffee isn't ready yet...
my point, though, should be obvious: it's inspiring that people obviously feel so strongly about CJA. it is even more inspiring that there are regional/national networks that somewhat draw on a CJA(-like) identity in their work, and that are growing and getting stronger. but: the work done at regional/national levels has in principle almost nothing to do with what happens with CJA at the largely European level (ref. back to long debates whether CJA is global or european - de facto, it is european). at that level, the network has been largely disfunctional since before (!) copenhagen. in copenhagen itself, the only functioning CJA structures were the media group, and the reclaim power action group (though in both cases, they were also strongly constituted by our amazing danish friends, organised in the climate collective). neither of these structures exist anymore. meetings have been getting smaller and smaller, and more and more like gatherings of
 friends. for those who haven't been to these meetings: there's a very strong sense of drift, of a lack of purpose. we're not playing with the teddybear, as it were. it's gathering dust. it doesn't have a purpose right now.
to be sure: this lack of purpose is not because the problem has gone away - but because, i suggest, right now is not really the time for global network building around climate justice. really, we need to engage in sub-global/continental capacity/power-building. global networks are only as good as their social base. in fact, strengthening global networks  the expense of local bases leads to the latter becoming subject to the whims of the former.
anyway: if people want to make the de facto european CJA network come alive again, by all means, get involved. make the structures work. create structures. do stuff. put in management-speak: CJA can only function if there's a significant 'buy-in' from people all around the continent. if not, all the inspiring words written on email lists won't change the fact that CJA is pretty much non-existent. and if that is the case, then the few of us who actually have been investing time and resources and affect into trying to make things work, traveling to distant meetings, can maybe spend that energy elsewhere.
solidarische gruesse
tadzio

--- On Tue, 8/24/10, Andy Vermaut +32(0)499 35 74 95 <andy.vermaut1 at telenet.be> wrote:

From: Andy Vermaut +32(0)499 35 74 95 <andy.vermaut1 at telenet.be>
Subject: [Cja] Climate Justice Action in Belgium is stronger than ever.
To: "'Peter / GroenFront!'" <peter at groenfront.nl>, "'climate09-int'" <climate09-int at lists.riseup.net>, cja at lists.aktivix.org, copenhagengroup at climateactioncamp.org
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 7:00 PM

Dear
Climate Justice Action-friends, 

We
have organized under the umbrella of Climate Justice Action Belgium a Climate
Action Camp held in Liege, the Walloon part of Belgium.  

It
was highly successful. The movement for Climate Justice in Belgium becomes stronger
and stronger.  

It
is true that we are not always able to attend international meetings. This is
for me personally a budget problem.  

I
think that many people cannot afford to attend all these meetings. Meanwhile we
are working on.  

We
have both in Flanders and in the Walloon part of Belgium a very strong branch
who becomes every day stronger. 

We
even show the politicians of our country that we can overcome the language
barriers. Where politicians fail, we are required to make our voice heard. 

I
believe that CJA should remain a powerful network who wants to build a climate
just world. We have this obligation to the world, but also to  the people
involved who all want to participate in the building of a different world. 

In
the streets there is a whole new sound… We are listening to a world in
need. The network must not stop.  

We
have to move. 

Positive greetings, 

Andy
Vermaut 

Climate
Justice Action Belgium 

+32499/35
74 95 

PS.. If there are people
in our country are willing to go, I would go. Give me a call. If someone could
support or help me with my travel expenses, I would surely come to the meeting
in the Netherlands 

Van:
peter.groenfront at gmail.com [mailto:peter.groenfront at gmail.com] Namens Peter
/ GroenFront!

Verzonden: dinsdag 24 augustus 2010 11:49

Aan: climate09-int; cja at lists.aktivix.org

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

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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