Globalisation

Massive Demonstration closes the European Social Forum 2004

On October 17, between 70,000 and 100,000 marched through Central London behind a banner with slogans against the imperialist war in Iraq, racism and privatisation.

Photo gallery of In Defence of Marxism at the ESF

In Defence of Marxism, the French comrades of La Riposte, Hands Off Venezuela and the Sindicato Estudiantes had stalls at the ESF 2004. Here are some pictures.

ESF meeting on Venezuela and the Bolivarian revolution

Yesterday, October 17, In Defence of Marxism and the Hands Off Venezuela campaign organised a meeting on Venezuela and the Bolivarian revolution at the European Social Forum in London. The room was packed with young people and trade unionists from all over the world.

ESF meeting on the trade union situation in Venezuela and Colombia

In addition to the meeting on Sunday, Hands Off Venezuela also organised a meeting on Saturday on the the trade union situation in Venezuela and Colombia. See also the Spanish version.

Jeremy Dear and Gonzalo Gomez speaking at the ESF

Hear Jeremy Dear, General Secreatry of the National Union of Journalists, and Gonzalo Gomez, editor of the Venezuelan Revolutionary website Aporrea.org, speaking at the ESF.

In Defence of Marxism at the European Social Forum 2004

This year’s European Social Forum is taking place from 15-17 October in London. The same as last year, In Defence of Marxism will be there putting the socialist case. This we will do by having several stalls with Marxist publications and books. However, we are also participating in the debates themselves.

The ILO and the myth of

What is the essence of the ILO (International Labour Organisation)? Some in the labour movement have the illusion that it can be a genuine force for defending workers' rights. Luca Lombardi analyses a recent ILO document, A Fair Globalization: Creating opportunities for all, and shows that in reality the ILO makes a lot of statements about ethics, morality, "fair development", etc., but in reality it is an instrument in the hands of the bosses.

The ILO and the myth of "fair globalisation"

In February 2004, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) published a report on globalisation ‑ A Fair Globalization: Creating opportunities for all. It is worth reading not so much for its content, which is fairly poor, but because it graphically demonstrates the attitude of this organization towards the labour movement. It also shows how ill-placed the confidence of the reformist leadership of the trade unions and left parties in the UN and its agencies is.

In Defence of Marxism at the Paris European Social Forum

On November 12-16 the second European Social Forum was held in Paris.The attendance did not reach the numbers of the first ESF in Florence, nonetheless around 35-40,000 people registered during the three days of meetings and workshops and around 100,000 took part in the demonstration on Saturday 15th against the war and the occupation of Iraq and against the cuts in the welfare state and to living standards all over Europe.

Cancun fiasco reveals real nature of WTO

Last September 14, world trade talks broke down in Cancun, Mexico. Everybody blamed everyone else. Before the conference, British delegate Patricia Hewitt had predicted, "if we fail, it will be a disaster for world economy." And this is true, for the collapse could stun the already fragile prospects of economy recovery.

The Cancun summit - The WTO on the edge of the abyss

Instead of further integrating the world's economies, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Cancun actually succeeded in creating more polarisation and deeper divisions between its members. The viability of the WTO, which since Seattle (December 1999) has gone from failure to failure, is more than ever in doubt. Luis Enrique Barrios, from the Mexican Marxist paper Militante analyses the breakdown of talks and future prospects.

Growing world poverty and conflict shows the barbarity of capitalism

The 1990's has seen a huge increase in poverty around the globe. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, and if current trends continue then it will be the year 2147 before areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa can hope to halve the number of people in poverty.

Greece - The Thessalonica anti-EU demonstrations

The EU summit that was recently organized in Thessalonica from June 19 to 21 was met with tens of thousands of Greek workers and youth showing their opposition to the this international club of capitalists gangsters. The European "leaders" were discussing the new EU Constitution and the problems of illegal immigration.

The tragedy of the illegal immigrants

On June 20 2003, another tragedy took place in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. A boat packed full of illegal immigrants capsized due to bad weather off the coast of Tunisia. It has been estimated that 250 people from several African countries were on board this boat, another common steamboat that regularly seeks to go to nearby Italy. The journey to try to find a better life ended with the probable drowning of about 200 people. Only 41 survivors were rescued. There were some who by very tedious efforts managed to swim for 5 hours and were able to reach the shore. This plight of these unfortunate illegal immigrants with their boats either sinking, capsizing or getting lost at sea

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Greece: the February 15 antiwar demonstration in Athens was the biggest in the last twenty years

On February 15th millions marched around the world against the imperialist war in Iraq. Athens was no exception, it seeing its biggest mass demonstration in two decades.