Chris, hi, you ask for a bit more info on the progressive split in
Seattle. Alex Cockburn did his fantastic South African weekly radio
column on this on Wednesday morning (I assume it'll be in a
forthcoming Nation column), and I've seen lots of posts from
eyewitnesses that give further details (see, e.g., one appended).
I see this not just as a tactical division of labour, dividing young
militants from those with families, who are older, etc. Strategically,
there emerges a clear contrast between yankee labour leadership
(and Washington NGO-types) who wanted to join and reform the
WTO ("seat at the table" with Clinton) on the one hand, and those
more radical workers, environmentalists, Third World development
advocates, feminists, students, etc who on the other hand wanted
to shut down the WTO.
By the way, precisely the same strategic division has emerged in
the debt cancellation movement. A fortnight ago in Johannesburg, a
highly spirited Jubilee South Summit called for the IMF and World
Bank to be shut down, in contrast to the Oxfam types who a few
weeks earlier welcomed the IMF's alleged turn to poverty reduction
as some kind of victory.
This is the demarcation I began to unpack in the JWSR article,
partly by engaging your new book. It strikes me as the most
significant strategic division within the global progressive
movement. If a world party can solve it, fine. If a world party starts
with the assumption that we all desire a world state as a means of
uniting interests, well then I suspect a huge -- and the most
militant and in some ways sophisticated -- chunk of the
constituency will be turned off. Their agenda, simply, is smashing,
not reforming, the embryonic global state.
Do you see it that way?
Patrick
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 01:50:36 -0800
To: marxism@lists.panix.com
From: Tony Tracy <tony@tao.ca>
Subject: Re: A welcome to demonstrators in Seattle.
Send reply to: marxism@lists.panix.com
Gary MacLennan wrote:
>Were there any attempts to link up the Hoffa led demonstration with
>those protesting outside the WTO Centre? That is the combination
>that would have shaken the world not just Seattle.
there were certainly attempts that took place to link the large
labour demo (with tens of thousands of participants) with those
protesting closer to the convention centre at which the WTO delegates
were meeting, however, these attempts were quite unsuccessful.
we reached a point on 3rd street during the march at which the hoffa
/ afl-cio leadership of the march had determined that we would be
making a sharp left turn and then march back towards the stadium.
members of the machinists union (in distinctive red machinists caps),
who were designated marshals for the afl/cio-sponsored march, were
directed to link arms and prevent marchers from continuing another
block or two down 3rd towards the convention centre... instead, they
diverted marchers down pine street rather than allowing the march to
continue along 3rd street following the former pre-designated route.
many of us on the march had discussions and arguments with the
machinists who were marshalling at that corner -- explaining that the
*safest* thing for all concerned would be a show of solidarity by the
50,000 marchers with the several thousand folks who were attempting
to physically close off access to the convention centre, and that we
should have the march continue down 3rd at least another block
towards the convention centre.
that sort of *mass* "direct action" by tens of thousands of
labour-led demonstrators encircling the convention centre & allowing
no access inside or out would indeed have shaken the world and not
just seattle. unfortunately it was not to be... for a couple of
reasons. the afl-cio leadership choose to distance themselves from
the more "radical" community-based protesters (especially those in
the "direct action network"), and had brokered a deal with the cops
to ensure that the march route would be diverted from going too close
to the convention centre.
so, while we argued with the machinists who were holding the line and
diverting the march away, they maintained discipline in regards to
the instructions that they were given -- turn the march to the left
(physically, not ideologically).
the frustration that many of us had felt at the lack of political
will on the part of the leadership of the afl-cio bureaucrats was
shared amongst a large part of the crowd. however, the
machinist-union marshals were instructed to tell anyone "if you're
with labour, you'll turn here. anyone that continues down this street
is against the labour movement".
the longshoremen (ILWU), by the way, didn't buy this argument and
went through towards the convention centre, where they engaged in
their own "mass direct action" in a very militant fashion (this comes
after they closed the ports throughout the west coast in protest of
the wto... the ILWU never ceases to surprise me with their
willingness to put their muscle behind social political causes).
cheers,
tony
***
Patrick Bond
(Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management)
home: 51 Somerset Road, Kensington 2094, Johannesburg
office: 22 Gordon Building, Wits University Parktown Campus
mailing address: PO Box 601 WITS 2050
phones: (h) (2711) 614-8088; (o) 488-5917; fax 484-2729
emails: (h) pbond@wn.apc.org; (o) bondp@zeus.mgmt.wits.ac.za