[lbo-talk] Re: European Social Forum

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 04:19 PM, Thomas Seay wrote:
>
>>  I have a hard time believing that Rifondazione
>>  Communista would have a banner that read
>>  "Dissobedienti".  "Dissobedienti" (The Disobedients)
>>  are autonomists, coming mostly from the Italian social
>>  centers (centri sociali).  There must have been an
>>  italian contingent of which both Rifondazione and
>>  Dissobedienti were part.
>>
>>  Obviously this is a minor point, but it makes you
>>  wonder how accurate the rest of this person's report
>>  was.
>
>I have a different read of the story. The fact that Rifondazione 
>Comunista was behind the Disobbedienti banner tells us who is 
>hegemonic within the movement of movements right now. Of course, the 
>reporter failed to fully understand it (no way that Rifondazione was 
>the largest Italian contingent in Paris) .
>
>ciao,
>alessandro

I doubt that anarchists and autonomists have money and manpower to 
organize such assemblies as Social Forums.  The benefactors and 
beneficiaries of World and European Social Forums must be (A) 
old-time political parties such as the Workers Party (Brazil), the 
Socialist Party (France), and the Communist Refoundation (Italy), (B) 
foundations such as the Ford Foundation (cf. 
<http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/main.asp?id_menu=2&cd_language=2> 
& 
<http://www.fordfound.org/publications/ff_report/view_ff_report_detail.cfm?report_index=391>), 
and (C) NGOs/front groups that are supported by either (A) or (B).

Cf.

"Who controls the European Social Forum?": 
<http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/esf.html> & 
<http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/11/280225.html>.
-- 
Yoshie

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