European Social Consulta

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday April 23, 2003 14:13 by Claudia esc-belfast at gluaiseacht dot org

First European Gathering in Madrid

The idea behind the European Social Consulta (ESC) is direct participation in politics in an autonomous way. It is a project that will allow us to move forward and deepen the analysis and critique of the current system and build concrete alternatives, from the widest, most democratic and horizontal social base possible. All the different organisations involved in the European Social Consulta have one aim in common: To act against the ongoing capitalist Globalisation. The First European Gathering will take place in Madrid at the 10th and 11th of May. There the outline and content of the ESC will be decided on. There is a promoter group already working in Belfast, but if anyone is interested in building up their own local group, don't hesitate! Any individuals wanting to join in the trip to Madrid, get in touch with us.

What is the Consulta about?
The idea behind the European Social Consulta (ESC) is direct participation in politics in an autonomous way. It is a project that will allow us to move forward and deepen the analysis and critique of the current system and build concrete alternatives, from the widest, most democratic and horizontal social base possible.

It is about the fact that modern society made us lose contact with the production of everyday- products like our clothing and the food we eat. We don't see the environmental and social costs of what we consume. Once every four years we're allowed to choose the lesser evil in form of a general election. The ESC aims at bringing the control over our lives back to our neighbourhoods, workplaces, towns and regions. A real democracy.

Instead of having a couple of politicians decide for us, the ESC works with a decision making process on a grass-roots level and includes the consultation of public opinion to spark off broader discussions and initiatives towards another reality. It is a way to show the meaning of democracy on a grass-roots level and provide the means to implement it on a European level. One proposal was to organise the first Europe-wide mass consultation to coincide with the European Elections in 2004.

All the different organisations involved in the European Social Consulta have one aim in common: To act against the ongoing capitalist Globalisation.

This is one of the so-called hallmarks of the ESC. Those are basic agreements without which any further discussion and organisation would not be possible. Other hallmarks are the rejection of all forms and systems of discrimination and an affirmation of the importance of critical reflection, debate and direct action. Additionally to that participants should believe that all humans are able to create the world they want to live in and agree to an organizational philosophy based on decentralisation, horizontal decision-making, autonomy and the will to coordinate

Where does the Consulta come from?
The idea for the ESC comes from groups in Barcelona and Madrid, after an independent mass consultation (consulta) on external debts took place in Spain in 2000. Even though the courts decided the referendum was illegal, more than a million people cast their vote and 97% voted in favour of it. The court ruling turned the consulta into a successful act of mass-civil disobedience. Heavy repression during the organisation of the vote show that the so-called democratic system is actually afraid of what the people might decide on.

In Spain the organisers of the consulta chose to put up their own ballot boxes next to the official ones at the same date of a general election- an easy way to reach as many people as possible.

The idea of the Consulta is a lot older than the Spanish experience. In Chiapas the EZLN, the Congreso Nacional and other groups organised a permanent referendum going on since 1995. In Italy the questioning of the working class was popular especially during the 50s, 60s and 70s. As part of the Spanish Civil War agriculture and industries in the anti-fascist parts of the country were organised collectively. In Brazil an alternative social project started in 1997 where 1100 activists marched from Rio de Janeiro 1800 kilometres to Brasilia and got thousands of people involved in local discussions. The developments in Argentina are a good example of organisation on a grass-roots level, where neighbourhoods got organised and links were established countrywide.

How does the Consulta work?
The basic concept of the ESC is that it has to be a process developed collectively, from beginning to end, based on consensus. At the same time it supports different social movements in creating links on a regional and international basis. This is only possible now after Seattle, Prague and Genoa sparked off the building of more and broader connections between movements against multinational capitalist organizations. In the newly created spaces of gathering people became aware of the importance and complementarity of different social and environmental struggles- especially now as we are facing a gradually more severe and brutal police repression that allows people to be killed while taking part in protests.

Apart from the hallmarks nothing regarding the outline of the ESC has been decided on yet but will be at the first ESC gathering 10th and 11th of May in Madrid.

The discussions on what should be included in the consulta take part on local and regional levels first, before they are brought to the European meetings for further discussion. The internet is used as a medium for discussion as well, even though it is impossible to make any decisions on the net and it is not very widely used. Decisions are to be made at the meetings only.

Practically the ESC is build up through local promoter groups that are linked up through regional and international meetings.

Local Promoter groups
The local promoter groups are active in the different regions where the ESC is promoted. They work independent of each other on the issues they find important locally and of course on trying to spread the word about the existence of the ESC.

Another aim of the local promoter groups is to spread the word about the existence of the ESC and create free spaces for discussion. In Tuebingen this is happening through the Open University, where everybody is welcome to take part in discussion groups and go to talks on issues they are interested in.

Regional and International meetings
The meeting of promoter groups on a regional and international level is mainly to co-ordinate the different activities and to establish stronger links between the different groups and to find the minimum agreements between the different groups in the different areas on the ESC.

Block Proposals
It was proposed at the last European promoter group meeting to find common themes to connect the local groups in their effort Europe- wide. The idea is to work according to thematic blocks on different very broad issues like in a political, an economic, an environmental and a social block. The issue the first promoter groups are already working on now is the impending war on Iraq and the concept of war and violence in general.

Generally the local promoter groups should organise at least one discussion forum or action on the proposed issue, what they do otherwise is completely up to themselves. At every meeting on regional or international level the groups can exchange their experiences and through the common thematic blocks groups all over Europe are engaged in the same issues.

What happens next?
The next meeting will be the First ESC Gathering in Madrid at the 10th and 11th of May. There the outline and content of the ESC will be decided on. Regional meetings take place beforehand. There is a promoter group already working in Belfast, but if anyone is interested in building up their own local group, don't hesitate! Any individuals wanting to join in the trip to Madrid, get in touch with us at [email protected].