Re: Reply to Adam Starr about "activist demonstrations"

Hello WSN World and BY,

On the contrary, I do take the new phase of
"anti-sytematic movements" seriously. I was in Seattle
at the WTO demonstrations and I pose the question,
"what effect did 60,000 people on the streets have on
policy change?" 

The phase I was referring to was in Wallerstein's
essay, "Underdevelopment and its Remedies.

Aside from the use of extreme force used against
demonstrators (which has increased in subsequent
demonstrations in Washington and Quebec) and the
media's biased coverage of the demonstrations
themselves, not much has changed since in the WTO
arena. 

I just recently participated in a labour demonstration
(20,000 +) in my province in Canada against a right
-wing (neo-liberal oriented) government. The Premier's
response was for the demonstrators to get off the lawn
of the Legislative Assembly. 

The purpose of my posting is to promote dialogue
amongst ourselves (WSN subcribers) to consider,
discuss, brainstorm, and evaluate viable policies for
"immediate mobilization" (see Wallerstein) that can be
practical in the real world. You answered that call.

 As pointed out by AGF yesterday, I don't want to be
looking at pictures of fallen comrades thirty years
from now. I'd like for us all to live through such
mobilization. Maybe I'm far too Canadian, but I have
no desire to pick up a stone, stick, or a gun for that
matter to fight for what I believe in. If I do that,
then I'm no better than my percieved adversary. 

Adam.

PS: The more information on "movements", the better.

--- by <yeldiren0@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> You are not taking new phase of struggle of
> anti-systematic movements seriously.
> It is not the western equivalent of the peasant
> revolution.
> And its importance comes from this propery.
> It is a combination of middle classes - ethnic
> people - feminists - people of South -
> muslims - students - prisoners....
> 
> You can expand this list and this expansion gives
> the importance of it.
> A new movement is trying to exist, trying to
> theorize itself (in Porto Alegre for example)
> Also it is not symbolic, states started to kill
> people in demostrations like happened in Genova.
> Or during Seattle demos, it was arrested to go out.
> 
> You must know them, while I can learn a lot of thing
> from Turkey.
> 
> You are talking about a new movement and so you have
> to be more careful.
> 
> BY
> 
> PS. see ZNet, www.znet.org
> 
>  
> 
>  I would also like to include (to a lesser extent)
> > "activist demonstrations" in this category which
> seems
> > to be our modern western equivalent of peasant
> > revolution. Although symbolic, very little policy
> > change results from demonstrations like that in
> > Seattle. Therefore this human energy and
> > resourcefulness needs to be directed in a more
> > efficient manner. Hmmm.
> 
> 


=====
Adam T. Starr
Undergraduate of Political Science, UVic
3009 Quadra Street, Victoria, British Columbia
V8T 4G2 Canada
(011) (250) 472-1223
adam@hornbyisland.com or reunitedhornby@yahoo.com

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