 December 2000/ January 2001
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Fate of the Hemisphere Joanne Comerford, AFSC Western Mass, compiled this report with help from Becca Wanner, Mike Prokosch, and Arnie Alpert. Hundreds of activists from all over New England--students, labor, clergy, organizers, educators, seasoned radicals--gathered at Worcester (MA) State College November 11 and 12 for a globalization conference sponsored by the newly-formed New England Global Action Network (NEGAN). Deciding the fate of the entire hemisphere Globalization proponents would like us to believe that expanded free trade goes hand in hand with democracy and freedom. This idea has been a cornerstone of US, pro-NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) foreign policy. However, the facts tell us that free trade and freedom are far from synonymous. Deregulation policies increase social inequities in the name of privatization and subjugate local pro-environment, human rights, health, safety, and labor laws to corporate profit--sabotaging the basic framework of democracy. Hiding behind this false "free trade equals democracy" paradigm, trade representatives have been working for the last several years in almost total secrecy to further ease the movement of capital, with the bigger, bolder sequel to NAFTA--the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This expansion would further shift power from the hands of communities, laborers, and even nations, to transnational corporations. NEGAN, network of networks NEGAN is a network of networks uniting local global action networks (GANs), which have spring up in the wake of Seattle, and established grassroots organizing collectives. Focus for both is the proposed FTAA) that would extend NAFTA's trade and investment deregulation to the entire hemisphere by 2005. NEGAN is concentrating its organizing on the April 2001 Summit of the Americas when 34 trade representatives from North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean--only Cuba has not been invited--will meet in Quebec. Two Massachusetts fixtures--Jobs With Justice and United for a Fair Economy--took the lead in organizing the Worcester conference with workshops on FTAA, NAFTA, and international financial institutions, as well as the environment, immigration, tenants rights, and unions. Many voices joined in opposition to NAFTA and the FTAA, among them Dave Bleakney of the Canadian Postal Workers Union and Peoples Global Action, Jaggi Singh of La Convergence des luttes anti-capitalistes/the Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles (CLAC), and Philippe Duhamel from SalAMI ("dirty MAI," a pun on the French for dirty and for MAI, the Multilateral Agreement on Investments). Manuel Hernandez Aguilar, indigenous leader and representative of the Chiapas Grassroots Organization "El Pueblo Creyente" (People of Faith) spoke for many committed to this struggle when he likened Mexico under NAFTA to a horse with a cruel and thoughtless rider on its back. Building a plural movement This is a surging global movement fueled by multiple voices. United for a Fair Economy's pamphlet "Turtles, Teamsters, and Tensions" states it well: "Corporate globalization is mobilizing people in an extraordinary array of ways--defending workers' rights, saving the earth, reclaiming democracy, and narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Their solutions will be diverse....This will always be a plural movement, which is not a bad model for global cooperation." From the streets of Seattle to the streets of Prague, people are on the move. Next stop: Quebec City. Canadian organizing The Canadian groups CLAC and SalAMI have parallel planning processes, with SalAMI convening a "convergence table" at the Quebec summit for unions, action groups, and allies. SalAMI also plans a "liberate the text" campaign to demand that the Canadian government release the FTAA text prior to the April summit. SalAMI's Duhamel suggested that US activists stage supporting actions at local Federal buildings. During the April Summit, CLAC will mount a "Carnival Against Capitalism," with conferences, teach-ins, cabarets, workshops, street theatre, protests, and direct actions. Beforehand CLAC will also launch caravans throughout Canada and the US for outreach and education. New England organizing During the Worcester weekend, New England organizers discussed strategies to tailor the globalization movement to local realities, while continuing to sustain mobilization for large, region-wide anti-FTAA actions. Efforts currently underway include outreach and globalization education linked to local issues and geared toward building and strengthening a broad network of activists. Many also favor town meeting and local solidarity actions to "liberate the FTAA text" and increase the transparency of negotiations. For more information, or to get involved, contact Mike Prokosch at United for a Fair Economy, 617/423-2148 x24; <mprokosch@ufenet.org> You can also subscribe to <newenglandstopftaa@egroups.com> More ways to get involved The Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART) is a coalition of US-based organizations that support just and sustainable trade policies, and oppose NAFTA and the FTAA. ART is a member of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, a hemisphere-wide coalition of national networks that drafted the "Alternatives for the Americas," a document which describes a progressive vision of globalization that includes labor rights, environmental protection, and respect for democracy. ART is proposing FTAA teach-ins on campuses and in communities to "seed" activism and provide a foundation for Quebec mobilization. Contact: http://www.art-us.org. AFSC has a substantial collection of globalization-related videos available for private and public showings. Contact: 617/661-6130; <www.afsc.org/nero/nevlib.htm> The New Hampshire AFSC office is planning popular education workshops, speaker tours, nonviolence trainings, as well as mobilizing for the Quebec action, 603/224-2407 <aalpert@afsc.org> CLAC, which works to resist capitalist globalization while creating radical alternatives, is the North American contact for People's Global Action Network; 514/409-2049 <www.quebec2001.net> CLAC also maintains three international email lists in French, Spanish, and English. To subscribe send an email to <clac@tao.ca> People's Global Action Network is an international network dedicated to building a positive resistance to capitalism: <www.agp.org> or for information on their caravan,
<ftaacaravan-subscribe@topica.com> 
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