Topics
topics of 5th PGA conference Greece 2008
precarity issues - Militant Research Group Budapest, ovis.bp@gmail.com; Our intention is to drop in questions, and generate a debate, rather than a clear opinion about what is precarity and why are we using this expression.
Can precarity be a unification of different kind of workers that are so far away on the social ladder from each other by mainstream measures? (Quality of living measured by income, goods, etc.) Btw., should precarity be a unification at all?
anti-repression: A call-out for anti-repression workshops at the PGA and international reports of attacks to political spaces, erosion of political freedoms, and repression over the past decades
antifascist struggles and antinationalism - there is a rising wave of nationalistic rhetoric and thinking within the Fortress Europe, masked behind the face of "patriotism", which is trying to distract people from the real problems - capitalism, state, hierarchy and any forms of domination.
antimilitarist objectors in Greece and Turkey Militarism is the source of hegemonic domination, discrimination etc...We believe that to create a new world we need to destroy it and its all instruments in human relationship. It also supplies gender roles, immanent authority of all kind of relations and make obedience widespread. We call all the various antimilitarist collectives from europe and beyond to participate to the next PGA conference in order to discuss the topic of objectors, antimilitarism and conscientious objection , to establish a bridge between the objectors, to create a network and to empower the solidarity of them."
Antimilitarists from Turkey
biotechnology - it is mostly the last two decades when emerging techniques of Genetic Engineering and modern biotechnology have broadened their spectra of economic exploitation on fields previously unspoiled. Most big global players of Pharma-industry, Agri-chemicals and Bio-sciences have yet found in DNA decoding and modification innovating means to proliferate profits, raise property rights an spread domination - goals, against which we must oppose!
digital struggles , hack labs , autonomous servers and indymedia tools - in a world, dominated by mainstream media where the facts are hidden our goal is to give a voice to the voiceless, to prevent censorship and commercialization of one of the only remaining outlets of free speech, the internet. To counter the alarming commercialization of the internet, we pour healthy doses of non-censored, non-commercial subversive information into the net. We should promote hacktivism and all groups that share this philosophy with us.
DIY activities and sharing skillsD.I.Y. is the way to take the situation in our own hands away from passive consuming and letting others decide and do things for us. Its meaning and application is so wide that it varies from simple constructions to the idea of the active self organization of our everyday lives.
environmental struggles and biotechnology: radical environmentalism, struggles for saving the earth and all earthlings from the greedy corporate hands and the everyday ignorance of the common people; earth and animal liberation; AnarchoResistance, Sofia, aresistance@riseup.net
media and culture of resisistance
this is an open call for exhange videos , documentaries and an idea of creating a global video database !! as a starting point could be the pga conference in Greece!!
queer , radical feminism , struggles against patriarchy : Gender and love – Feminism – Patriarchy – Men hating women – Heterosexuality – Homosocial / Heterorelational – Sexliberalism – Women hating men – Separatism – Women’s solidarity – Solidarity with women: Power of definition / Partiality
squats and autonomous spaces - it is very essential to build and defend our own physical spaces for exchanging ideas and knowledge and to show that autonomous zone projects (squats, social centers, community farms, etc.) are a real working alternative to the social and economic system of capitalism.
We call out to all individuals and collectives involved in squatting and autonomous spaces to use this opportunity for an international exchange of
information and resources, to participate in the gathering, organise workshops and discussions and further the building of the international network of solidarity that is the PGA.
student struggles in europe - from greece and the student occupations of the university faculties to France and the anti-CPE movement , the riots all around France and the autonomous student tribune in Slovenia. A call out to every student group in Europe contact at: student_struggles at lists(.)riseup(.)net
zapatistas issues and solidarity movements Solidarity to such struggles is our weapon, by building local creative resistances which construct our autonomy, along with communication and coordination with these struggles through common networks, as is proposed in the Sixth International that was created in the depths of the Lacandona jungle in Chiapas. This is the essence of the People’s Global Action network.
Radical X change We Open the discussion for a new infrastructure that in the previous PGA
meetings in Athens and Maribor we called it Radical X change . Radical X change means a practical network of solidarity between autonomous spaces , eco communities , collectives and activists in order , activists to travel and work with various collectives in Europe. This project is not a travel agency but an radical exchange between activists for sharing skills and develop trust relations
PGA PROCESS DISCUSSION
Global process discussion: how can we reconnect the different contacts and collectives all around the globe? as soon as we have a proposal we will post it here! In fact we try to propose a new start for the global process!
PGA europe process discussion:
- PGA infopoints
- PGA Europe digital tools
- network infrastructure
Balkan Decentralised Network: about the Balkan process
PGA europe process tools: PGA infopoints , digital tools , printed newsletter , communication
PGA Process
Possible tools of communication, structures and aims of an international
horizontal anticapitalist network
Intro :
The first part of this document relies mainly on the report of the final decisionnal meeting from the PGA conference in Dijon in august 2006 and from the winter meeting in Hamburg in January 2007. There are also
various “reminders” from older meetings to help understanding what the words/concepts used refer to and to keep in mind decisions and debates of the past. The first part is focused on political and practical decisions about the tools of organization and communication of the network. The second one is more about the general goals and meaning of network as pga (with a few additional texts). Reapropriating the so called "pga process" may look like a challenge as part of it is quite precise, technical and doesn't sound so sexy. Not without mentioning that part of these decisions stayed as a wish and were never concretely put into practice or at least not as expected (as it often happens when decisions are taken within a group of people who are spread all over the place without clearly defined roles and responsabilities and who don't work with each other on a regular basis).
During and after Dijon's final process meeting, various strong criticisms were made about the fact that the central focus and space taken here by debate on « technical tools » reflected a bureaucratic dynamic that prevented us from trying to raise more in-depth political questions about the meanings and goals of such a network. The activist reflex of creating « tools » (such as email list) sometimes hide the
lack of political purpose and energy to do something out of it. Such focus could also be seen as a trap and « creativity killer » that pushed us to keep the « pga institution » going by improving the existing tools
better than trying to put it more fundamentally into question.
Without denying the importance and accuracy of this criticism in regard of future process debates inside pga europe, we also have to emphasize the fact the even an anti-authoritarian coordination platform (as pga
could be seen) need clear and accessible tools of organization to exist in time, to be able to take the minimal decisions that have to be collectively taken and for people to get involved. Compared to traditional centralised organizations and political parties, the challenge we face is to be formal enough to function and communicate
without reproducing all the coercitive systems, divisions, specializations, delegations of power, and hierarchies that can go along with pyramidal structures (knowing that all these can also sometimes easilly develop through the « tyranny of absence of structures »). So beyond the technical aspect, discussing structures that fit to our goals
and ethics can also be see a meaningfull adventures relevant to any wide revolutionary project. From this point view the pga process can be seen as a passionating experimental ground that could involve many and not be
only the matter of a bunch of boring « pga experts ». We could also add that taking the time to read this might prevent hours of discussions spent « reinventing the wheel » without knowing what was already tried.
Have a good reading !
### Part I Reports
(0) Introduction: Notation used etc.
(A) Tools for Networking: improving them, getting involved, creating
network stuctures
1) About PGA
infopoints, general things:
communication between infopoint and tools of coordination
Translations
Infopoints classified list and how to register as infopoint
2) Contents
3) Digital tools
(B) Towards a new Conference
1) Continuity and Skill Sharing
2) Winter meeting, next convenor
3) The next european conference
4) next global conference
(C)Possible Campaigns & Actions
1) Actions and PGA network
2) In argument for proposals
3) Proposals
4) A few results of the things discussed during the spokes council
(D) Global Process
1) Relationship with other continents
2) Global solidarity
3) Exchange campaigns
4) next global conference
(E) Orientation/Political Definition of a Network (such as ours)
1) In general, a network of this type could/should
2) Proposal for possible forms that these meetings could take, whether
as part of PGA or not
(F) What is a Spokes Council?
### Part II Analysis and inputs
(A) STAMP's evaluation on the European PGA conference in 2006
(B) Critical analysis of Linz winter meeting in
2004....................................................
(C) Global conference and new start for PGA? (extract from a reflection
text from april 2006)