newsletter 032011 Since December 2009 the transform! europe newsletter has been published regularly once a month. It contains information about the activities of our network, its members and observing members and about important initiatives of social movements we are taking part in.
Contents Reports and Articles Conference on the Sovereign Debt: United We Fight. United We Win......2 The European Competitiveness Pact is Unacceptable..............................3 Towards a European Agenda against Austerity ........................................3 Portugual: Youth Movement against Precariousness ................................5 Greece: The Struggle of the 300 Immigrant Hunger Strikers Ends in Victory........................................................................................................6 Workshop: Models of Capitalism in Europe ...............................................7 Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and transform! europe at the Left Forum in NYC ...........................................................................7
Announcements Seminar: Transformative Left Parties in Europe. The Question of Democracy and Participation ....................................................................8 transform! journal: Volume No. 8 is on the Way! .......................................9 Re-launch of the transform! europe Website .............................................9
Tool Box Printed Versions of EuroMemorandum 2010/2011..................................10 Booklet on the Women’s Conference in Copenhagen .............................10 Documentation of the Vienna Seminar 2010 on the Crisis ......................10 Printed Versions of EuroMemorandum 2009/2010..................................11 Study on the Effects of the Financial Crisis on Private Pensions ............11 Documentation: Strategic Perspectives of the European Left (1) ............11 Documentation: Strategic Perspectives of the European Left (2) ............11
Reports and Articles
A transform! europe · NPI · European Left Party · Synaspismos Conference on the Sovereign Debt
United We Fight. United We Win Athens, 10-12 March 2011 By Haris Golemis
According to the claims of the European conservative and social democratic governments, as well as EU and international institutions, a ghost is haunting Europe, the ghost of public debt. One should not, of course, expect that these entities realize that debt is only the manifestation of the systemic capitalist crisis, but the mere fact that the PIGS stopped being the only danger for the euro-zone is an interesting development. The result of this is that the harsh austerity measures imposed on Greece and Ireland to confront the ghost and calm the rating agencies and the markets are now extended to the entire EU, through the imposition of the so called “Competitiveness Pact”, recently renamed to “Pact for the Euro”. Facing the coordinated efforts of the ruling political and social powers in the EU to enforce an exit from the crisis based on the smashing of the dominated classes in all member countries, the forces of the political and social European Left have to supplement their national resistances and programmatic proposals with a coordination on a European level. The Conference entitled
“Public Debt and Austerity Policies in Europe. The Response of the European Left”, organized by transform! europe, Nicos Poulantzas Institute and the Party of the European Left – Synaspismos, aimed at assisting exactly this effort. The slogan of the Conference was “United we fight. United we win”. The Conference, which took place in Athens on 10-12 March 2011, was a really successful mega-event. For two days and three evenings (over 25 hours), 60 participants from 12 EU-countries and Ecuador examined various issues related to the debt crisis: causes, EU and governments’ policies, resistances (mainly in the PIGS) and radical proposals for a European exit from the crisis. Participants included academics, economists, sociologists, experts on debt, trade-unionists, MPs, MEPs, leaders and cadres of Radical Left, Communist, Left Socialist and Green political parties. In two special sessions on Facets of the Greek Crisis, about ten Greek speakers from various Greek parties, parties’ tendencies and political groups had the opportunity to present their different views.
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The conference was attended by hundreds of people, from 10.00 in the morning to 10.30 in the evening and it was transmitted live on various websites, among them the sites of transform! europe and of the European Left. The opening event attracted around 800 people, while the closing event was a full house, attended by more than 1,000 people. Participants in this last event were Francis Wurtz, former President of GUE/NGL (he presented the ELInitiative for a European Development and Solidarity Fund), Pierre Laurent, the National Secretary of PCF and President of the EL, Oskar Lafontaine, the former Co-President of Die LINKE and Alexis Tsipras, President of Synaspismos and Vice-President of the EL. In his speech, Tsipras suggested that the EL should demand a referendum in all European countries for the new Pact for the Euro. During the next period, transform! europe will study carefully the papers presented in the conference to find areas of convergences and divergences among speakers and examine the possibility of a European Radical Left synthesis.
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The European Competitiveness Pact is Unacceptable
Trade Unions and Social Movements on the Way to Create a Broad Social Resistance against the Austerity Plans of the EU, the IMF and the Governments On 10 and 11 March, representatives of trade unions, both national and European, such as the ETUC and the ITUC, NGOs and social networks from 15 EU countries (from both East and West) got together for the first Spring Social Conference. transform! europe as a European network takes part in the initiative group of the process. In the press release agreed by the participants at the end of the conference is stated: This crisis, which did not happen by chance, highlights that we have come to the end of the road of a development model based on growth regardless of the social and ecological impact. It is based on hyper-consumption and on the limitless exploitation of nature and workers. Enough is enough! The critical budgetary situation of the European Union countries must be dealt with in a different way: 1. by a fair tax system which, unlike the current trends, would weigh more heavily on the wealthy and on financial profits than it would upon workers (i.e. a return to progressive tax levels, a European tax on financial transactions, the abolishing of tax havens, the introduction of a minimum European corporate tax).
2. by an audit of the public debts of the European Union countries: we cannot accept that the future of one or more generations should be mortgaged because of a debt, which is to a large degree actually the debt of speculators and the financial system. The so called “Euro-Pact” agreed upon and masterminded by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy and approved by the recent meeting of the political leaders of the Euro-group is meant to exert a huge downward pressure on salaries: Confronted by this declaration of war against people and basic rights, governments, parliamentarians and social movements have to take a clear position. All the movements and organisations present at the social conference welcome the week of action announced today by ETUC and the Pan European demonstration called in Budapest for 9 April. Furthermore, today we must build a network of solidarity and broad and long term European activist movements. We need to build broad support in society to confront this unprecedented attack on people's and workers’ rights. We note that when confronted by well-organised political powers, our political actions have too often suffered from working in silos between the European and national levels of power: there are scarcely any issues which can be
solved solely at the national or the European level. Consequently, in alliance with the ETUC and the ESF as well as in the closest possible cooperation with other unions & networks, we want to contribute to the development of a strong European social movement.” The list of the participating organisations: National Trade Unions: CGIL (It), Cartel Alfa (Ro), CGT (Fr), CSDR (Ro), FO (Fr), FGTB (Be), FSU (Fr), CSC (Be), CISL (It), CIG (Galicia, Sp), CGTP-In (Po), Fagforbundet (No), ELA (Pays Basque), ESK (Pays Basque), BNS (Ro), MSZOSZ (H), MOSZ (H), Solidaires (Fr); International Trade Unions: ETUC, ITUC, EPSU; Social Movements: Attac (Fr/Be/G), Transnational Institute, European Anti Poverty Network, Réseau Justice Fiscale, transform! europe, CADTM, Seattle to Brussels network, Caritas Europe, Association Européenne des Droits de l’Homme, LDH (Fr), Forum Italiano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua, Nordic Welfare Campaign (No), MAIS (It), Les économistes atterrés (Fr), Confederation of Kurdish Associations Europe, CEO – Corporate Europe Observatory, Romanian Social Forum, Global Social Justice, Euromarches, Degrowth, Global Alliance for Immediate Alteration - Nl;
transform! europe in the Frame of the ESF Assembly
Towards a European Agenda against Austerity From 4-6 March a meeting of the ESF-Assembly took place in Budapest which had set itself the task to reactivate
and further develop the process of the European Social Forum in the new political period. transform! europe is
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among the organisers taking part in the process of renewal of the ESF.
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We are publishing extracts from the final declaration of the meeting: “We, the participants to the European Assembly, in the framework of the ESF process, met in Budapest to build a larger and better relation between East and West and to strengthen the participation in the ESF process of the Eastern European associations, movements, and social actors. While we commit ourselves to a stronger dialogue and to cooperation between East and West, we also commit ourselves to support as much as possible the South Mediterranean civil societies which are on the front line of a crucial and difficult process of change. We discussed the situation of the social movements in Europe, the struggles we will all be facing in the months to come and the rising of resistance; but we also confronted the weakness of the European dimension of the struggle, at a time when we are facing the most dramatic aspects of the crises and the most relentless attempts to destroy fundamental human rights and the bases of democracy. Europe needs the ESF, it needs a strong, large and inclusive open space where social movements and actors can find an opportunity for connections, convergences and common actions. We recognise the responsibility to be active
for the renewal of the process and to engage all the energy of the real European social actors in the process of creating a new and stronger ESF. The struggles, mobilizations and campaigns of the near future must constitute the basis and the opportunity for broadening the debate, and also for preparing the grounds for our commitment to the creation of a new ESF. We commit ourselves to spread all over Europe a call to the social actors and movements to be part of this process by building the coming mobilizations, for a different Europe and for a different world which is absolutely needed: 1. Organizing and mobilizing for the global campaigns as was decided in Dakar: G8 – France, May 2011, demo on the 21 May, actions on 22 May G20 – France (Cannes), November 2011 World Water Forum 2012 – France (Marseille) COP 17 – Durban Rio+20 2. Within the framework of the ESFprocess, conferences will be organized and are called by the organizing groups Conference on Debt and Austerity, 31 May 2011, Brussels
are listing some of them as they were presented during the assembly: Joint Social Conference – Brussels, 10-11 March 2011 European Conference against Austerity, Cuts and Privatisation, and in Defence of the Welfare State – UK, 1 October 2011 ETUC mobilization – Budapest, 9 April 2011 Conference in Kiev against right wing extremism and populism, organized by Prague Spring 2 network European Forum on Food Sovereignty – Austria, 16-21 August 2011 European Network Academy for Social Movements (ENA) – Freiburg/Germany, 9-14 August 2011 4. Participating in the Genoa Forum in Italy from 19 - 24 July for the 10th anniversary of the anti-G8-actions. We will give visibility to lots of different struggles which will take place in different countries in Europe; work on thematic Forums at a European level; organize a forum on the open ESF list to debate on cultural, political and social alternatives in Western and Eastern European countries; create new media tools such as the Open ESF website.“
3. Other conferences and mobilizations at a European level will take place; we
European Conference on 31 May 2011 in the European Parliament
Against Austerity, the Unjustified Debt, Social Regression and Attacks on Democracy in Europe: Resistances and Alternatives Following an initiative of the forces involved in the European Social Forum, in partnership with the GUE/NGL Parliamentary group Since May 2010, the policies pushed by the European Union and carried out in each country are severely worsening the social, economic and democratic situation. The austerity plans and the question of the public debt are at the heart of social and political conflicts. The “Competitiveness Pact” marks yet another stage in the determination of the dominant forces in Europe to do away with the social model and to open the doors to social regression and the abolition of democracy. It removes any perspective of Europe ever emerging from the crisis.
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On the pretence of fighting the crisis, budgetary deficits and State debts, the European Union and the governments of all our countries have initiated austerity policies that threaten all our populations, increase poverty and unemployment, attack all public expenditure for social solidarity and justice, all systems of social security. Job shedding and insecurity as well as wage reductions are returning, while bonuses and profits of big business and the banks are rising more than ever. Europe is demanding a drop in the level of indebtedness and to this end wants to impose policies of massive reductions in national budgets and public expenditure. This will increase social inequality, call into question public services and further reduce access to basic needs and fundamental rights for everyone. There are many mobilisations taking place against this, but they are still scattered. We hope to contribute to thinking about alternatives, to building effective solidarity and European-wide convergence (of initiatives that already exist in many countries). We intend to appeal to all those who are mobilising and resisting, who want to take part in a perspective of a Europe-wide struggle. We also intend to intensify the demand that Europe play another role in the world, particularly in solidarity with the Arab revolutions that are carriers of democratic and social demands as well as that of a new vision of relations between Europe and other regions of the world. We ask you to take part in this conference, which will be open to a broad political spectrum. It will take place in two stages: 1. morning: the alternatives to austerity 2. afternoon: the mobilisations in various countries and common perspectives Following upon the various demonstrations (the ECTU’s in September 2010, the “Joint Social Conference” of the European Social Forum), the forces involved in the European Social Forum (Attac Germany, Attac France, CADTM, FSU (France), Solidaires (France), transform! europe*) decided to take the initiative of organising this conference, a year after the Europe-wide hyper-austerity agreement, in partnership with the GUE/NGL Parliamentary group. * The list is not exhaustive
Portugal
Youth Movement against Precariousness By Elsa Santos
All over the country, thousands of people of all ages walked out into the streets against the precariousness of work and life, and claiming decent work conditions. They call themselves “geração à rasca” (desperate generation). It was a demonstration as was never seen before, promoted by four young people through Facebook, but it was quickly welcomed by 200 to 300 thousand citizens in Lisbon, 80 thousand in Porto, and the message was clear “Basta!” (Enough!) It was a legitimate and nonpartisan protest of discontentment with the bear-
ing of things both in politics and economy, and a great example of solidarity. Although it was a nonpartisan organization, the organizers themselves always stated that parties were most welcome and all elected members of the Parliament were invited, as it was clearly a political protest. All kinds of social and political messages could be seen. The Portuguese are sick of austerity and neoliberal policies and they wanted to say that for once in a very loud way. The Financial Times says “Portugal’s ‘desperate generation’ cries out”. The El Mundo says that the “Precarious Revo-
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lution” took into the streets of the country. You can watch a video in http://www.esquerda.net/videos/protesto -gera%C3%A7%C3%A3o-%C3%A0rasca. Soon you will also be able to find a briefing on the European Left website. Even before coming out into the streets, the demonstration had already achieved bringing to the political debate the centrality of the precariousness of work and life as the main social issue in Portugal, as in Europe as a whole.
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Greece
The Struggle of the 300 Immigrant Hunger Strikers Ends in Victory By Vagia Lysikatou
The desperate struggle of the 300 immigrant workers, who started a hunger strike on 25 January in Athens and Thessaloniki ended in a victory. The 300 immigrants endangered their lives in order to demand their self–evident right to a life in dignity. The successful outcome of the struggle, which was a great victory for the immigrants’ movement th in Greece, came on the 44 day of their strike and after the transfer of over a hundred of them to hospitals. On Wednesday, 9 March, the relevant ministers of the Greek government met with representatives of the strikers and the Solidarity Initiative which supported them. The fear of what could happen in case of one or more deaths, but also the pressure from a determined solidarity movement, finally obliged the government to make proposals which satisfied most demands. The news was transferred to the Assembly of the hunger strikers, which decided to accept the proposals and end the strike. The victory was celebrated and met with tears of happiness. The hunger strikers immediately entered a process of gradual feeding. The 300 hunger strikers were provided with a “six months’ state of tolerance” (this corresponds to residence and legal rights) which is renewable until full legal recognition is granted. Permits were issued which would allow travel to their home countries with the right of return every six months – and more for health reasons. At the same time the government made a public commitment to reduce the time, for all immigrants, before residency is granted from 12 to 8 years. Moreover, the government agreed to reduce the number of the working days required for the renewal of resi-
dence permit from 200 to 120. Finally, the government also conceded that state medical care should be available to Greek and immigrant workers after 50 working days, previously this had been 80. The victory certainly belongs to the 300 who fought with self-sacrifice for their rights and against vilification of social struggles of all workers, immigrants and natives and against racism and xenophobia. However, it would not be fair to neglect the exemplary work of the Solidarity Initiative, most members of which have a long history of similar struggles. The Initiative was made up of various left-wing and anarchist groups who despite their ideological differences and contradictions tried to build a broad solidarity movement (comprising trade unions including the Greek General Confederation of Labour, municipal councils, intellectuals, artists, journalists etc). During the period of the strike, a broad network of activists in solidarity with the immigrants provided moral and practical support to them on a daily basis. This was of crucial importance especially at the last stage of the struggle, when they not only transported in private cars the sick immigrants to hospitals, but also stood by them day and night. Unfortunately, the majority of political forces and all mainstream media unleashed the most slanderous attacks against the members of the Solidarity Initiative, which went so far that some of them, including two members of the Youth of Synaspismos, were prosecuted for illegal trafficking of immigrants. The strike left its mark on the political scene, since it obliged all political forces to take a clear position on it, revealing their differences in the crucial issue of
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immigration, with the ruling Socialists (PASOK) and the Conservative opposition (New Democracy) in Parliament speaking the word of the extreme and populist right-wing of LAOS, while the parliamentary Radical Left of SYRIZA and also at a later stage of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) were supporting the strikers. Synaspismos, the main party in the SYRIZA coalition, and mainly the Youth of Synaspismos, were in solidarity with the hunger strikers right from the start of their struggle. Three final remarks: First, it is the first time that the class nature of the immigrants’ issue has been stressed; previously it was considered only as human rights concern. This became clear by the fact that the hunger strikers’ victory not only improved their own position, but the position of the working class in Greece as a whole. The above mentioned reduction of the number of the working days that are required for state national care is a very important measure during this crisis period benefitting many. Second, on the political level, this victory was the first real blow against the hard neoliberal government policies, which have been imposed on the Greek society following the Memorandum that the government has agreed upon with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. Third, the successful outcome of the immigrants’ struggle proved that even when authoritarianism has been imposed in a country and extreme right-wing rhetoric and logic prevails in the media, even when social struggles are criminalized and entire groups of people are excluded from society, the radical Left should try to give voice to the most
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vulnerable victims of the crisis, in the interest of democracy.
As the immigrants said in the communiqué they issued after the end of the hunger strike, “We return home with the papers in our hands and our heads held
high with warm regards and farewell to our supporters, but the struggle will continue”.
Workshop organized by transform! europe
Models of Capitalism in Europe By Richard Detje
Even after more than three years there is no end to the economic and social crisis in Europe. This was shown in a workshop organized by transform! europe on 18 March in Paris. Researchers from ten countries (see www.dynamoproject.eu) discussed how Europe got into depression, how the different models of European capitalism fared during the crisis and what lessons have been drawn after the collapse of the financial markets and the freefall of the so-called real economy. The first and the third questions are easy to answer. The deregulation of the financial markets, the continuous redistribution of income and wealth from the bottom to the top and the global imbalances in the economy fuelled a bubble which burst after the Lehmanshock in autumn 2008. In this sense the Lisbon-process, established in 2000 to make Europe the leading competitive economy in the world, fuelled the crisis.
The dominant lesson from this seems to be an even tighter austerity regime after saving the banks by increasing public debts – with deepening the contradictions and conflicts within the EU. The second question is more difficult to answer. On the one hand the different models of capitalism carried on during the crisis: the Scandinavian states – e.g. Sweden – recovered, the corporate states in the centre – e.g. Germany, Austria, France – benefit from rising demand of the BRIC, whereas the Anglo-Saxon and the Mediterranean states suffer. But going deeper into detail it is not that easy. Let’s take the PIGS, for example: Greece is the case of a debt crisis caused by the private sector and the state, whereas Ireland was a model pupil in public austerity before the crisis until it took over the toxic assets from the leading banks. Italy, on the other hand, with the strongest industrial sector in the Mediterranean, is not deeper hurt by the financial markets but is confronted with
an ongoing crisis in the real economy. And Portugal has been lacking competitiveness for a long time. Evidently, there are different ways to get into crisis and it is not even clear if the German competition-regime is a way-out – it is fuelled by increasing demand from Asia but is lacking demand from the traditional European markets. The varieties-ofcapitalism-model gives no clear answer how states develop during great depressions. What might be results of the crisis are shifts in the production regime and – most of all – basic shifts in the employment models: with fast growing sectors of temporary work in contrast to highskill permanent employment and extraordinary high youth unemployment. This way of social decomposition and fragmentation is a burden for the future of Europe. Publications of the workshop will be prepared.
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and transform! europe at the Left Forum in NYC By Walter Baier
From 18-20 March, the Left Forum took place at New York’s Pace University, as every year bringing together the North-American Left and participants from all continents to an event of intellectual stock-taking. The motto of this
year’s conference was “Towards a Politics of Solidarity”. With 400 announced seminars and workshops and 3,000 participants, this year’s event outnumbered those of recent years, with regard to its size and the attention it
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received from the media. This increase of interest in the Left Forum was in the opening plenary meeting by Rick Wolff attributed to the changing political situation in the USA. On the one hand, the disappointment in Barack Obama’s
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presidency is a wide-spread phenomenon among the Left which was said to require a debate of strategies. On the other hand, Wolff said, the spirit of civil disobedience present in Northern Africa could also be felt in North America. A noticeable example, which is encouraging to the Left, are the mass demonstrations against a new legislation hostile to trade unions in the federal state of Wisconsin. The Left Forum received its impulses from the
sphere of everyday politics also from two further dramatic events, the natural catastrophe and the nuclear accident in Japan and the outbreak of war against Libya, in which the US are leading the way. In both cases the debates reflected the entire spectrum of debates also known in Europe. At the Left Forum, transform! europe was present with an information booth and also in two panel discussions, coorganised with the Rosa Luxemburg
Foundation. One of these bore the title “Europe’s Left in Motion”, and had Luciana Castellina (It), Raquel Garrido (Fr), Teppo Eskilenen (Fi) and Albert Scharenberg (Ge) on the panel; the other one was entitled “Another Power Shift?” and saw Michael Krätke (UK), Frieder Otto Wolf (Ge), Gian Paolo Patta (It) and Wilfried Telkämper (Ge) as panellists.
Announcements Seminar
Transformative Left Parties in Europe. The Question of Democracy and Participation Helsinki, 1-2 April 2011 By Vagia Lysikatou and Stavros Panagiotidis
On 1 - 2 April, in the framework of transform! europe’s project “Strategic Perspectives of the European Left”, a seminar is going to be held in Helsinki under the title “The Question of Democracy and Participation”. The event is part of the third phase (responsible for it are Haris Golemis, Nicos Poulantzas Institute and Ruurik Holm, Left Forum) of the above mentioned project that focuses on the present and future of the parties of the European Radical Left.
The first day will be devoted to the internal democracy issue of parties and movements. One of the main aspects will be the parties’ structure and the way it affects its democratic function. Also, a seminar will be held concerning “Identities and Parties of the Radical Left” which will highlight issues such as the participation of women and migrants in the European Radical Left parties.
PROGRAMME
09.45-12.00
13.00-15.00
Democracy in Parties and Movements Teivo Teivainen, University of Helsinki Franco Russo, transform! italia
European (Radical) Left Party Structure and the Issue of Internal Democracy Cornelia Hildebrandt, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin Luke March, University of Edinburgh
Friday, 1 April 2011 09.30-09.45
Opening Ruurik Holm, Left Forum (Vasemmistofoorumi) and transform! europe
The second day will contain, among other events, presentations of case stud-
12.00-13.00 Lunch (at your own cost)
ies from various European countries on the issues that were referred to before, as well as the results of a survey of transform! europe and Nicos Poulantzas Institute that took place during the recent European Left’s Congress, in Paris. During the day the participants will have the opportunity to attend an event on the European Debt Crisis, with interventions of representatives of European Left parties.
15.00-15.30 Coffee break
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15.30-18.00
Identities and Parties of the (Radical) Left Elisabeth Gautier, Espaces Marx 1-2 Speakers (to be announced)
Members and Voters of European Left Parties Anna Striethorst, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Brussels 12.00-12.45 Lunch
Saturday, 2 April 2011
12.45-14.30
09.30-12.00
Case studies on some European Left Parties
Presentation of the Study on the Development of a European Party System Walter Baier, transform! europe Presentation of the Survey on the European Left Party Haris Golemis, Vagia Lysikatou, Stavros Panagiotidis, Nicos Poulantzas Institute and transform! europe
Miguel Portas, Member of European Parliament, GUE/NGL
Helmut Scholz, Member of European Parliament, GUE/NGL Alexis Tsipras, president Synaspismos and vice-president European Left Party 16.30-16.45 Coffee break 16.45 -18.30
14.30-16.30
Public Event on Solutions to the Economic and Financial Crisis (organized by Left Alliance) Paavo Arhinmäki, president Left Alliance Heikki Patomäki, University of Helsinki
Case studies on some European Left Parties Venue: Helsinki, Ostrobotnia “Botta”, Museokatu 10
transform! European Journal for Alternative Thinking and Political Dialogue
Volume No. 8 is on the Way! The English edition of the 8th issue of the transform! journal is to be released on 19 April. The French and the German edition will follow soon after. For subscription or ordering please refer to the transform! europe website or send an e-mail to: office@transformnetwork.net
Contents Elmar Altvater: “The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and the Global Energy Crisis” “Wind of Changes in Northern Africa“. A Reportage from Cairo by Gabriele Habashi Essays on the “Crisis of Civilisation” by Michael Scharang and André Tosel “Extreme Right Parties and the Conservative Right: General Analysis
and Country Case Studies”, for instance about Austria, Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Scandinavia and the Ukraine News out of the European Left. An Interview with Pierre Laurent A series of articles about the situation of the European Union by Konrad Schuhler, Francis Wurtz and others And a lot more interesting stuff to read
Multilinguality Coming Soon
Re-launch of the transform! europe Website At the moment a small international team of experts in our network are working on the re-launch of the transform! europe website. The greatest re-
newal will be the coming multilinguality of our site: articles in the journal will be available in various languages on the homepage as well as other news articles.
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The presentation of the new website is scheduled for 26-27 April.
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Tool Box ■ Printed versions of EuroMemorandum 2010/11 in English, German, French and Greek Booklets containing the printed versions of EuroMemorandum 2010/2011 entitled “Confronting the Crisis: Austerity and Solidarity” are now available in English and German. Translations in French and Greek will be released soon.
The EuroMemorandum is edited by European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe and supported by over 400 economists. To order please contact office@transform-network.net or our member organisations:
Espaces Marx (France): Espaces_Marx@internatif.org Nicos Poulantzas Institute (Greece): info@poulantzas.gr Sozialismus (Germany): redaktion@sozialismus.de
transform! europe Special Edition
■ Booklet on the International Women’s Conference 2010 in Copenhagen “International Women’s Day – 100 Years of Struggle” On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen in 1910, where the idea to have an International Women’s Day was adopted, the Women’s Committee of the Red Green Alliance in Denmark organized a conference, again in Copenhagen (6-7 March 2010). The collection of the contributions of the conference has been published as a
transform! europe special edition in June 2010. Topics: Women’s rights and the years of struggle for suffrage, political participation, democracy and against capitalism A historical and theoretical overview on socialism and feminism Effects of neo-liberalism on women in the EU and elsewhere
Modern slavery and human trafficking and the struggle against it with focus on Denmark Women's lives in an armed conflict zone: Women in Iraq Icelandic women's policies and struggles in times of crisis The booklet can be ordered from transform! europe office under: office@transform-network.net
■ Documentation of the Project “The Crisis in Europe” A documentation of the seminar “The Crisis in Europe: Depression Economics – Social Crisis – State Policy – Alternatives” (Vienna, 15-16 January 2010) is available on our website: http://www.transformnetwork.net/en/home/projects/displayprojects/article//The-Crisis-in-EuropeDepression-economics-social-crisisstate-policy-alternatives.html ■ Videos of the introductory speeches and the debate
■ PowerPoint Presentations by Joachim Bischoff and Maria Karamessini ■ Papers by Bob Jessop (UK), Maria Karamessini (GR), Stephen Bouquin (BE/FR), Teppo Eskelinen (FI), Jiri Malek (CZ) in English ■ Since February 2010 the complete report of the seminar is available in English together with the texts submitted by Elisabeth Gauthier (FR), Miguel Portas (P) and Joachim Bischoff (G).
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Texts in French are available at: http://www.espacesmarx.net/spip.php?article537 ■ An article by Jean Paul Pierot in L’Humanité ■ Contributions by Joachim Bischoff, Teppo Eskelinen, Elisabeth Gauthier, Bob Jessop, Maria Karamessini, Lutz Brangsch, Stephen Bouquin and Miguel Portas
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■ Printed versions of EuroMemorandum 2009/10 in English, German, French and Greek Booklets containing the printed versions of EuroMemorandum 2009/2010 entitled “Europe in Crisis: A Critique of the EU’s Failure to Respond and Proposals for a Democratic Alternative” are available in English, German, French and Greek with translations provided by transform! europe. The EuroMemorandum is edited by European Economists for an Alternative
Economic Policy in Europe and supported by over 400 economists. The texts can be ordered by e-mail from the transform! europe office in Vienna as well as from our member organisations in Germany, France and Greece. To order copies in English, German, French or Greek, please contact
office@transform-network.net or our member organisations: Espaces Marx (France): Espaces_Marx@internatif.org Nicos Poulantzas Institute (Greece): info@poulantzas.gr Sozialismus (Germany): redaktion@sozialismus.de
■ “Systemic Danger? The Effects of the Financial Crisis on Private Pensions”, a study by Richard Detje, is available in English The study about the risks of private pension schemes, authored by Richard Detje on behalf of transform! europe, is available in English in printed version
and may be ordered from office@transform-network.net. It can also be retrieved as an electronic document from:
http://www.transformnetwork.net/uploads/media/Detje_Finan calCrisis.pdf
■ Strategic Perspectives of the European Left (1) – Documentation is available On 12-13 March 2010, transform! europe hosted a seminar in Majorca entitled “Why the Crisis Seems to Favour the Right Rather than the Left in Europe”. The present economic crisis, among other things, has shown the serious crisis of European Social Democracy, as well as the inability of “our” Left (with some interesting exceptions) to increase its influence in society. This can be seen not only from the fact that the agenda
for facing the crisis is set by the conservative political forces in Europe, but also by the election results for the European Parliament. Thus the question arises with urgency how the Left in Europe can develop the capacity of becoming an effective counterhegemonic force. The debate, which started out with a general assessment of the political geography, was followed by a number of thematic focuses and case studies on different countries such as the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Videos, papers and PowerPoint presentations can be found at: http://www.transformnetwork.net/en/home/projects/displayprojects/article//Strategic-Perspectivesof-the-European-Left-1-Why-the-CrisisSeems-to-Favour-Rather-the-Right.html
■ Strategic Perspectives of the European Left (2): “Meaning, Subjects and Spaces of Transformation” On 29-30 May 2010, an international workshop by transform! europe coorganised with transform! Italia was held in Florence. The workshop constituted the second element of the project
“Strategic Perspectives of the European Left”. A documentation containing texts and video files is now available. Please refer to:
http://www.transformnetwork.net/en/home/displayhome/article//Strategic-Perspectives-ofthe-European-Radical-Left-2-MeaningSubjects-and-Spaces-of-Transf.html
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