RAGA call letter

Red And Green Alternative network 

redandgreenalternatives@gmail.com
 

Help organize a “Red & Green” international meeting in Istanbul, this summer.

 

Dear Comrades,
 

Several months ago we floated an idea with several red-green political organisations - a call for a red & green International event in summer 2012. After several months of discussion, this project is now developed enough to be shown. We hope that it will interest you and that you will join us in preparing this international meeting - and will come to Istanbul to participate.
 

Red & green international greetings

Selda Canan (Yesil ve Sol, Turkey), Mathieu Colloghan (Les Alternatifs, France), Thomas Couderette (Mouvement des Objecteurs de Croissance, France), Mike Davies (Alliance for Green Socialism, Britain), Catherine Faivre d’Arcier (Gauche Anticapitaliste, ,France), Paco Fernández (Los Alternativos - Alternativa Roja y Verde, Spanish state), and Paulo Marques (Grupo de Contacto RAGA/Brasil)
 

Our project in 8 questions:

1. WHEN?
 

Thursday 5 - Sunday 8 July 2012

 

2. WHERE?

Istanbul, Turkey. Close to the district of Taksim, in the Istanbul Technical University - Macka campus.

3. WHO IS BEHIND THIS PROPOSAL?
 

This is a very transparent project. It is, for now, organised by those who sign this letter.
There are no powerful interests behind this, no foundations, governments, EU agencies, private companies, etc.
We prefer to be independent and to pay the price for this: no limousines at the airport, no first class hotels, no champagne breakfasts. We will do our best to make this meeting as cheap as possible for the participants. What little money we have will go to bringing militants to Istanbul from far away.

4. WHAT IS THE PROJECT?

Firstly, our project is to meet each other and have fruitful exchanges about the red and green agenda.
We hope to explore the relationship between the two cultures, red and green, including the tensions between those two cultures, as well as the natural links. We want to examine both the synergies and the oppositions that come from looking at both the social justice goal and the ecological goal.
Secondly, we hope to create a red-green network that supports the sharing of information and of campaign tactics, and practical cooperation across borders in fighting the capitalist exploitation of people and environment. We look especially for cooperation between the host countries of exploiting companies and those countries that are the targets of exploitation.

5. WHAT IS THIS “RED & GREEN” THING?

We are not talking about building the six-and-ahalfth international. Nor is this an opportunity for cheap political tourism.
A lot of militants realise that a social project without an ecological perspective makes no sense; and that, likewise, an ecological project without a social dimension goes nowhere. We see that capitalism is destroying both society and nature.

Unfortunately, green organisations often accept capitalism; and left groups often go down the road of production and growth. Red-green activists who understand the linkage of the two issues have difficulty in finding political space.

The current growing economic crises (climate, social, economic, food, democracy) make the problem more central. However, there is no sign of societies changing in a good way. Rather, there is a momentum towards preserving the privileges of the rich, removing the rights of the poor, and ignoring the ecology of which we are all a part.

Putting forward a red & green agenda is not an easy option. We will find some contradictions. But maybe these will open new perspectives. This project is an open project, seeking to build something together.

It is pragmatic. We call it, in French, our “chantier”, our workyard.

6. WHO IS EXPECTED?

Of course, we expect activists from all over Turkey.

We know that we will have Argentine, British, Brazilian, French and Spanish red-green delegates. We expect that our positive political contacts in Belgium, Byelorussia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Palestine, etc will be there too. Also we hope that contacts from other countries will come. And you!
We know also that some people, unable to travel, will take part by sending written contributions.
We will be joined by delegates from political groups, trade unionists, alternative media activists, researchers and individuals.

7. WHAT KIND OF RED-GREEN MEETING?

We are not planning a huge meeting but an exchange between activists.
We plan to have some 50 workshops of different kinds. But we intend not to have just a large-scale mess! We intend different types of workshop : “testimony” recounting struggles, tactics, successes and failures; “analysis”, discussing what is going on and how it may be countered; “campaigning”, proposing methods and campaigns, especially international campaigns.

We want to work on our vocabulary, our projects, and our ways of sharing.
The working language will be English - which means that we will provide as much mutual translation as possible, but will always aim to provide translation to and from English (where needed).

8. HOW WILL IT BE STRUCTURED?

On Thursday here will be a plenary opening session, and a plenary closing session on Sunday morning.
The workshops in between will follow five “vertical”

THEMES:

ENERGY illustrations: Energy needs; “Fracking” schist gas; Nuclear; Peak oil
WATER & SOIL illustrations: Global perspective; Food production: industrial v local; Fisheries; Soil fertility; Privatization of water; Conflict over water
THE POWER illustrations: Democracy (1848 to 2012?); Autogestion; Active democracy; The state, Male domination; Liberty
GLOBALWARMING & POLLUTION illustrations: Global warning facts & inaction; Flooding consequences; Food consequences; Climate refugees; Pollution
BIG CAPITAL PROJECTS illustrations: Dams, Airports; Roads and Rail; Power; Urban redevelopment; Mines 

and five “horizontal”
 

PERSPECTIVES:

DEGROWTH & CONSUMPTION illustrations: Selling us stuff: the myth of happiness through consumption; Commoditisation and monetisation; Endless growth; What should we produce; A local economy
FAIR SHARES: NORTH & SOUTH illustrations: The maths of consumption & resources; Imperialism & colonialism; Linking north and south issues & campaigns; Indigenous struggles; Women; Minorities

COMMON GOODS & EXTERNALITIES illustrations: Externalities for capitalists; Naturally common goods: air, water, health, education, land; Privatisation of common goods
PROGRESS v NATURE & INDIGENOUS CONSCIOUSNESS illustrations: Progress as destruction & dehumanisation; Humans and the natural ecosystem; natural services; biodiversity; Resources: stripping the earth; Indigenous consciousness, not living in mud huts; Happiness
TOOLS TO FIGHT WITH illustrations: Protest; Civil disobedience; Taking or defending what is ours; Education the masses; Collective work; Elections; Internet

with three PERVASIVE IDEAS that run throughout meeting:

RED &/OR GREEN illustrations: Interdependence; Green aspects of red issues; Red aspects of green issues
WAYS OF SEEING illustrations: Gender; Ethnic groups; Sexual orientation
VOCABULARY illustrations: Words that mislead because they mean different things; Shared concepts for which we have different words.
 

What do we ask you to do now:

a) Respond quickly to redandgreenalternatives@gmail.com indicating your support for this project. 

b) Propose specific workshops, of any kind. If you can resource a workshop, fine. If you cannot resource it, but would like such a workshop, that’s also fine.
c) Tell us if you expect to be able to take part in the meeting, with some idea of numbers. If you have particular needs (for example, you are coming from a long way and need accommodation) please let us know.
d) Put forward any ideas you have for making the meeting better and more productive.
 

Red & green greetings
 

redandgreenalternatives@gmail.com 

Yesil ve Sol, Turkey
Alliance for Green Socialism, Britain
Les Alternatifs,France
Mouvement des Objecteurs deCroissance, France
Gauche Anticapitaliste, France
Grupo de Contacto RAGA/Brasil
Los Alternativos - Alternativa Roja y Verde, Spanish state