Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2002–2022

International: Successful mobilisation against the G8 in Le Havre

Socialist Resistance magazine, issue 65  |  printed page 25

This is scanned print, not web text. It was read off the printed page by OCR, so expect dropped opening letters, run-together words and the occasional wrong character. Where an article began partway down a page, the previous piece's closing lines may appear at the top. The scanned issue is the authority; this text is here so the words can be found at all.

at Le Havre fdt rcO

PCF degage!

In recent years, global justice mobilizations have been marking time: the momentum from Seattle is not extinguished but it needs a second wind. Participation in the counter-summit to the G8 in Le Havre last May is an illustration. Saturday's demonstration was attended by 5,000 activists and militant radicals. The presence of the NPA was particularly noticeable, but other political organizations were minimal. It is worth noting the success of the 'alternative forum' with nearly 400 present on Sunday. Nine debates were organized: people not finance, ending nuclear power, defense of employment and working conditions, the Arab revolutions, etc. In political terms, the appeal for the mobilisation by the trade unions and campiagns in le Havre focused on supporting the Arab revolution and against the imperialist policies of major powers, against the austerity plans throwing the peoples of Europe into misery and finally against the devastation of the planet on the altar of profit (in reference to Fukushima). It was right for the local mobilising committee to focus on the responsibility of bankers, capitalists and

25 * International LITIONI STANCE UPLE D'ABORD PE LA FINANO mobilisationsG8G

governments around the world for the crisis they are now asking us

The reasons for the limited scope of mobilization are several. First is

the low interest in the trade-union movement for global justice

campaigns and the difficulty for the unions (including the more

radical ones) to make internationalism a theme for mobilization.

Then there was the limited investment of many organizations for the

counter-summit (both nationally and locally) but what also weighed

heavily was the climate of fear created by the police and the

government. As a result, almost all shops in the city were closed

and the streets deserted. The actions of the police cannot however

be an excuse to explain and justify this modest mobilization. Despite

all these difficulties, the unity built since the autumn against the

pension reforms has been strengthened. In this sense at least, the

mobilization was a success and can help in debating strategies of

resistance and alternatives to the crisis.

Translated from Tout est a nous, the paper of the Noveau Parti

Anticapitaliste (NPA), France