THINK GLOBAL
Act locally with Global Justice Now
September 2016 
Contents 02 Welcome 03 News roundup
A new generation: building a Global Justice Now youth network Ed Lewis Activism team
04 Food sovereignty campaign
Young people have always been at the heart of social and political struggle.
06 Trade justice campaign
History offers many crucial examples: the match girls strike in 1888 in London’s east end; the ANC youth league, founded by a young Oliver Tambo in 1944; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee that was so central to the civil rights movement in the 1960s; the central role of young women in the feminist movement; and up to the present day – such as the British student movement that kick-started resistance to the Coalition government’s austerity measures in 2010-11; or the central role of youth in the Arab uprisings.
08 Migration campaign 09 Feedback from groups survey 11 Groups and activism news 12 Current materials
Inserts General
• Membership leaflet (‘There is no alternative’) • New sign-up sheets • Which staff to contact at Global Justice Now (groups only)
Trade • • • • •
CETA briefing CETA fold-out leaflet CETA postcard TISA briefing List of MEPs by region
Migration
• Refugees demo leaflet
2 September 2016
Today’s young people are at the sharp end of neoliberalism: facing high levels of unemployment and precarious work, the privatisation of education and the erosion of the welfare state (what kind of pension provision can today’s young people expect when they retire?). Their engagement with politics is more important now than ever. That’s part of why we’ve been increasing our support for youth activism over the past two years, and why it’s at the centre of the strategy we agreed in 2015. This work has taken a number of forms, such as working with Students Against TTIP, supporting young workers in the Better Than Zero campaign in Scotland, and running Take Back Our World festival two years running, which has been significantly aimed at young people. The success of this work has led to our decision to start to build a youth network, open to anyone under 28, in Autumn 2016 and throughout 2017. This is very much an experiment – we don’t know as yet how it will develop. But whatever form it takes, the network will be part of, and strengthen, our existing activist network. Of course, some groups have younger members already and we certainly encourage groups to continue to work with people of all ages. But if you are a young person who wants to know more about the network, or if you know others who might be interested, please contact me at ed.lewis@globaljustice.org.uk. And also get in touch if you have any questions.
News from Global Justice Now National activists’ meeting
Global Justice Now London office Saturday 24 September, 10.30am - 4.30pm We’re trying something new at the end of September. Since we currently only have half of our area reps posts filled, the area reps we do have thought it might be a good idea to broaden the attendance at their annual meeting to include people from groups, especially in those regions without a rep, although we’re happy to welcome any that do have a rep too. The agenda will include: • A presentation of our plans for a youth activist network and opportunity to feed in and help. • Regional planning session – how do we develop global justice activism in each area of the country? • Update on future campaigning plans and discussion of the possibility of a corporates campaign. • What training and innovations do groups (and individual activists) really need? This is a chance for more in depth consideration than was possible in the groups survey. This could be a really important opportunity to strengthen our campaign effectiveness, and learn from experiences from around the network. Please consider sending someone from your group. Full reimbursements for your travel from outside London are available. Please let
Action checklist
Sam know you’re coming: sam.lund-harket@ globaljustice.org.uk. We can also help with accommodation if you need it, but please give plenty of notice for this.
Media highlights
At the end of August it suddenly seemed like numerous European political figures were taking big steps back from TTIP, and our comments on the failure of the deal were reported on widely from the Independent, through to the right wing Breitbart news. Hot on the heels of TTIP’s crisis, we released our briefing on TISA, the Trade in Services Agreement, and it was the subject of feature articles in the Independent, the Morning Star and the Belfast Telegraph
Brighton Marathon
Earlier this year, Global Justice Now supporters, including Glasgow group member Steve Rolfe, raised more than £2000 for our work through taking part in the Brighton Marathon. We’ve now secured two places at next year’s Marathon, taking place on Sunday 9 April 2017, Brighton. Running a marathon is always going to be a minorty interest, but if you do fancy the challenge, it’s a scenic route along the seafront and a great additional way to help fund (y)our work. To register or find out more contact Malise on 020 7820 4900 or malise.rosbech@globaljustice.org.uk or go to globaljustice.org.uk/brightonmarathon17.
Food sovereignty
Migration
Trade justice
General
Decide if your group will host a Monsanto photo exhibition. Organise a CETA campaign stall. Organise a public meeting for the CETA week of action.
Organise a delegation to the Refugees Welcome demo. Check that group members are national members of Global Justice Now and encourage contacts to join. September 2016 3
Food sovereignty Monsanto tribunal speaker tour and photo exhibition In the lead up to the (activist organised) Monsanto tribunal in The Hague in October, we are organising a speaker and photo exhibition tour which will take place in five locations across the UK: London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds. We are hoping our speaker will be Farida Akhter (subject to visa approval) who is the founder and director of UBINIG, a community based organisation fighting for social change in Bangladesh. UBINIG is a strong advocate of agroecology and has established one of the biggest networks of community seed banks in the world. Farida has been selected as one of the expert witnesses to give testimony at the Monsanto tribunal.
Once the tour is over, the main photo exhibition (which consists of 10 x A2 Photo Boards with accompanying easels) will be available for any group who want to use the exhibition in their local area. So if your group has any ideas about potential display venues where the exhibition could be displayed for a period of time, please call Dan on 020 7820 4900 to discuss this further.
Online game: Farm heroes vs Monsanto
The dates of the events are: • Friday 7 October : London • Sunday 9 October: Edinburgh • Monday 10 October: Leeds • Tuesday 11 October: Manchester • Wednesday 12 October: Bristol We’ve commissioned a photographer to create an original photo exhibition about communities affected by corporate agriculture in India and Bangladesh which will tour alongside the speaker event. For local groups and activists not in these areas, we will be producing a resource pack for you to hold your own mini photo exhibition. This will include a small selection of quality prints from the main exhibition as well as guidance for how to organise a local photo exhibition. This pack will be ready in early September, please contact dan.iles@ globaljustice.org.uk to order a pack for your group. 4 September 2016
Upcoming Monsanto game
During the summer we raised money through crowdfunding to develop an online game to help spread the word about the problems with Monsanto. The game references an existing popular online game called Farm Heroes. It will be launched in September on our website and through email, so do share it on social media and with your contacts.
Whose Scotland?
In August we published new research which highlighted seven super rich Scottish landowners and their links to the darker side of global capitalism. Our research unearthed unethical business practices – worker exploitation, human rights abuses, and climate wrecking activities – linked to those landowners, either through their own company’s bad practice abroad or through their investments in companies based in the global south. We turned the research into an interactive map naming and shaming the rich landowners. See it at: globaljustice.org.uk/whose-scotland.
New members update Six months ago we told you about our ambitious plans to build Global Justice Now’s membership by 1000 new members this year. Growing as a democratic membership organisation, which in turn is part of a wider movement, was a vital part of the strategy we adopted when we changed our name from WDM. By 25 August we had 506 new members – just over half way to our target, and staff are launching a major drive for new members in the autumn. But to reach our target by the end of the year we need all the help we can get. And some of the best new members are those who joined as a result of encountering local campaigning. So this is what you can do to help: • Communicate that it’s possible to join when talking to the public. We’re not expecting anyone to give membership the hard sell, but if people seem interested in our work then also let them know they can join - you’d be surprised how many people are unaware of this. • Use the new sign-up sheets (enclosed with this Think Global). With changes to fundraising regulation we’ve had to
The research was published to coincide with the #OurLand festival in Scotland, calling for bolder, braver land reform by the Scottish government. The festival runs throughout September with events across Scotland, including one organised by Global Justice Ayrshire in Kilmarnock on 29 August. For details of events across Scotland see www.ourland.scot.
produce new sign-up sheets that allow people to opt in to being contacted. If we don’t collect this information we legally cannot contact people again so please use these new sheets. • Send sign-up sheets to us promptly. The quicker we get someone’s details the more likely they are to stay engaged with our campaigns, take more actions and possibly join as a member. If you’re collecting names, addresses and emails, please be sure to send them to us within 7 days. You can send them in any way that’s convenient - even photograph the sheet and send it to us electronically if that works for you. • Start with your group. How many people in your local group are actually members of the national organisation? It’s not expensive - you can join from just £2 a month. Recruitment forms are also enclosed with this Think Global (‘There is no alternative’). We’re here to help if you would like materials, information or advice on membership. Get in touch via supporterservices@globaljusticenow.org.uk or phone 020 7820 4900 and ask for Malise.
September 2016 5
Trade justice Breakthrough on TTIP
As we were finalising Think Global, we heard the news that Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s vice-chancellor and economy minister, had pronounced TTIP effectively dead. We have been saying for months that it is on it’s last legs, but to hear a senior member of Europe’s political establishment saying the same thing is very significant. Gabriel is second only to Angela Merkel in Germany’s ConservativeSocial Democrat coalition government. Of course, we should be wary about writing TTIP off completely, but it seems pretty likely we are on the verge of a fantastic victory for European social movements in which Global Justice Now activists have played a crucial role. However, it is clear from what else Gabriel said that his strategy is to abandon the deeply unpopular TTIP in order to have as much poltical capital as possible to push through CETA. CETA is less well known and has not generated nearly as much controversy, so it would represent TTIP through the back door. Luckily, we’re ahead of the game, as we were already gearing up to make a big push on stopping CETA...
If you liked TTIP, you’ll love CETA Enclosed with this issue of Think Global you should find new campaign postcards, a new fold-out leaflet/poster and an updated, post-referendum version of our CETA briefing. We’d like as many groups as possible to use these materials in the next two months, as CETA will come in to force before any UK exit from the EU, and now is a crucial time to defeat it. The postcards are addressed to MEPs, so in order to use them on stalls you will have to either: • Print off a list of your region’s MEPs for people to choose from when filling in the postcard. It is better to direct people to send their card to a Labour or Conservative MEP, as the Greens are definitely against CETA anyway and UKIP will likely vote against any EU trade deal. We have included a list of all MEPs by region with this Think Global. • Ask people to leave the MEP bit blank and fill it in later. This isn’t such a good option, but it could allow you to spread the cards effectively across multiple MEPs. As far as political developments go, the good news is that the European Council has conceded that all 27 national parliaments have to ratify CETA before it is officially signed off – rather than them being bound by the decision of the EU as a whole. That means any one country could upset the whole apple cart if they fail to ratify it. The bad news is that ‘provisional implementation’ is not off the table – that would mean the treaty would come into effect straight away, in the expectation that national parliaments would ratify it. The British government is supporting this, and has indicated it would like to see us sign up to CETA as part of our Brexit negotiations.
New CETA materials
6 September 2016
If you don’t get Think Global by post, or would like to order more materials, email effie.jordan@globaljustice.org.uk or phone 020 7820 4900. The week beginning 17 October is a European week of action on CETA. It might be a good time to plan a meeting, a stall, or some kind of combination of the two! Contact the activism team if you want help on this.
The CETA check and lobbying The European Stop TTIP coalition has developed an online tool to help push MEPs to clarify their position on CETA. There are a series of questions, and you can only ask the MEP those questions which they haven’t already answered. It’s potentially quite an involved process, but it’s designed so you can spend as much time on it as you like and could be an important form of lobbying. The website can be found at stop-ttip.org/ cetacheck In the case of some MEPs, it could be useful to lobby them directly. If you’re interested in doing this and would like some advice on who to target, contact Effie (effie.jordan@ globaljustice.org.uk) or Guy (guy.taylor@ globaljustice.org.uk) or phone 020 7820 4900.
Trade in Services Agreement
The Trade in Services Agreement is a proposed mega-deal between around 50 countries. It has been initiated by a coalition of the willing, including the US and EU, because attempts to deregulate the services sector within the framework of the World Trade Organisation have been stalled for years.
‘No to the privaTISAtion of the world’: protest against TISA in Geneva last year. Photo credit: Annette Dubois
don’t think it is in their interests (see NinetyNine magazine, May 2016). A new briefing on TISA is enclosed with this issue of Think Global. It is produced in collaboration with the Attac network, especially Attac Norway. We expect to do some campaigning on TISA later in the year, but for now this briefing is designed to spread awareness of what TISA is.
The deal is designed to lock in privatisation and would be particularly harmful to countries in the global south whose public services are currently limited – they could be forced into a for-profit model from the beginning. Uruguay and Paraguay have already pulled out of the deal because they September 2016 7
Migration It may be silly season for the press, but there has been a lot happening on the issue of migration. August began with a wave of protest directed at the unusual target of the Byron burger chain, after the firm shamelessly tricked its own staff into walking into a Home Office immigration enforcement trap. People across the country responded by vowing to boycott the chain, with some activists in London managing to temporarily close down one restaurant. It’s not all been bad news. Since Brexit, migrants have been feeling more uncomfortable with the rising tide of postreferendum hate crime hitting the news, but as the Olympics opened in Rio we saw ‘Team Refugees’ compete for the first time, showing a much more positive view of migrants than the tabloids usually allow us to see.
Campaign developments
We have now run a number of onlne actions demanding better treatment of migrants. Given the terrible record of Theresa May on the migration, we prioritised ensuring that the opposition doesn’t slide into anti-migrant positions too, calling on both candidates for Labour leader to stand up for migrants and commit to defending free movement and rejecting the cruel EU-Turkey deal that effectively means turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in exchange for taking refugees that rich European countries reject. We’ve also called on the home secretary Amber Rudd to put an end to the cruel waste of money that is immigration detention. We expect to develop a campaign which can also be run offline during the next few months, and are investigating the possibility of running some training for local groups in communicating migration issues to the public. 8 September 2016
We’ve also sent out over 1,000 mini campaign packs which are aimed at individuals who have taken action online and are interested in going a bit further towards offline activism.
Refugees Welcome demo
You’ll find some leaflets for the national Refugees Welcome demo which will take place in London on Saturday 17 September. The demo is a follow up on last year’s and is organised by the Solidarity with Refugees initiative, and supported by a wide range of refugee advocacy, anti-racist, human rights and development organisations. We’ve organised a People Not Profit bloc within the march to highlight our main messages: that migrantion should be a right for the many not a privelege for the few; and that the UK is responsible for many of the problems that force people to move from free trade deals reinforcing poverty to climate change making areas of the world unliveable. The People Not Profit bloc will meet from 12 noon at the tea hut, just south of Speakers’ Corner. We’ll have some Global Justice Now placards, but please bring your group banner if have one. There are coaches coming from various parts of the country. You can find out about these via the event page on our website: globaljustice.org.uk/refugees-demo.
Shut Yarl’s Wood
On Saturday 10 September there is a demonstration at the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire. Several groups have expressed an interest in joining the demo. If you’d like to as well, the activism team can send you details.
Feedback from the groups survey At the end of last year we sent out a detailed survey to groups, which we received back from groups across the first few months of 2016. We hoped to report on it in the last Think Global but the organisational impact of the Brexit vote meant we had to push it back. Here is a summary of the findings from the survey, which 60% of groups completed.
How big is the network? There are currently 42 Global Justice Now groups, although there are several other groups that we provide support to, primarily around trade justice campaigning. Four of those groups are listed on our website, because we have particularly close relationships with them. We have recently seen new groups develop, such as in Swindon and London, with a Belfast group hoping to get off the ground at the time of writing. However, a number of groups have closed in recent years, due to declining numbers and energy. We will continue to work to build new groups to expand the network and support groups that are experiencing difficulties. The idea for a youth network is one attempt at this. Groups have on average a core of seven active members (people who attend meetings and/or take action in some way), as well as a wider periphery of supporters on one or more mailing lists. Most groups have a mailing list of less than 100 people, but five groups have 100 or more people on their mailing lists. A small number of groups have larger mailing lists – Reading have 250, Brighton and Hove have 300-400 and Glasgow have over 1000.
What are Global Justice Now groups like? Groups typically described themselves as ‘energetic at times’ and ‘pretty active’. Global Justice Now groups typically work with other groups in their local area. Most commonly this is with Friends of the Earth
groups (mentioned by eight groups in the survey). A number of GJN groups work with the following: Fairtrade groups, the Transition network, 38 Degrees, climate-oriented groups, TTIP-focused groups, Fairtrade groups, Christian/Cafod/other Church organisations. Furthermore, the vast majority of Global Justice Now groups have members who are active in other campaign groups and political parties. We asked what experience and knowledge groups had. The answers were varied, with some groups reporting a lot of experience in a wide range of areas, and other groups reporting only some or little experience in most areas. However, most groups had a mixed levels of experience. Groups seemed to be more confident with knowledge – very few groups reported they had ‘little’ or ‘no’ knowledge on any of the areas given. More common was for groups to feel they either had ‘some knowledge’ or were ‘very’ knowledgeable on a particular area.
What extra things do groups want? We asked groups to let us know what activities and resources they’d be most interested in seeing. These were the most popular answers, in rank order, based on the number of groups that said they would be ‘definitely interested’ in a given activity, or that it would be ‘really important’: • Powerpoint presentations for groups/ activists to be able to give themselves (around half of all groups) • Developing a direct relationship with a group in Europe • Quizzes • Solidarity trips (in Europe or the global south) • Workshop on neoliberalism or similar background knowledge We will try to ensure that these activities are September 2016 9
provided in some form or other. Developing a relationship with a group in Europe is perhaps the most difficult to achieve. We had hoped to provide an opportunity to do this via the Attac European Summer University, slated for 2017, but it is now looking like this will be postponed until 2018. We’ll keep you updated on this.
How will the survey help? We realise that the time spent filling in the groups survey is not insignificant, and we’d like to thank you for the effort that went into it. It is quite a while since we asked you
anything so detailed, and it really did give us a much better picture of the network’s strengths and weaknesses. It was particularly useful for newer staff to get this picture. There is a huge range of potential training and resources which we could provide, but with limited time and money, we have to prioritise – and the survey will help us with this. We have also been in contact with a couple of groups to offer additional support as a result of the survey. If you would like some additional, tailored support, contact Ed Lewis: ed.lewis@globaljustice.org.uk.
World Social Forum report
to meet, network and benefit from solidarity. It is motivational for those who take part.
By Alan Mawer, Chilterns and East Anglia area rep
The 2016 Global Justice Now team (Nick, Aisha, Laura, Maia and Alan) attended and contributed to as many activities as possible - Nick actually spoke at eight different meetings, including a major session on tax justice. Activities ranged from finding how groups such as Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi improve people’s lives, to big picture conferences such as ‘the impact of neoliberalism on social inequality and health’.
A delegation of three staff and two volunteers attended the World Social Forum (WSF) from 9 to 14 March in Montreal. The WSF, a gathering of tens of thousands of representatives from civil society groups around the world, usually occurs about every two years. This forum consisted of workshops, assemblies and conferences. In addition there were cultural events, a march, photographic exhibitions and film screenings. The forum allows groups such as Global Justice Now to communicate initiatives and make links with similar groups from other countries. It has an impact and raises awareness of the issues we campaign on, perhaps most of all in the city where it is held. It is an opportunity for people who may be operating in difficult conditions, geographically isolated from other groups, 10 September 2016
Maia from our youth network flies the flag of our sister organisation Attac Quebec, who were involved in organising this year’s WSF.
This was the first WSF not to be held in the global south. Participation from those regions was lower than previously as the Canadian authorities refused visas for a significant number of participants from the global south. The Canadian press reported this number to be 170. We demonstrated against this. If you would like a speaker on the WSF, email: chilterns@ globaljustice.org.uk
Groups and activism news Demand the Impossible
After running for four years in London, Demand the Impossible was run for the first time in Scotland during August. The three day course for 16-25 year olds used workshops, debate and practical activities to introduce ideas of radical politics, protest and local action for change. The course was well attended and the participants gave great feedback about their experience.
Group activity
Global Justice Ayrshire is organising a major public meeting on land reform on Monday August 29th at 7pm in Grand Hall Kilmarnock. The speakers are broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and Andy Wightman MSP. Global Justice Portsmouth is getting some events on refugees and migration set up for One World Week (24-30 October). There’ll be a big speaker event at the cathedral and a fun day with international food and music plus a few others. They’re also helping with a local Campaign Exchange website to link up local groups and at the moment they’re finding out what groups offer help to asylum seekers and how people can help. Having actively campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum, Global Justice Cambridge members were hit very hard by Brexit. However, they have an upcoming stall at local festival and are organising a group discussion with James O’Nions (head of activism), both in September. Global Justice Leicester has continued to work with partners to show This Changes Everything to a variety of groups in the Leicestershire area and beyond in July. These include Sustainable Harborough (Market Harborough), the Christians Aware conference in the Yorkshire Dales, and a local showing in Leicester to an audience including the councillor with the Environment
A recent Global Justice Ayrshire stall in Ayr
brief on the City Council. More than 200 people have now seen it via their efforts. Global Justice Belfast has a launch event on 2 September, featuring live music and poetry and speakers from Attac Ireland and Global Justice Now. Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings had a stall for the fourth consecutive year to a diverse interfaith gathering at St Leonards on Sea. There was considerable interest in our campaigns and political stances and many campaign materials, action cards and information leaflets were distributed. Global Justice Merseyside carried out the Roundup action in a local B&Q and are planning further such actions, for which they will be trying to attract local press coverage. Group members have also participated in various GJN events, including Take Back Our World festival.
September 2016 11
Current materials Food sovereignty
• ACTION CARD: Two ways to grow food • BRIEFING: Growing evidence against the New Alliance • BOOKLET: On Solid Ground (agroecology) • REPORT: From The Roots Up (agroecology) • POSTER: Colonial infographic poster • BOOKLET: Stop the corporate takeover of African food • BRIEFING: Problems with corporate controlled seeds
Energy justice
• LEAFLET: Give corporate controlled energy the boot • BRIEFING: Towards a just energy system • BRIEFING: 10 reasons why energy privatisation fails
Trade
• ***NEW LEAFLET/POSTER: if You LIked TTIP You’ll Love CETA • ***NEW ACTION CARD: Stop The Toxic Trade Deal (CETA) • ***UPDATED BRIEFING: CETA: TTIP’s little brother • BRIEFING: Five reasons TTIP and CETA are a disaster for the climate. • REPORT: TTIP and tax justice • PRAYER PACK: TTIP and trade justice • BRIEFING: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership • BRIEFING: Regulatory Cooperation • TTIP Free Zone campaign pack: POSTER, BADGE and LEAFLET • BRIEFING: Campaigning on TTIP in local authorities • POSTER: There’s nothing beautiful about TTIP (TTIP and chemicals in cosmetics) • TOTE BAG: TTIP ain’t my Bag
Migration
• LEAFLET/POSTER: This is not a migrant crisis • BRIEFING: Migrant crisis or poverty crisis
New event t-shirts We now have new branded t-shirts in stock. They have the logo in white front and back on dark grey material, which stands out on stalls or at events. In order to help cover costs, including postage, we’re asking for £5 per t-shirt, or three t-shirts for £10. They are available in Small, Medium, Large, XL and XXL. To order some, phone 020 7820 4900 to make a card payment, or send a cheque to: Sam LundHarket, Global Justice Now, 66 Offley Road, London SW9 0LS
Exploring alternatives booklets
• BOOKLET: Another Economy is Possible economic democracy • BOOKLET: Seeds of Change - food sovereignty • BOOKLET: Rays of Hope - energy justice
General materials
• LEAFLET: Join a local group leaflet (can be overprinted with groups’ contact details) • SIGN-UP SHEET: Double-sided, Global Justice Now branded • STICKERS and BADGES • LEAFLET: ‘There is No Alternative’ membership leaflet