ESF and AUTONOMOUS SPACE

There's alot of debate going on about the European Social Forum, and its worth check out all the Indymedia articles but here's our pick of the debate from elsewhere:

"The forum officially ended a week ago, but the barrage of attacks and counter-attacks around the autonomous actions and arrests continues to rage. The simmering conflict between the horizonal and verticals became fully visible when a group of activists from Beyond ESF, including the Wombles and many others, rushed the stage during an anti-Racism plenary Saturday night to denounce Ken Livingstone and the lack of democracy within the forum. Tensions grew after several activists were arrested on the way out, and resurfaced yet again when a highly respected Indymedia activist, who happened to have also played a key role in NOMAD and the broader ESF process, was dragged away by the police after trying to make a statement following the march on Sunday afternoon. Things have since come to a boil as SWP members, the mayor’s allies, and others dismiss such direct actions as violent, anti-democratic, and even racist, while their critics continue to defend their right to take direct action to publicly voice their concerns. Debates that once pitted activists against mainstream politicians and bureaucrats in the WTO, World Bank, and IMF now rage within the very heart of the Global Justice Movement itself."

Full article read here… Red Pepper

There's also an excellent article by Chuck Morse and Marina A Sitrin here Left Turn.


and a more extended piece on Horizontalism here...Chicago Indymedia