Reflections & analysis: the WOMBLES, the ESF & beyond

December 2004

The WOMBLES are a collective of anarchists, anti-authoritarians & libertarians based in London. We have no formal membership; all meetings are weekly & open to anyone who wishes to attend. These meetings are where any & all decisions concerning the group are made. The politics we espouse are those we wish to live by - self-organisation, autonomy, direct democracy & direct action against the forces of coercion & control.

As such no individual can speak on behalf of the Wombles as a group & all decisions are made collectively based on consensus. Our background, initiatives, motives & commentaries can all be found on the website. www.wombles.org.uk. This is the only source of valid information concerning the group including our involvement & actions throughout Beyond ESF.

Background

The relationship between the WOMBLES & the ESF process has been complex. Our involvement in the social forum discourse started when we were invited to participate in the first London Social Forum (LSF) in Oct 2003. The LSF had taken a critical position towards the various leftist parties (like the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) & their front group Globalise Resistance), who had sought to dominate the ESF mobilizing process while actively opposing local social forums. It was clear to us that there were progressive attempts to go beyond the hierarchical characteristics of traditional left politics & engage with the rise of anti-capitalism & its subsequent radicalization on a grassroots level.

Despite our continued skepticism over the origins of the WSF & ESF leadership dynamic, we saw it as a positive step forward, it at least meant that we were engaging with other parts of the political spectrum we had previously been wary of. During this initiative we came into contact with many people who had a passion to organise using consensus & collective decision-making, something in the past that had only existed as a reality within anarchist/anti-authoritarian direct action movements. Though their methodology was different, the experience educated both sides.

Initially enthused by the political openness & direction of the LSF we [as individuals from the WOMBLES] fought hard within the London ESF organizing assembly for an inclusive, accountable & transparent process. We had argued in Paris (ESF 2003) that the UK had no grassroots support for a European social forum in 2004 & would be dominated by the retarded political agenda & reactionary forces of the UK left. This turned out to be prophetic & ultimately true.

We officially left the London organising process when the position of compulsory affiliation fees was imposed from above by the ESF leadership. The London ESF leadership & its failings are well documented elsewhere so we do not wish to repeat them here, but our criticism of both the concept & process remains ongoing. We have never sought the approval or recognition of the ESF as a body & we make no apologies for our continued critical assessment of the role & function of the ESF as a whole. For our critique of the ESF/WSF see 'A short analysis of the socio-political role of the WSF/ESF' here >>>

Beyond ESF

Beyond ESF was billed as '5 days & nights of anti-authoritarian ideas & action'. It was part of a network of self-organised autonomous spaces during the ESF "operating independently of each other yet committed in their diversity & desire to act together in ways that respected those differences".

It began on Wednesday 13th with a welcome assembly of the autonomous spaces & ended on Sunday 17th with a final assembly & No Borders Convergence. Themes included 'autonomy & struggle', 'no borders & global migration', 'repression & social control', 'precarious work' as well as initiatives around G8 Scotland 2005, radical ecological space & Zapatismo: 10 years on. During the day there were discussions, debates & daily assemblies involving groups from across Europe & beyond.

It was also an environment where these groups could co-ordinate actions together & network with each other for future events. These included the Middlesex Declaration & the first assembly of the europrecariat, European day of conflict against detention centres & deportations, & Euromayday 2005. During the evening there was entertainment, political cinema, live bands & D.J's.

The whole event was free, as was the food (3 meals a day provided by The Anarchist Teapot - a kitchen collective from Brighton, as well as other smaller kitchen collectives) & accommodation (provide by occupied social centres across London, or buildings especially squatted for the event). It was devised not as an 'alternative' to the European Social Forum but a conscious step to move beyond the framework & internal contradictions inherent within the ESF (& its parent WSF) [1].

It was not intended to be a strictly anarchist event, groups involved came from a wide range of political motivations & backgrounds, it was designed as a process of involvement where people do not, should not, pay for the privilege to participate, a free movement of opinion, ideas, expressions & desires, (not a written charter to disguise the motives of the power players of the ESF/WSF leadership - co-opting the language of a radical movement but retaining the traditions of reformism & party politics), a move beyond simply replicating the structure & motivations of both state & capitalist institutions that require us to be either consumers or grateful spectators.

We are critical not only of the UK organising process but of the ESF as an objective, & the hypocrisy of government money used to fund such gatherings. If the ESF 'process' is going to free itself from its contradictions, if it is to become more than a showpiece for academics & political elite to talk down from platforms, & political parties & organisations to recruit new members while stifling any dissent they themselves have not authorised, it must be taken beyond its current parameters with honesty & a reflective anger.

We reject the notion of the "left-wing of capital" being capable or inclined to take that step, to promote radical political or social change. We are aware, though, that within the ESF framework there are those who recognize these contradictions & seek to express a more progressive agenda, to move beyond the initial spectacle of 'counter-conference' which, despite the rhetoric, reinforces existing global power relations & provides a suitable distraction into which all the energy, enthusiasm & potential of a radical movement can be safely contained & effectively neutralized, & where the major players, having taken charge of this essentially commercial event, seek to use it as a tool to influence government policy & business decisions on a European level.

Actions

An action was called on Thursday 14th to highlight the overt racism of the UK Labour government & EU towards asylum seekers & migrant workers, & in solidarity with those excluded from coming to the ESF (including people from eastern Europe who were denied visa's) in co-ordination with an action at Calais involving no borders & sans papiers networks (including Droits Devants). Around 150 people from Beyond ESF converged at Waterloo station & occupied the passport control. Waterloo station in the centre of London is an official border with France; it also has a detention centre for people entering the country 'illegally'. The occupation allowed those travelling from France to pass through passport control without showing their documents.

Two workshops at Beyond ESF on Thursday ('Creating Free Public Transport' by Globalisation From Below (Sweden), Plankka (Sweden), Pummit (Finland), Berlin Umsonst (Germany) & Yo Mango (Spain) decided to reclaim public transport by holding a spontaneous tube party on the underground the following evening. The action involved between 100/150 people enjoying free travel & free food 'appropriated' by Yo Mango as well as an impromptu street party with the samba band Rhythms of Resistance at Victoria station where police surrounded people & began attacking them, keeping them contained for a long period while individually searching everyone present.

On Saturday 16th Oct there was an action against the co-option of the London ESF by Ken Livingstone (Mayor of London, leader of the Greater London Authority & member of the ruling Labour party) who had bought control of both the content & process of the London ESF [2] & was due to address the 'Stop fascism & the far right in Europe' plenary. Despite being initiated by the WOMBLES, groups from many political perspectives with many different reasons to participate - the lack of transparency & inclusion, the hierarchical control by political parties, the lack of solidarity with those without papers, were involved in its organization & execution. A meeting was called at Beyond ESF where we decided collectively how & what we should do.

We were aware of the nature of the plenary & agreed our intention was not to prevent it happening but simply to make an intervention denouncing the conduct of the ESF leadership & the role of Livingstone - the assumption of ownership is paramount to the ESF leadership. We were also aware that the plenaries so far had been stage-managed affairs where big name speakers held court over largely passive audiences with no genuine discourse, dialogue or interaction. The myth of free speech meant 'experts' were free to speak while delegates were obliged to listen.

It should be noted that the hall was half empty as we entered, as we made our intervention in became progressively fuller with people applauding & cheering, & it became almost deserted after we left. It should also be made clear that fascism does not exist in isolation. It relies on both the state & capital to allow it to flourish & subsist within society. If we are to address fascism in Europe seriously we must address the role of governments, the machinery of the state & its relationship with capital. The increasingly repressive & racist immigration policies of the UK Labour government (& its commitment to Fortress Europe), & the rise of the far right British National Party is not coincidental. With this in mind Livingstone remains an ardent supporter of the Labour party & the European Constitution as well as big business & the police authority in London.

Making the action as public as possible, we deliberately informed the ESF leadership of our intentions. We wanted to bring to the surface the internal tensions apparent throughout the organization of the London ESF & the external fractures maintained within the ESF structure as a whole. We met a French & Italian official ESF delegation beforehand & it was acknowledged that our intervention would proceed as advertised (despite Livingstone not being in attendance).

Over 200 people from across Europe occupied the stage just after the plenary began. We hung banners 'Another World is for Sale', 'Ken's Party, War Party', 'Right or Left All Bosses Are The Same' 'Solidarity Against Police Repression' & made our representations to those present. We highlighted the increased police repression at the squatted social centres (used for accommodation for those participating at Beyond ESF), as well as Beyond ESF itself where police continued to harass, intimidate, photograph & take notes of everyone who entered or left Middlesex University over the 5 day period. We also highlighted the fact that compulsory registration fees meant many were excluded from participating especially those from eastern Europe, the poor, immigrants, refugees & those without papers & from the local community.

We made our intervention in a civilized & dignified way. The microphone was handed from one person to the next to anyone who wished to speak, no voice was censored & no opinion excluded. People spoke in different languages on different subjects. Indeed, Babel's (international network of translators) & Indymedia UK who were not part of the initial intervention joined us on the stage to make their representations. After some 30 minutes or so we left as we had entered (with more people than we had started with!) to allow the plenary to continue.

As we moved out just beyond the view of Alexandra Palace we were met by a line of riot police who proceeded to attack & beat people without discretion. One man was arrested for defending himself, & others, from attack. He was beaten again in the police van. Despite the unprovoked attack & level of violence used we remained together & successfully returned to Beyond ESF.

We reject claims made by Weyman Bennett [3] that he was punched in the face during the intervention. The allegations are completely untrue & without foundation. We categorically state that no violence was used towards anyone during the intervention. We further state that the only person being aggressive was Weyman Bennett himself as he attempted to manhandle, push & drag people from the stage. The claim that he was punched in the face has no basis in fact & is unsupported, uncorroborated & unsubstantiated by any other evidence. We feel it is necessary to say this simply because it has been used again & again by people (& their institutions) who were not present, to demonise those who took part in the action. This tactic of dividing people & criminalizing their activities is a familiar one. Both Ken Livingstone & Lee Jasper have used it to demonise anti-capitalist protestors on Mayday demonstrations in London over the past 3 years giving their unconditional support to the police to arrest & repress anyone who wished to take part in these demonstrations.

On Sunday a group of 20 or so people left Beyond ESF to join the main ESF demonstration at Trafalgar Square. They were followed to White Hart Lane station by riot police where they were attacked without provocation & forced into a carriage, & held prisoner on the train. They were then forcibly ejected at Kings Cross station where they were further surrounded & detained. During all this time they were subjected to police violence, intimidation & assaults. Four people were arrested.

A person attempted to gain access to the main stage in Trafalgar Square to announce the arrests & police repression at Kings Cross, he was manhandled by stewards, the police were called & proceeded to arrest 2 more people. For arrest updates see: [4].

We agree that violence has no place at the ESF & we condemn the violence [5]. We condemn the violence of the police attacking ESF & Beyond ESF participants. This was the only violence that occurred during the ESF. Left parties & organizations have a tradition in this country of tacitly supporting (by never condemning) such violence as shown during London ESF.

Let us not forget the energy & anger & momentum of this 'movement' came from the streets of Genoa, Prague, Nice, Evian, Gothenburg, where state forces were happy to teargas us, happy to break our bones as we slept in school buildings, happy to shoot us in the back as we ran away, happy to murder us in cold blood, the very same forces we now go to for funding to hold these Forums, the same forces that "welcome the anti-capitalists" (Jacques Chirac, Paris ESF). The same forces we allow to arrest & beat fellow ESF participants before our very eyes as we make political speeches from the stage under the watchful eye of government employees. The 'movement of movements' unravels itself & reveals an empty space.

If the failure of government leaders to stem the tide of mass anti-globalisation protest on the streets of Europe on a practical level, then it must be contained by other means. The ESF can be seen as one of those means. In these terms it retains no political legitimacy. Indeed the 'English exception' becomes the blueprint.

We continue to take a critical stance against the ESF/WSF not because of the way it is developing but because its central premise was always flawed at its inception, incapable, or unwilling, of generating outwards beyond the contradictions that hold it together.

The SWP's real crime, then, is that it let the façade slip, it has clumsily revealed the true nature & intentions of the ESF - a party political conference in a safe, controlled environment from which the ESF (through its leadership) can declare itself a credible negotiating partner, not the enemy, of both capital & governments.

This has been a long document. But a necessary one. As a group we invite criticism & factual corrections of its contents. We leave you with a quotation from another black ski-mask wearing renegade: "I shit on all the revolutionary vanguards of this planet" [6].

WOMBLES (December 2004)

wombles@hushmail.com

Notes:

1 The very institutions implementing the conditions of globalization (through the orders of the World Bank/IMF) are the very institutions funding a forum to oppose globalization? The fact that state institutions & governmental agencies (both local & national) have had a hand in financing all the Social Forums yet there is no criticism of the role they have in the continuation of globalization. (One of the central purposes of the state - with its laws & policing agents, is to provide a formal structure to society which allows capital the ability to exploit both people & resources, but it also provides it with a stable & compliant source of human labour). The fact that NGO's receive their financial support from the very institutions the Social Forum seeks to oppose. The fact that although political parties, as parties, are excluded from participating, political parties, as parties, have had a central role in all the Social Forums. (Even now the various left parties in Greece are jockeying for position to claim ownership of the 2006 ESF). [back]

2 The original text for the action:

"ANOTHER WORLD IS FOR SALE - action against the ownership & exclusion of the ESF - SAT 16TH OCT 6.30PM. OUTSIDE ALEXANDRA PALACE MAIN ENTRANCE. As EU/world leaders must meet in isolated fortresses, protected by private & state forces, so ESF delegates in London must meet in distant 'palaces' where private security guard the entrances & determine who is allowed in & who is not - who has paid & who has not. As EU/world leaders sit & talk in the rarefied atmosphere of the conference hall hidden away from the reality they want to shape, so ESF speakers sit in luxury surroundings & talk on how best to make 'our' world a better place, while the poorest always remain outside. (Everyone must pay £30/£20 entrance to London ESF).

As our 2 basic necessities - food & shelter, must always be a priority, so the London ESF leadership are asking us to fight amongst ourselves for the privilege of these basic needs during the ESF. (5,000 accommodation places are available at £10 each; the other 15,000 people expected must fend for themselves. Food within the ESF palace is provided by commercial companies & corporate enterprises).

This is not an accident. The London process has deliberately ignored all the guiding principles of the World/European Social Forum. It has ignored every single voice of concern - that of the European assembly, the conditions laid down by the European preparatory committee, it has ignored Babels (international translation network & backbone of the ESF), the NGO's, the horizontals, the local social forums... It has only listened to one voice - that of Ken Livingstone. (Every decision made about London ESF has come through this one man, who bought the ESF with a £480,000 'donation' & the promise of free travel for delegates - at the very same time as increasing travel prices for the ordinary workers of London). (*)

Is this the ESF that was envisaged? Is this what the 'movement of movements' looks like? Controlled by a tiny minority in powerful political positions. Just as world leaders rely on our lack of solidarity, our division, so London ESF leadership divide us, rely on our silence, our conformity in the very movement we created - on the streets in Genoa, Gothenburg, Prague, Evian, & now on the streets of London. We will not be silenced by political leaders - neither those that make war or those that have bought the ESF.

We are calling on everyone; from the anarchists to the anti-capitalists, to the poor, immigrants, refugees & sans papiers, the ordinary working women & men of London, the disaffected, illegal & voiceless, everyone who refuses to be excluded - can't pay won't pay - from 'another world' they are happy to sell to the highest bidder. We call on you to meet at Alexandra palace a 6.30pm on Saturday 16th October & reclaim our movement.

We urge all delegates to walk out at this time, to show solidarity, to stop making plans for once & start making history.

We urge you to destroy the hypocrisy of party political control of our movement. Reclaim not only the heart & soul but the voice of the movement. Join us at the gates as we storm the palace.

(*) Ken Livingstone is Mayor of London & member of the ruling Labour Party - the party of war. He has: urged workers to cross picket lines during a strike, told police to arrest demonstrators on anti-capitalist Mayday demonstrations, released the names of leading activists & ask the police to arrest them before any demonstration has happened. He is in charge of the police in London but instead of curtailing their repressive powers he has increased their spending & numbers. He applauded the police when they held captive over 2000 anti-capitalist demonstrators together for over 8 hours on the streets of London. A week after the ESF Ken Livingstone will be a VIP guest at another conference in London: International Leaders Summit, where he will mixing with representatives of Catapillar & CorVu (a business management company whose clients include the US federal government & US Army, UK & Australian government). [back]

3 Weyman Bennett was a plenary facilitator & is also a leading official within the Socialist Workers Party. [back]

4 ARREST UPDATES:

- The two people arrested at Trafalgar Square: one received a fixed penalty notice for a public order offence while the other returns to court in February to answer charges of 'threatening words & behaviour'.

- The four people arrested at Kings Cross: one had his charges (assaulting police) dismissed in court through lack of evidence, one person's case (assaulting police) is ongoing, one person received a 'caution' for having a pocket knife, & one person, initially arrested for 'firearms offences', was released without charge when it was discovered the item in question was a bottle of eyedrops (!)

- Other people arrested at Trafalgar Square were: a person who received a 'conditional discharge' for the possession of a knife.

- The person arrested on Saturday outside Alexandra Palace is charged with theft (of a police helmet!), assaulting police & 'threatening words & behaviour'. His next court appearance is in February.

- Two people were arrested for shoplifting during the reclaim public transport/tube party action on Friday evening. Both received a 'caution'.

A 'caution' is issued by the police (not the courts) on the condition the person admits the offence. No further action is taken against that person although it is kept on police record. A 'conditional discharge' is where the court finds a person guilty of the offence but does not wish to punish that person further. This goes on the person's criminal record & depending on the conditions imposed by the court no further action is taken.


We continue to give our unconditional solidarity & support to those arrested & charged during the London ESF.  [back]

5 The concept of violence, its political context & social impact, is open to certain dilemmas & interpretations. In this respect it draws away from the real violence of the dominant forces of globalization & relationships of power. We recognize that violence is at the very heart of the state; it gave birth to the state & now it preserves it. [back]

6 From: Ya Basta! Ten Years of the Zapatista Uprising: Writings of Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. [back]

UK Indymedia ESF section >>>

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