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Social Movements

ManiFiesta Brings A Weekend Of Solidarity And Activism To Belgium

September 8, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , ,
Thousands are expected to gather in Ostend, Belgium, on September 7-8 for ManiFiesta, a festival of solidarity organized by a coalition of left organizations in the country. The event will mark the unofficial start of Belgium’s political season, bringing together activists, trade unionists, and political leaders to discuss some of the most pressing issues in Europe and the world today. ManiFiesta, organized by groups including Intal, Cubanismo, and Redfox, with the support of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), consists of a mix of political discussions, cultural performances, and music. This year’s lineup includes performances by funk band Jamila & the Other Heroes, and rapper Lowkey.

To Address The Climate Emergency, Foundations Must Spend Big On Movements

September 8, 2024 Margaret Klein Salamon, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
As a clinical psychologist turned climate activist and now a funder of disruptive climate protests, I have witnessed the profound disconnect between the urgency of our climate crisis and the tepid, cautious response of the philanthropic sector. It brings me close to despair, as I know that incrementalism or philanthropy-as-usual can’t possibly be effective at protecting humanity. The public is in a mass delusion of normalcy — sleepwalking off a cliff — and philanthropy is complicit. Philanthropy has treated the climate as one problem among many that should be dealt with in a “business as usual” way, including all of the philanthropic sector’s incrementalism and caution.

Report From Nicaragua: Solidarity With The Sandinista Revolution

September 3, 2024 Jason Cohen, Workers' World. , , ,
In July I took my first trip outside of the United States as part of a solidarity delegation to Nicaragua in order to learn more about the Sandinista Revolution and the process of socialist construction in this Central American nation. Truthfully, I did not know what to expect when visiting Nicaragua, and in reality, I never could have imagined the profound impact that this experience would have on my life. During those nine glorious days our delegation traveled throughout Nicaragua, visiting various community development projects, museums and monuments. We attended a series of meetings with cadres of various organizations, such as labor unions and mass organizations. I was utterly amazed by the high political consciousness of the Nicaraguan masses.

ALBA Movements: Neither Cohabitation Nor Transition!

August 21, 2024 Ed Newman, Black Agenda Report. , , ,
Respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples is a principle that any revolutionary project should prioritize.  It must make that principle a political banner in international relations, even in the face of conservative foreign pressure that always seeks to undermine it. The social and popular movements that know, love, and defend the Bolivarian people reject, as unusual and untimely, the slightest idea or suggestion, such as that proposed by some ‘progressive’ sectors in the region, of developing diplomatic, political, military, or any other type of interventions in Venezuela, which are aimed at effectively disregarding the results of a concluded electoral process.

Four Talking Points Used To Smear DNC Protesters

August 18, 2024 Adam Johnson, In These Times. , , ,
The Democratic National Convention is taking place this week in Chicago, and efforts to smear, co-opt and deflate the planned massive protests—and the Uncommitted movement within the convention itself—are already underway. Since securing the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Vice President Kamala Harris has not only refused to signal any real break from President Joe Biden’s Gaza policy of lockstep support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, instead she has reaffirmed it. Those committed to pressing Democratic Party leadership into ending their arming of Israel have not let up their pressure campaign.

Venezuela Is A Marvellous Country In Motion

August 9, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , , ,
I have been in Caracas, Venezuela, for the past two weeks, before and after the presidential election on 28 July. In the run-up to the election, two things became clear to me. First, the Chavistas (supporters of Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian project that is now led by President Nicolás Maduro) have the enormous advantage of an organised mass base. Second, knowing that the odds were not in their favour, the opposition, led by far-right María Corina Machado and the US government, were already signalling defeat before the election even took place by alleging that it would be fraudulent.

People’s Movements Worldwide Launch Campaign Of Solidarity With Venezuela

August 9, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
On August 9, the ALBA Movimientos, a platform of social and political movements from across the Americas and the Caribbean, the International Peoples’ Assembly, the Simon Bolivar Institute, and the Assembly of Caribbean Peoples, launched a campaign titled: “For Democracy and Sovereignty: Hands Off Venezuela!” The campaign comes in the aftermath of Venezuela’s presidential election and a wave of seemingly coordinated attacks from right-wing political actors, mainstream media, and US and its allies. The launch document states that, for several months, a media campaign has been created to question the legitimacy of the elections in the Caribbean country.

Participation Is Our Biggest Advantage In The Fight Against Authoritarianism

August 9, 2024 Alessandra Bergamin, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
For more than 40 years, Scot Nakagawa has served as an organizer, political strategist and social movement analyst in the struggle against authoritarianism. A movement veteran, Nakagawa got his start in Oregon in the late 1980s, where he worked on anti-racist and LGBTQ+ organizing, drawing not only parallels between the threats communities were facing but also the potential organizing solutions. In the decades since, Nakagawa has worked with many organizations, including the Coalition for Human Dignity, the National Anti-Klan Network, the National LGBTQ Task Force and ChangeLab. He currently serves as co-director of the 22nd Century Initiative, a national strategy and action center he co-founded to help build widespread opposition to authoritarian movements and ideas.

Movement Leaders Gathered For Second Edition Of World Social Alternative

July 26, 2024 Makiza Micheline Latifa, People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
Mass movements, progressive organizations and social leaders from all sectors convened in Caracas for the second edition of the meeting of movements and social leaders for a World Social Alternative, an initiative put together by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), in collaboration with the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity amongst Peoples (ISB). The meeting ran from July 23-24, and featured debates, plenary sessions, and panel discussions at the Simon Bolivar Hall of the Bolivar Theater of Caracas in the capital of Venezuela, with delegates from across the globe. It follows the first encounter for a World Social Alternative which was held in Caracas between April 18 to April 20.

The Pacific Lands And Seas Are Neither Forbidden Nor Forgotten

July 19, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , , , , , ,
Since May, a powerful struggle has rocked Kanaky (New Caledonia), an archipelago located in the Pacific, roughly 1,500 kilometres east of Australia. The island, one of five overseas territories in the Asia-Pacific ruled by France, has been under French colonial rule since 1853. The indigenous Kanak people initiated this cycle of protests after the French government of Emmanuel Macron extended voting rights in provincial elections to thousands of French settlers in the islands. The unrest led Macron to suspend the new rules while subjecting islanders to severe repression. In recent months, the French government has imposed a state of emergency and curfew on the islands and deployed thousands of French troops, which Macron says will remain in New Caledonia for ‘as long as necessary’.

The Solution To Political Violence In The US: Transfer Power To The People

July 18, 2024 Lucas Estanislao, Resumen English. , , , ,
Violence has always been at the heart of how the United States makes policy, whether internally or externally, from the massacres of original populations and minorities to the two-party system that favors economic power and alienates the people. The way out of this vicious cycle is the empowerment of the working class, both politically and economically. This is one of the thoughts that the minority candidate for the presidency of the United States, Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), expressed in an interview with Brasil de Fato, after the shots fired at the rally of Republican Donald Trump on Saturday. If the far-right candidate came out practically unscathed, his electoral chances could have increased for the November elections.

Why Protests Work, Even When Not Everybody Likes Them

July 11, 2024 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
efore this latest wave of action, we have witnessed in recent years a proliferation of disruptive protest, spanning a wide range of social movements. A small sampling of activity since the start of 2023 could note that animal rights advocates have disrupted the U.K.’s Grand National horse race and Victoria Beckham’s fashion show; abortion rights protesters have been sentenced for impeding the proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court; striking dockworkers “upended operations at two of Canada’s three busiest ports;” and climate protesters have blocked access to oil and gas terminals, chained themselves to aircraft gangways to prevent private jet sales, and spoken out forcefully at corporate shareholders meetings.

High In The Himalayas, Resistance To Modi Is On The Rise

July 2, 2024 Safeena Wani, Waging Nonviolence. , , , , , ,
The return of Narendra Modi as prime minister of India for a third consecutive term has come as a wakeup call for the right-wing Bharatiya Janta Party, or BJP. Unlike 2014 and 2019, Modi’s party this time fell short of the numbers needed to win an outright majority in parliament, despite his pre-election boasts to the contrary. Analysts attribute concerns over unemployment, inflation and growing conflict with China for Modi’s modest mandate. Apart from losing support from strongholds like Uttar Pradesh, Modi also lost ground in the mountainous region of Ladakh, which shares borders with China and Pakistan.

British Foreign Policy: The Elite Vs The Public

July 1, 2024 Ian Sinclair, Morning Star. , , , ,
Two polls published earlier this month make interesting reading. Asked by YouGov “Do you think the UK was right or wrong to take military action in the following wars…?”, just 26 per cent of respondents answered it was right to take military action in the 1991 Gulf War, 29 per cent in Kosovo in 1999, and only 20 per cent in Afghanistan and 16 per cent in Iraq in 2003, while 48 per cent and 54 per cent said it was wrong to take military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. Another poll by Focaldata for news and opinion website Unherd found 44 per cent of respondents thought Britain should be less engaged in overseas conflicts, compared to just 7 per cent who said the nation should be more engaged.

Bolivia: A Coup Attempt With Winds From The North

June 30, 2024 Hedelberto López Blanch, Resumen English. , , ,
It was not long before the legitimate Bolivian government of Luis Arce faced an attempted military coup led by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Juan José Zúñiga that it failed. The firm position of the president, the support of the workers’ organizations and the people, managed to stop the onslaught. Of great importance was the live coverage provided by Telesur, which at the same time as it offered live images, its correspondent and the studio announcers gave data and offered declarations from leaders and organizations of the world that rejected the coup. On Wednesday, June 26, while President Arce was meeting with his team in the Government House, the Murillo Square was invaded by hundreds of soldiers.
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